HEEPETOLOGY OF JAPAN. 



405 



divided; 47 pairs of siibcaudals. Color (in alcohol) bluish gray 

 above, yellowish underneath, with broad blackish brown rings around 

 the body, there being 47 on neck and body and 5 on tail, the first on 

 neck incomplete below; wddth of black rings above about four scale 

 rows and about three ventrals underneath, the light interspaces 



Figs. 32S-330.-Laticauda Ilaticaudata. 2 X nat. size. 328, top of head; 329, side of head; 



.330, UNDERSIDE OF HEAD. No. 7.3S1, U.S.N.M. 



respectively 2^ above and 2 below; head blackish brown, rostral, 

 snout, and eyebrow region as far as anterior angle of parietal and first 

 temporal, yellow; labials brownish black as well as throat and lower 

 neck, the latter with a median line of yellow. 



Dimensions. 



mm. 



Total length ^*'^ 



Snout to vent • "-"•' 



Vent to tip of tail ^^^ 



The female and young are essentially like the above, the former 

 somewhat larger with a shorter tail, No. 33937, for instance, our 

 largest specimen, measuring S90 mm. with a tail 95 mm. long. 



Variation.— The scale formula is fairly constant in this species, 

 oculars, temporals, supralabials, and anal showing no deviation from 

 the normal in a large series. In the specimens recorded from the 

 waters adjacent to our territory the ventrals vary between 230 and 

 243, the subcaudals between 30 and 47. 



As for the color variation of this species it is sufficient to refer to the 

 preliminary remarks (on p. 404). The number of black rings on the 

 body in ten specimens from Japanese waters ranges between 39 and 55. 



jlalifat— Widely distributed along the coasts from India to the 

 South Pacific islands and Tasmania. The species seems common 

 about the Fijis and the Friendly Islands, and Fischer mentions a 

 specimen from the Society Islands. 



On the coasts of southeastern Asia it is not rare— for instance, m the 

 Philippines— and to the north it has been found as far as Okinaw^a 

 shima. A specimen from Naha, collected by Heine, of the Perry 



