CHECKLIST OF THE SNAKES OF MEXICO 201 



HELICOPS SCHISTOSUS (Daudin) 



Tropidonofus dimidiatns Cope, Proo. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, vol. 13, 1861, 



p. 297. 

 Regina dimidiata Cope, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 32, 1887, p. 74. 



Remarks. — Under this name Cope cites certain specimens obtained 

 by Mr. Pease near Jalapa, Veracruz. Their identity cannot now be 

 guessed or proved, for there are no descriptions and the specimens 

 themselves are no longer in the Philadelphia Academy of Natural 

 Sciences. If Cope properly identified them with Tropidonotus 

 dinvidiatus Boie, then according to Boulenger (Catalogue of the 

 snakes in the British Museum, vol. 1, 1893, p. 274) they are referable 

 to Helicops schistosus Daudin, of which Boie's name is considered a 

 synonym. In such case it would follow that Cope's specimens bore 

 incorrect locality data, since schistosus occurs in India, Ceylon, and 

 the Malay Peninsula. But it is not by any means certain that Cope 

 correctly identified the specimens, and in fact they lend some support 

 to the belief that one or more species of true Helicops actually may 

 occur in Mexico, although reliable records are now lacking. 



HELICOPS SEPTEMVITTATUS (Fischer) 



Calopisma septenivittatum Fischer, Veih. Naturw. Vei*. Hamburg, ser. 2, vol. 3, 



1879. p. 84, pi. 1, fig. 3.— Gakman, Bull. Essex Inst., vol. 16, 1884, p. 25. 

 Hydrops septemvittattis Garman, Mem. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 8, 18S3, p. 145. 

 Lemnophis scptemvittata Cope, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 32, 1S87. p. 75. — Bocourt, 



Mission scientifique au Mexique et dans TAmerique centrale, Kept., livr. 14, 



1895, pp. 809-810, pi. 00, fig. 1. 

 Helicops septemvittatus Bcum:nger, Catalogue of the snakes in the British Mu 



seum, vol. 1, 1893, p. 275. — GilNTHEB, Biologia Centrali-Amerlcana, Kept. 



Batr., 1894, p. 135.— Amaral, Mem. Inst. Butantan, vol. 4, 1929, p. 149.— 



Werner, Zool. Jahrb., vol. 57, 1929, p. 35. 



Type. — Five cotypes, Hamburg Mus. 

 Type locality. — IMexico. 



Reinarks. — There is much doubt that the original series, comprising 

 the only known specimens of the species, actually came from Mexico. 



TROPIDODIPSAS ANNULIFERA Boulenger 



Tropidodipsas annulifern Bot7ij:NGEE, Catalogue ot the snakes in the British 

 Museum, vol. 2, 1894, p. 297, pi. 14, fig. 1. 



Type.— Brit. Mus. Nat. Hist. 



Type locality. — Unknown. 



Remai'Jcs. — Not impossibly a Mexican species. Amaral (Mem. Inst. 

 Butantan, vol. 4, 1929, p. 193) thinks it a member of the genus Sihyno- 

 morphus {=Dipsas as here interpreted) and a synonym of S. an- 

 thracops (Cope), a Nicaraguan species. If actually a distinct species, 

 it is known only from the type. 



