208. HYDROPHIS. 283 
further back the body annulate with black, the interspaces narrow 
and pale olive above, broader and yellow beneath. 
Total length 970 millim.; tail 95. 
Borneo. 
a, Q (V. 416). Borneo. (Type.) 
The specimen contains fully developed young, which differ from 
the mother in the prefrontals forming a suture, instead of being 
separated by the frontal. 
19. Hydrophis melanocephalus. (Pxiaty XV.) 
eye). sublevis, var. melanocephala, part., Gray, Cat. p. 53 
49). 
Head very small; body long, very slender anteriorly. Rostral 
a little broader than deep ; frontal nearly twice as long as broad, as 
long as its distance from the rostral, a little shorter than the 
parietals; one pree- and one postocular ; a single anterior temporal ; 
seven or eight upper labials, third and fourth or third, fourth, and 
fifth entering the eye, second largest and in contact with the pre- 
frontal ; two pairs of small chin-shields, in contact with each other. 
25 scales round the neck, 35 round the body; all the scales 
rhomboidal and imbricate, on the neck smooth, on the body with a 
small tubercle or short keel. Ventrals feebly enlarged, 329. 
Head and anterior part of body black, the former with a yellowish 
spot on the forehead and a yellowish streak behind the eye, the 
latter with yellow rings interrupted below ; body olive above, yellow 
beneath, with black annuli, which are broader on the back. 
Total length 1070 millim.; tail 85. 
Indian Ocean. 
a. Q (V. 829). Indian Ocean. Sir E. Belcher [P.]. (Type.) 
20. Hydrophis torquatus. 
Hydrophis nigrocincta, part., Schleg. Phys. Serp. ii. p. 506, pl. xviii. 
figs. 11 & 12 (1887). 
Hydrus nigrocinctus, Cantor, Cat. Mal. Rept. p. 128 (1847). 
Hydrophis torquata, Giinth. Rept. Brit. Ind. p. 369, pl. xxv. fig. H 
(1864) ; Bouleng. Faun. Ind., Rept. p. 402 (1890). 
Head small; anterior part of body slender, its diameter about 
one third the depth of the posterior part. Rostral broader than 
deep; nasals longer than the frontal, at least twice as long as the 
suture between the prefrontals; frontal small, as long as broad 
or a little longer than broad, shorter than its distance from the 
rostral, much shorter than the parietals; one pre- and one post- 
ocular; prefrontal in contact with the second labial; a single, 
large anterior temporal ; six or seven upper labials, second largest, 
third and fourth entering the eye; two pairs of subequal chin- 
shields, in contact with each other. 33 or 35 scales round the 
neck, 43 or 45 round the body; scales imbricate and keeled. 
