68 ON SOME REPTILIA FROM THE HERBERT RIVER, QUEENSLAND. 

 HOPLOCEPHALUS ASSIMILIS. n. Sp. 



Some months ago I received from Mr. Boyd a species of Roplo- 

 cephahis which, with some hesitation, I referred to the Sydney 

 species Hojilocephalus nigrescens, Guntli. I received from Mr. 

 Boyd on this last occasion, two other specimens of the same snake, 

 and T am thereby enabled to pronounce positively that the Sydney 

 and Herbert River specimens belong to different species. I propose 

 the name given above for the Herbert River species. 



Scales in 15 rows 



Abdominal Plates 192 



Anal Plate single 



Sub-caudal Plates 37 



Total length 17 inches 



Tail 2h inches. 



The head shields are almost identical with those of H. nigrescens, 

 excepting that the anterior frontals are shorter, being less than 

 half the length of the posterior, and the loreal space is taken up by 

 the nasal and anterior oscular shields, completely separating the 

 second labial and posterior frontal. The superciliaries are only 

 half the length of the vertical, which is broad, six sided, and 

 triangular behind. The eyes are very small, and the post-orbitals 

 vary in number from 1 to 3. The tongue is not white as in H. 

 nigrescens. The colour is black above, beneath it varies from a 

 pinkish colour in some specimens, to an almost leaden gray colour 

 in others. 



