58 BULLETIN" 15 4, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



the description it is obvious that the type represents the present 

 form, and it seems important that it was recognized that there is 

 a very close resemblance between deppii and lemniscafus, the chief 

 difference being the normal possession of three large parietals and 

 three supraoculars in deppii as opposed to the normal possession of 

 five large parietals and four supraoculars in Jenimscatus. The color 

 is in many cases practically identical. 



G nemidofhoi^us decemlineatus was described by Hallowell in 1860 

 from a series of 10-lined specimens from Nicaragua. Since 10-lined 

 specimens are common throughout the range of deppii and occur 

 very frequently in Colima and Nayarit in the northern part of it, 

 the suppression of decemlineatus seems entirely justified. 



A specimen from Oaxaca was described as Jatlvlttis by Cope in 

 1877. The type has eight lines and this resemblance to octolineatus 

 { = perplexii^) caused Cope to cite differences from that form in his 

 diagnosis. Since these differences were all toward deppii which is 

 wi(lespr(>ad in the coastal region of Oaxaca, lativittis was early 

 reduced to its synonymy. 



The specimens from Colima and Jalisco, as well as those examined 

 by the writer from Nayarit, usually differ from specimens from 

 Oaxaca and Vera Cruz by having ten or eleven pale lines on the 

 back as do specimens from Nicaragua. This variation caused Cope 

 (1877) to describe a series of such northern variants as lineatissimus. 

 Since 10 or 11 lined deppii are sometimes found in Oaxaca and 

 Vera Cruz and since they also occur normally in certain parts of 

 Nicaragua at least, there is nothing geographically distinctive in 

 lineatissimus. Therefore, it, too, has been relegated to the synonymy 

 of deppii. 



Som.e abnormal specimens of deppii from San Mateo, Costa Kica, 

 were described by Cope in 1894 as alfai-oms. These were typical 

 deppii in coloration, having 9 dorsal lines, but differed in scutella- 

 tion by the presence of 4 supraoculars instead of 3. Since this anom- 

 aly occurs now and then in deppii everywhere, as remarked by 

 Gadow (1906, 309) and indicated below (see p. 60), alfaronls can 

 not be retained as a distinct entity. 



Diagnosis. — The many-lined race runner is distinguished by its 

 small maximum size (usually less than 85 mm. from snout to anus) 

 and the usual presence of 3 supraoculars, 3 parietals, granular post- 

 antebrachials and weak caudial keels. Specimens are seldom, if ever, 

 unicolor, and may be either spotted or lined. The normal young 

 possess from 6 to 13 well-defined, white stripes, which are usually 

 straight, but may be more or less wavy. With development spots 

 may appear in the lateral interspaces, but they never spread to form 

 cross-bars as in gularis. The lines on the sides, especially the lower 



