392 HYDROPHID^. 



pairs of chin shields in contact with each other. Scales in 29-33 rows 

 round the neck, slightly imbricate, rhombic, and faintly keeled, those on 

 the highest part of the body rather longer than high. Ventrals 320, 

 360, 406, 426, twice or thrice as large as the scales of the adjoining 

 series ; almost all ai'e entire, not longitudinally divided or bi-tubercular. 

 Anals shields four, the outer large. Terminal scale of the tail small, 

 or of moderate size. 



Back greenish olive, yellowish on the sides and belly. Trunk with 

 from 50 to 75 black cross bands, which are broadest on the back and 

 broader than the interspaces of the ground colour; on the sides they 

 are narrower, sometimes disappearing on the sides and belly of adult 

 or aged specimens, or visible only as spots on the ventral shields. In 

 young or half-grown specimens the bands surround the body entirely, 

 and are sometimes joined by a black band running along the whole 

 line of the ventral shields. Head greenish olive above, yellowish on the 

 sides; in the young black, variegated with yellow, the yellow colour 

 sometimes forming a frontal and temporal band. 



Hah. — Sind, Kutch and Bombay Coasts, also the Coasts of Ceylon, 

 Madras, Bay of Bengal, East Indian Archipelago and the Seas of China 

 and Japan. Attains to a length of 7 feet. 



Hydrophis chloris, Baud. Hist. Rep. vii. p. 377; Giinth. Rep. 

 Brit. hid. p. 370 ; Fayr. TJianat. p. 29. Hydrophis obscura, Gray, 

 Vip. Snakes, p. 49 ; Russell, Ind. Serp. ii. pi. 7. 



Head very small, of moderate width. Neck slender, the length of the 

 thin part of the body being more than one-third of the total. Rostral 

 very small, broader than high. One post-ocular; third upper labial not 

 in contact with the nasal. Two pairs of chin shields, in contact with 

 each other. Scales on the neck in 31-33 series, those on the back with 

 faint keel, and with a small tubercle near the apex. Ventrals distinct, 

 not much larger than the adjoining series, 473-500 in number. 

 Prge-anal shields four, the outer are very large. Trunk greenish olive 

 above, yellowish on the side and below, with 59-67, black, rhombic, 

 blackish bands across the back, narrower and fainter on the sides, and 

 extending on the belly ; their angles on the vertebral line are somtimes 

 confluent on the antei.'ior part of the body. Head and anterior part 

 of the belly entirely black. 



Hah. — Sind, Kutch and Bombay Coasts, also the Coasts of Madras, 

 Bay of Bengal and Penang. Attains to nearly 4 feet in length. 



Hydrophis Lindsayi, Gray, Vip. Snakes, p. 50; Gunih. Rep. Br. 

 Ind. p. 371. Aturia lindsayi. Gray, Zool. Misc. p. 61. 



Very similar to H. chloris, but has a shorter neck. Rostral shield 

 as long as broad. Ventral shields twice as large as the adjoining 

 series, 345-449 in number, a very few longitudinally divided. 48 to 58 

 blackish bi-own bands across the back, those on the neck form com- 

 plete rings, the middle and posterior extending only to the middle of 

 the side, and twice as broad as the interspaces of the ground colour. 

 Head and anterior part of the belly black. 



