HERPETOLO«Y OF PORTO RICO. 



679 



Fit;s. 129-130. — Amphisb.?;na cjf.ca. ?4 x nat- 

 ural size. 129, top of head; 130, side of head. 

 No. 27223, U.S.N.M. 



Coniparing the lirst o-i-ouj) witii the recorded cluiriicters of allied 

 specie.s, it will 1)(> found to uyrec^ veiy well with those of ^1. c-eea, 

 which has 2^7 to '2?A) hody riiio-s, 18 caudal rino-s, 1 temporal, 6 

 preanals, 3 scutes ))ehind tlu' unpaired postnitMital, and short nasal 

 suture." 



I'he fact that the types of A. ccrca are said to have been collect(»d 

 in jVIartinique is of no nionient whatever, and it is pretty safe to 

 say tiiat the .species does not occur 

 there. It is now known that Plee, 

 who sent these specimens to the 

 Paris Mnseimi. collected in l^orto 

 Rico, on his way to Martini(|ue, 

 whence he shipped his material to 

 Paris. 



The three other specimens men- 

 tioned a])ove J can not unite with 

 an}^ other known form, and they 

 will be descril)ed further on under 

 a new^ name. 



Descr/j^fwn.—A(h/If: U.S.N.M., No. 272l>3; Utuado; April l(i, 1900. 

 Rostral small, trianoular, the portion ^'isil)le from al>o^'e short, about 

 equaling the suture between the nasals; prefrontals \erv long, the 

 suture ])etween them longer than the one between th(^ frontals and 

 five times as long as the nasal suture; ocular moderate, (|uadrangular, 

 smaller than the postocular and the third suprala})ial; in the angle 



shields a well-developed temporal, 

 between and behind the latter two 

 only slightly smaller than the ocular; 

 eye plainly visi))le through ocular; 

 a pair of occi])itals, broader than 

 long, in contact behind the frontals; 

 thi-ee supralabials, the second as 

 long as the other two together; 

 three lower lal)ials, the second 

 longer than the other two together; 

 mental followed ])y a large median 

 postmental, twice as long as Inroad; behind the second lower labial a 

 large malar shield; just behind the postmental and between the malars 

 three scales in a transverse row (postgeneials); 226 rings on the body 

 and 17 on the tail; the segments of each ring longer than broad on the 

 back, broader than long on the under side. It) above and IS l^elow the 

 lateral line; anal shields, 6; preanal pores, -1. Color, flesh color, with 



Figs. 131-13 



-A.Ml'lilsn.KXA CKCA. 



iiral size. 131, topof liead; 132 

 No. 25510, U.S.N.M. 



side of head. 



« Characters derived from Dumeril and Bibron's original description, Strauch's 

 notes npon the types, and Peters's figure of one of the types (Mon. Ber. Berlin 

 Akad. "Wiss., 1878, i)late facing p. 781, fig. 7). 



