THE PRINCIPAL SPECIES OF POISONOUS SNAKES 141 
nostrils lateral, the nasal shields separated by the internasals. 
Body greatly elongate ; scales smooth and imbricate ; ventrals and 
subcaudals large. 
Four species, distributed in the eastern parts of the Indian 
Ocean and in the Western Pacific. 
P. laticaudatus (syn. P. fischeri; fig. 84).—Olive above, 
yellowish on the belly, with 29—48 black annuli. 
Total length : 970 millimetres; tail 90. 
Habitat: From the Bay of Bengal to the China Sea and the 
Western South Pacific Ocean. 
P. colubrinus (fig. 83).—Olive above, yellowish on the belly, 
with 28—54 black annuli, some or all of which may be interrupted 
below. 
Total length, 1,270 millimetres ; tail 125. 
Habitat: From the Bay of Bengal to the China Sea and the 
Western South Pacific Ocean. 
P. muelleri.—62 black annuli, some of which are interrupted 
on the belly. 
Habitat: Only found in the South Pacific Ocean (subtropical 
zone), as far as the New Hebrides and the shores of Tasmania. 
P. schistorhynchus.—Coloration and size as in P. colubrinus ; 
body with 25—45 annuli. 
Habitat : Western Tropical Pacific. 
