HEKPETOLOGY <>F PUKTo KICO. 



705 



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1 



eqiuilino- its (H.^tiiiicc from the. tip of tlic snout iind the parietal suture; 

 nostril between two nasals; loreal luodeiate, tiapezoid, the posterior 

 ])order ])ein,<j;' stronoly eonvex; one preoeular separated from frontal; 

 two postoeulars, the lower one very narrow; temporals 1 + 2; 8 supra- 

 labials, third, fourth, and fifth enterinj^- eye, the tifth and following 

 ones abruptly Jiuich hioher than the anterior ones; 5 lower labials 

 in contact with anterior chin-shield, which is much shorter than the 

 posterior; 19 rows of smooth scales with two cons])i(uous apical 

 pores; 183 ventrals; anal d()ul)le; 118 pairs of sulx-audals. Color (in 

 alcohol) al)ove brownish drab, the indi\idual scales irreoidarly tipped 

 and edged with dusky; underneath whitish with dark-drab mottlings 

 on chin and throat and a series of similarl}^ colored dots on the lateral 

 canthus of each ventral shield, 

 forming a dotted line on each 

 side of the abdomen, each ven- 

 tral, moreover, posteriorly more 

 or l-ess irregularly edged with 

 brownish drab; a few brownish 

 irregular spots on the la])ials and 

 upper head shields, with a double 

 series of elongate l)rownish spots 

 on the upper neck; from anterior 

 nasal through eye a dark- brown- 

 ish streak contimiing on the sides 

 of neck and bod}' as a broken line 



of elongate spots; these spots which on the sides of the l)ody occupy 

 the lower half of every second or third scale in the liftli scale row, the 

 upper half being whitish or decidedly paler than the ground color. 



mm. 



Tip (.f snout t.. tip of tail 1, l^^O 



Vent to tip of tail ">-l'^ 



Variation. — As in the foregoing species, the scale formula and other 

 characters derived from the scutellation are unusually constant. Men- 

 tion has already Ijeen made of No. 25556, from Culebra Island, the 

 only one out of ?A specimens to have the exceptional number of 17 

 scale rows. At the same time it was remarked that this specimen is 

 easily identified as Alaophis antillensis by the characteristic pattern of 

 the fifth scale row — a feature first mentioned by Mr. Meerwarth. This 

 marking appears to ])e constant, howe\'er variable the coloration may 

 otherwise be. On the whole the coloration is nmch as in the speci- 

 men described above, but in the smaller specimens there is sometimes 

 an indistinct dusky vertebral line from the parietal suture backward, 

 while on the posterior part of the body and on the tail the scale rows 

 next to the ventrals darkens so as to form a more or less distinct longi- 

 tudinal band. 



Fio. 174 — V I' 



WTiiiVNMs Color pattern 



iniuiKi middle ol bods No l'S'^^1, C ^ N Ar 



NAT MUS 19U2- 



-45 



