HERPETOLOGY OF PORTO RICO. 



685 



141 



suture starting- from the middle of the upper edge of the second supra- 

 labial and joining the rostral suture at the lateral horizontal edge, the 

 lower anterior nasal thus being in contact with first and second supra- 

 labial and the upper posterior one in contact with the second and third; 

 preocular large, as wide as the ocular, in contact with third labial; 

 ocular with but slightly convex anterior edge, in contact with third and 

 fourth supralabials; supraoculars, prefrontal, frontal, postoculars, and 

 parietals scale like, subequal; eye distinctly visible; 20 scale rows round 

 the body; about 3tin scales on the middle line of the body underneath 

 from chin to vent and 11 under the tail; tail ending in a spine. Color 

 above brown, each scale being dark brown on the termal two-thirds, 

 the base being abruptly pale; on the 

 smaller head scales this color pat- 

 tern does not exactly correspond 

 to the individual scales, and the 

 large head shields are brown, with 

 pale edges; underside whitish, the 

 dividing line between the color of 

 the upper and lower surfaces being 

 very irregular, with an angular 

 projection of the white color into 

 the brown on the side at the level of 

 the vent. 



Dimensions. 



mm. 



Tip of snout to vent 278 



Vent to tip of tail 6 



Diameter of body 9 



Variation. — The individual varia- 

 tion in scutellation and color is but 

 slight. The number of scale rows 

 in six specimens from Porto Rico 

 and Mona is 20; in 2 (U.S.N.M. 

 Nos. 29198 and 30908) it is 22. The 

 color of one of the specimens from Mona Island in the Hamburg 

 Museum (No. 1582), examined by me in August, 1901, was nearly 

 uniform whitish, having the appearance of an albino. 



Habitat. — The true Typhlops htinbricalis extends from South Amer- 

 ica into nearly all the Antillean islands. Thus, it is recorded from 

 Martinique, Guadeloupe, Dominica, St. Kitts, Antigua, the Virgin 

 Islands, Porto Rico, Mona, Haiti, Cuba, and Jamaica. 



In Porto Rico it has thus far been found only in the low land, not 

 far above sea level. There are two specimens in the Hamburg 

 Museum from Mona Island, collected by Mr. Bock in 1891 and 1894, 



143 144 



Figs. 141-144.— Typhlops lumbricalis. 

 3j x natural size. 141, top of head; 142, 

 side of head; 143, underside of head; 144, 

 anal region and underside of tail. 

 No. 27489, U.S.N.M. 



