SERPENTES. 131 



Laticauda laticaudata (Linn:6). 

 Linn£, Syst. nat., ed. 10, 1758, 1, p. 222. Stejnegeb, Bull. 58, U. S. nat. mus., 1907, p. 402-408. 



Type locality: — The Indies. 



This generic name was used by Cantor (Cat. Malay rept., p. 125) in 1847; 

 for its history see Stejneger, loc. cit. 



Dr. Stejneger in this paper has thrown a deal of light on the status of many 

 of the sea-snakes. He has described L. laticaudata, and also L. coluhrina, in 

 such a way as to give to each full specific rank. The differences between the 

 species would warrant this, were they constant; but since intermediate indi- 

 viduals occur, it seems better to consider that we are dealing with a single species, 

 embracing two subspecifically varying forms, which occur over practically the 

 same area. The subspecies may be known and characterized as follows : — 



Laticauda laticaudata laticaudata (Linne). Scales in 19 rows. Ventrals 

 210-247; subcaudals 25-47. No unpaired shield between the prefrontals; 

 upper lip often dark in color. Black annuli on body from 29 to 58 in number, 

 on tail from 2 to 5. 



Laticauda laticaudata coluhrina (Schneider). Scales in 21-25 rows. Ven- 

 trals 195-247; subcaudals 29-45. Generally an unpaired shield between the 

 prefrontals. Upper lip usually all yellow; black annuli of body from 25 to 54 

 in number, on tail from 2 to 6. 



In L. I. coluhrina the azygous shield is sometimes lacking, therefore we 

 might say that these examples were specimens of the first-mentioned subspecies 

 in which the addition of two or more rows of scales had taken place. Such a 

 specimen from Queensland is mentioned by Stejneger (loc. cit., p. 408) as having 

 been examined in the Christiana museum. Werner (Mitt. Zool. sammlung 

 mas. nat. Berlin, 1900, 1, p. 104) records the existence of a similar specimen in 

 the Vienna museum. In the collection of the M. C. Z. there are two specimens 

 which are of interest. One is from the Indian Ocean (4,831), with 23 rows of 

 scales, and lacking the azygous shield; the other is from New Caledonia (6,790).' 

 This the writer obtained at the last Paris Exposition in 1900, as it was peculiar 

 in having a prolongation of the frontal, separating the prefrontals as if an 

 azygous shield were present. In the series here, some twenty-five specimens 

 from widely separated localities, no variation in the number of oculars or tem- 

 porals occurs in either subspecies. Nor can characters be found in the arrange- 

 ments of cephalic plates or colors which regularly serve to separate these forms. 

 The usual number of supralabials is seven in each case; eight occur on one side 



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