Hurter — Herpetology of Missouri. 69 



Family Amphitjmidae. 



No eyelids. Body elongated and eel-like. Two pairs of limbs, feebly 

 developed. Two or three digits on each limb. A single branchial 

 slit on each side of the neck. Teeth of maxillary and vomero-palatine 

 in two parallel, backwardly directed series along each upper jaw. 

 Premaxillaries united, developed from a single center, sending back 

 two strong processes, one in the roof of the mouth, the other between 

 the nasals and frontals on the upper surface of the snout. Vertebrae 

 amphicoelous. Carpus and tarsus cartilaginous. 



o. Amphiuma means Linn. Congo-Eel. Congo Snake. 



Sircna simile, Ghrysodonta larvae formis, Sirenoides didactylum, Am- 

 phiuma means s. didactyla, Amphiuma didaetyla, Amphiuma didae- 

 tyla et tridactylum, Amphiuma tridactyla, Muraenopsis tridactylus. 



Description. — Body long and eel-like. Head narrower and more 

 pointed than is usual among the amphibians. A single gill-slit on 

 each side. Eyes very small, covered by the skin. No external gills 

 in adults. Fore and hind limbs present, extremely feeble. Digits 

 on feet variable, usually two or three. Length of head (snout to gill- 

 clefts), about ten times in length from snout to vent. Tail about 

 one-fourth the total length, compressed, slender and pointed. Skin 

 smooth. (Hay.) 



Color. — Dark slaty or reddish brown, paler below. Lower jaw and 

 edge of upper lip yellowish. 



Size. — Congo Snakes may reach a length of three feet — 914 mm. 



Habitat. — Found from the Carolinas west to Louisiana 

 and up the Mississippi River as far north as Pemiscot 

 (Dr. Kingsolving) and Dunklin Counties in Missouri. I 

 have in my collection specimens from Little Rock, Ark., 

 but have never had the luck to collect one in Missouri. 



Habits. — The Congo Snake is a mud-loving animal, its 

 whole structure being adapted to burrowing in the mud 

 at the bottom of sloughs, creeks, and rivers. When in 

 New Orleans a few years ago, I caught several specimens 

 after a heavy rain in the gutters of the streets in the 

 outskirts of the city. The food of these salamanders con- 

 sists of all kinds of aquatic animals, small fish, beetles, 

 and mollusks. I never saw the pair from New Orleans, 

 which I kept in my aquarium for a whole season, eat any- 



