396 HYDROPHID^. 



Hydrophis Guntherii, Sp. Nov. 



Plate 



JJjyper jaw lorojecting much, beyond the lower. Yentrals 225. Scales 

 round neck in 19 rows^ 33-34 round the body. 



Head black, very small and . narrow. Neck very slender. Upper 

 jaw projecting much beyond the lower. Rostral as broad as hig4i. 

 Nasals twice as long as broad. Vertical pyriform. Occipitals narrow 

 and truncated, with a small shield behind, between their furcation. 

 Two large temporals alongside the occipitals, the anterior the largest, 

 and nearly entering the labial margin. Upper labials five, the first 

 very small, and with the second, in contact with the nasal ; 3rd and 

 4th enter the orbit. Pree-ocular one. Post-ocular one. First pair of 

 lower labials long and in contact with the first pair of chin shields, 

 which are in contact with each other. Scales smooth on the slender 

 anterior part of the body, bi-tuberculate on the posterior. The 

 ventral shields are twice as large as the adjoining scales on the slender 

 antei'ior part, split into two on the posterior, and almost uniformly 

 opposite each other. General colour yellowish. The trunk ventrally 

 black on the anterior slender portion, the sides with large roundish 

 yellow spots. There are 46 dark bands on the body, which become 

 nearly obsolete towards the tail, which is tipped broadly with black. 



Allied to S. gracilis, from which it differs in having a protruding 

 upper jaw, one pree-ocular, the anterior temporal nearly entering the labial 

 margin. Scales of the body not tuberculate, except on the posterior 

 portion, where they are bi-tuberculate. 



I have pleasure in associating with this species the name of our 

 veteran herpetologist. 



Le,nqth. — 32 inches. Tail 2f. 

 Enhydrina, Gray. 



Differs from Hydrophis in having a deep longitudinal cleft or notch 

 in front of the lower jaw. 



Enhydrina bengalensis. Gray, Vip. Snakes, p. 48 ; Gunth. Rep. 

 Br. Incl. p. 381. Hydrus schistosus. Cant. Mai. Rep. p. 132. H. 

 valakydyn, Boie. Isis, 1827. Valakadyn, Russel, Ind. Serp. 1. tab. ii. 



Head rather short, of moderate width. Neck and body moderately 

 elongate. Rostral small, lobuliform, its pi'ojecting point fitting into a 

 corresponding cavity of the lower jaw. The fourth upper labial below 

 the eye. Mental shield nai'row and long, situated in a groove. Throat 

 covered with scales. One post-ocular, sometimes divided into two. 

 Forty-eighi} series of scales round the neck. Scales scarcely imbricate, 

 hexagonal, each with a short keel. Ventrals 284-314 in number. Terminal 

 scale of the tail rather large. Attains 4 feet in length. The young 

 has black rhombic bands across the back, which disappear with age. 



Hah. — Sind, Kutch and Bombay Coast, the Madras Coast, and in 

 the Bay of Bengal, also Beloochistan and the Persian Gulf. 



Pelamis, Daud. 



Head fiat, very long. Snout spatulate. Neck stout. Nasal shields 



