ox THE ()C(;i;KKENCE of AMPHIUMA, the SO-CALLED 

 CONGO SNAKE, IN VIKGINIA. 



By High M. Smith, 



AnniHtant, I'. S. Fink ('ommi union. 



The "Congo snake" {Amphiuma means Garden), according to T*ro- 

 fessor Cope,' inhabits the austroriparian region, not being found west 

 of Louisiana nor north of Arkansas in tlie Mississippi Valley. The 

 northern limit of its distribution on the Atlantic coast is not stated 

 by Coi)e, but Jordan- gives tho range as extending from Arkansas to 

 North Carolina and southward. The U. S. ]National Museum collection 

 contains specimens from Indiana, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, 

 Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. From the last- 

 named State there is a single specimen, taken at Tarboro, a town on 

 Tar river, in Edgecombe county. This is the most eastern locality 

 from which the species has been recorded as far as my information 

 goes, with the exception of some examples from southeast Virginia, to 

 which reference will now be made. 



In October, 180ii, while excavations were in i)rogre8s for an electric 

 railway between Old Point Comfort and Hamj)ton, Virginia, the work- 

 ingmen unearthed six or eight specimens of Amphiuma of various sizes, 

 the largest about 20 inches long. One of these was sent to Washing- 

 ton for identification by my friend Capt. N. Kaynor, of Hamilton. This 

 specimen is now in the U. S. National Museum (Cat.. No. 19615). In 

 April, 1897, Capt. Kaynor forwarded two more specimens, each 20 inches 

 long, from the same locality. These were sent alive in a small i)ail of 

 water, and one was retained in an aquarium in the L^ S. Fish Commis- 

 sion building, Washington, \). C, until October, 1897. 



All of these animals were observed at a depth of 2 or 3 feet beneath 

 the surface, some being below and some above the water level. They 

 were not found in one particular spot, but inhabited an area a quarter 

 of a mile in extent about 1^ miles from James river, comprising the 

 lowest ])art of a tract of low farming land, where, during winter, water 



' Batrachia of North America, 1889. 



- Manual of the ^'e^teb rates, 1890, 5th ed. 



Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. XXI— No, 1 150. 



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