EXIIYDBIXA. 405 



scales round the neck, 29 to 33 round the middle of the body ; 

 scales smooth, rhomboidal and imbricate anteriorly, elsewhere 

 hexagonal, juxtaposed, each with two or more tubercles, which 

 are feeble in the female and very strong in the male. Yentrals 

 distinct only anteriorly, very feebly enlarged, 225-294. Bluish 

 black or greyish olive above in the adult, with more or less distinct 

 lighter cross bauds anteriorly. Young with the head and neck 

 black, the latter region with light transverse bands ; body with 

 rhombic black cross bands continued on to the belly, or sub- 

 interrupted on the sides, or black with a series of elliptical vertical 

 whitish spots on each side. 



Total length 3 feet. 



ffab. From the Persian Gulf and the Makran coast, along the 

 coasts of India and Burma to the Indian Archipelago. 



503. Hydrophis cantoris. 



Hydrus gracilis, part., Cantor, J. A. S. B. xvi, 1847, p. 1051. 

 Hvdrophis cantoris, GiintJi. Sept. B. I. p. 374, pi. xxv, fig. U ; Anders. 

 P. Z. S. 1871, p. 192 ; Boettger, Ber. Senck. Ges. 1889, p. 304. 



Head very small, narrow ; body long, extremely slender an- 

 teriorly. Rostral considerably deeper than broad ; frontal small, 

 louger than broad, hardly as long as its distance from the rostral ; one 

 pra>and one postocular ; a single anterior temporal, followed by a 

 second equally large shield; 6 upper labials, third and fourth 

 entering the eye ; two pairs of small chin-shields, in contact with 

 each other. 23 to 25 scales round the neck, 41 round the middle 

 of the body; scales smooth, rhomboidal and imbricate anteriorly, 

 elsewhere hexagonal, juxtaposed, each with two or three tubercles 

 one before the other. Ventrals hardly enlarged, 41 2-456. Body 

 dark olive or blackish anteriorly, with yellowish cross bands above : 

 posterior part of body olive above, yellowish on the sides ; tail 

 with olive vertical bars ; a blackish streak along the belly. 



Total length 4 feet. 



Hab. The type specimen is from Pinang. Others have been 

 obtained from the mouth of the Hooghly, Ganjam, and Madras. 



Genus ENHYDRINA, 

 Gray, Cat. Snakes, p. 47, 1849. 



Maxillary a little longer than transpalatine, with a pair of large 

 grooved fangs, followed by four solid teeth. Nostrils superior: 

 nasals in contact with each other ; head-shields large ; mental 

 narrow, partly concealed in a deep symphysial groove. Body 

 moderately elongate; scales imbricate. Ventrals distinct, very 

 small. 



A single species. 



