SEA-SNAKES. 229 



known [in 1837] twenty are found in the Indian 

 Ocean, sixteen in the salt water ditches of India 

 and the neighbouring Islands, and six in similar 

 situations in tropical America/ 



* 



Genus Hydrophis. (Daud.) 



The belly in this genus is furnished with a 

 range of scales a little larger than those which 

 cover the body ; the head is small, not bulg- 

 ing behind, rounded in front, and surmounted 

 by large plates. The species are found in the 

 salt-water canals of Bengal, and in the Indian 

 Ocean. 



We illustrate this genus, of which little is 

 known, by the Banded Sea-Snake, or Chittul 

 {Hydrophis fasciatus, Shaw), a slender species, 

 about five feet in length, the ground-colour 

 of which is blue, with alternate circular bands 

 of yellowish white. 



Our acquaintance with this interesting group 

 is mainly due to the observations of Dr. Cantor, 

 embodied in a paper on the Marine Serpents, 

 published in the Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society. The author alludes to the Marine 

 Ophidians as a group of Vertehrata, to which but 

 little attention had hitherto been given, from the 

 circumstance of the danger attending their exami- 

 nation in the living state, and also from their 

 geographical distribution being entirely confined 

 to the tropical seas. The author being stationed 

 in the East India Company's service, on the 

 Delta of the Ganges, had during a considerable 

 period, most favourable opportunities for study - 

 * "Proceedings of the Zoological Society," 1837, p. 135. 



