HEEPETOLOGY OF JAPAN. 



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than high, visible from above; internasal single, widely separated 

 from rostral by nasals, small, not much broader than long, widely 

 separated from loreal; prefrontals smaller than nasals, in contact 

 with them and with supraoculars; frontal somewhat shorter than 

 its distance from tip of snout, nearly twice as wide as supraoculars 

 at center of eye; parietals rather broad, the lateral outline irreg- 

 ular and showing evidence of fusion with adjacent scales; nostrils 

 semilunar, on top of snout, in a large nasal which on the left side is 

 semidivided by a suture from nostril to first labial ; nasals broadly in 

 contact mth each other behmd rostral with prefrontals and first 

 supralabials; loreal trapezoid, longer than high, in contact with first 

 three supralabials; one preocular, not m contact with frontal; eye 

 small, its diameter less than distance from edge of lip; two postocu- 

 lars; 1+2 temporals; 8 supralabials, increasing in height backward 

 to the sixth, which is highest, first in contact with loreal, thus exclud- 



FiGS. 263-265.— Enhydris bennettu. 2 X nat. size. 263, top of head; 264, side of head; 265, 



UNDERSIDE OF HEAD. NO. 22128, U.S.N.M. 



ing nasal from second, fourth entering eye; three lower labials in 

 contact with anterior chin-shields, which are followed by two pairs of 

 smaller chinshields, both separated by scales; 21 rows of smooth 

 scales without pits ; 164 ventrals; anal divided; 64 subcaudals. Color 

 (in alcohol) above drab gray, with two series of irregular dark brownish 

 gray dorsal spots, which anteriorly unite into short crossbars and on 

 the neck to a median longitudinal dark band ; outer four scale rows 

 white, the first and fourth having their lower and upper edge respect- 

 ively margined with dark gray, forming an upper and lower dark 

 indented edge to the lateral white band; labials and whole underside 

 whitish, each scale and scute edged with dark gray, the ventrals 

 with a median series of dark spots formed by a projection of the 

 dark basal edge, and a similar arrangement on the subcaudals, caus- 

 ing a zigzag longitudinal dark band on the median line of the under- 

 side of the tail. 



