318 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 206 



irregular dark blotches extends down the sides, bordered above by the 

 wide light dorsolateral stripes; between these stripes are irregular 

 transverse dark blotches, especially prominent above the anus where 

 the light stripes have faded out; upper lid with three dark triangular 

 blotches bordered by light lines; edge of lower jaw dark, with a single 

 row of large round light spots ; venter otherwise pale ohve-buff , a little 

 darker posteriorly; legs with heavy dark crossbars above, continued 

 on top of feet ; posterior femur slate-gray, with small darker marblings. 

 Sides of body irregularly spotted above, becoming paler below. 



Remarks. — To the synonymy of Leptodadylus ocellatus it is neces- 

 sary to add Girard's (1853) L. caliginosus. The two cotypes, USNM 

 7389, from Rio de Janeiro collected by the U. S. Exploring Expedition, 

 are still in good condition, considering their age. The larger of the 

 two is 73 mm. long, the smaller 50 mm., and both can be closely 

 matched among fresh specimens of ocellatus collected by me in or near 

 the city of Rio de Janeiro. The variation in the shape and position of 

 the vomerine teeth in ocellatus is considerable, so that their greater 

 distance apart in the type of caliginosus as compared to another ex- 

 ample called ocellatus by Girard (1858, p. 32) is of no significance. 

 Occasionally an adult ocellatus is found in which the longitudinal 

 glandular dorsal folds are reduced or nearly lacking, and the occur- 

 rence of this condition in the larger of the two cotypes caused Girard 

 to state that the skin was "smooth in the adult". The other supposed 

 differences between caliginosus and ocellatus (in the former the phrenic 

 region is more depressed, the upper eyelid less projecting, the arms 

 shorter, and the thighs stouter) disappear when even a small series of 

 ocellatus is studied and measured, provided that the great differences 

 in bodily proportions due to age and sex, not realized by Girard, are 

 considered. 



GGnther's citation of a Mexican "caliginosus" has been placed in 

 the sjmonymy of Leptodadylus melanonotus (Hallo well), by Kellogg 

 (1932, p. 88). If Girard had stated the total length (73 mm.) of the 

 larger of his cotypes of caliginosus, the confusion begun by Giinther's 

 misidentification of the Museum GuUding specimens sent to the British 

 Museum and listed in 1858 as caliginosus might not have occurred, 

 since neither podicipinus Cope nor melanonotus (Hallowell) are over 

 50 mm. in length, these being the two species repeatedly called 

 caliginosus by Boulenger and Giinther. Even so, this cotype was 

 far from being as large as some members of the species; USNM 

 97489, a female from Santa Alexandrina in the city of Rio de Janeiro, 

 is 120 mm. long, and a male from ltd, Santa Catarina, USNM 103907, 

 is 132 nun. long, whUe Miiller and Hellmich (1936, p. 44) report the 

 largest female from Chaco as being 108 mm. in length, and the largest 

 male 95 mm. 



