482 OPHlOCEl'HziLTI)/E. 



lower jaw, passes the tjitipanic, and running along the pra;opercular 

 limbs meets the first channel. The nnited stem of both passes over 

 the suprascapula into the miiciferous system of the trnnk, after having 

 emitted a short branch towards the supraoccipital. 



The scapula is longer than the suprascapula ; ulna with a small 

 ovate foramen ; the radius docs not extend downwards to the sym- 

 physis of the humeri, and is quite flat, so that the cavity for the 

 pectoral muscles is very shallow ; there is a broad sHt between radius 

 and huments ; carpal bones very small ; the upper portion of the 

 coracoid broad, the lower short, thin, and narrow. The pubic bones 

 are elongate, triangular, and suspended from the symphysis of the 

 humeri. 



The vertebral column is composed of fifty-two short vertebrae. We 

 cannot distinguish a caudal portion, as the abdominal cavity is con- 

 tinued on to nearly the end of the tail. Nearly all the vertebras have 

 ribs suspended from long parapophyses, and the interha^mals are not 

 in immediate connexion with the skeleton ; neurals strongly inclined 

 backwards, rather feeble ; one interneural always corresponds to one 

 neural. 



25. Ophiocephalus niicropeltes. 



Opliicephalus micropeltcs, {Kulili^-i: Hass.) Cuv. ^ Val. vii. p. 427 ; 



Bleeh. Verhand. Batap. Genootsch. xxiii., Labyrinth, p. 12. 

 serpeutiuus, Cm:^- Val. vii. p. 429; Griff. Anim. Kingd. x. pi. 52. 



fig. 3. 



D. 44. A. 27. L. lat. 95. L. transv. 6/15. Vert. 53. 



A series of large teeth in the lower jaw and on the palatine bones. 

 The height of the body is contained six times in the total length, the 

 length of the head nearly four times. The width of the interorbital 

 space is much more than the extent of the snout, and contained three 

 times and three-fourths in the length of the head. Cleft of the 

 mouth large, extending behind the orbit. The scales on the upper 

 surface of the head are small, and there are aboiit seventeen series 

 of scales between the orbit and the angle of the pra3opereulum. The 

 ventral is not much shorter than the pectoral. Back and sides brown : 

 two series of alternate round light spots along the side ; the spots 

 are sometimes confluent, forming a zigzag band. Young brown, with 

 lighter longitudinal stripes. 



Fresh waters of Siam and of the East Indian Archipelago. 



a. Eighteen inches long : stuffed. Siam. From the Collection of 



the East India Company. — Type of 0. serpentinus. 

 h. Adult: skeleton. Piu'chased. 



Dr. V. Bleeker distinguishes another species from the present one, 

 which he calls 0. stevenm (Borneo, \\\. p. 444), and which is said to 

 have the body rather more elongate, its depth being one-seventh of 

 the total length. There appears also to be a difference in the colo- 

 ration of the dorsal fin, which he describes as having a broad brown 

 longitiidinal band in 0. mieropeltes, whilst it is violet in 0. stevensii 

 with several broad oblique lighter bands. 



