Snakes of ceylon. 365 



Costals : Longer than broad and imbricate on the anterior 

 part of the body ; about as broad as long, imbricate, subim- 

 bricate, or juxtaposed on the posterior compressed part ; with 

 short, unequally bi- or tri-dentate keels occupying about the 

 median third of each scale ; the posterior tooth smaller than 

 the anterior. In 27 to 36 rows two heads-lengths behind the 

 head ; 33 to 44 in midbody ; and 34 to 43 two heads-lengths 

 before the vent. Ventrals : 296 to 398 (281 to 385, Boulenger) ; 

 entire throughout ; nearly twice as broad as the last costals. 



(b) Anomalies — Nasals : Rarely sutures from the nostril 

 detach a fragment which forms a pseudo-loreal. Prefrontals : 

 Rarely these fail to meet the 2nd supralabials. I have no 

 record of this deviation bilaterally. Prseoculars : A divided 

 third supralabial creates a pseudo lower prseocular occasion- 

 ally. Postoculars : Rarely one ; a divided 4th or 5th supra - 

 labial creates a pseudo third postocular. Temporals : Some- 

 times there is a large anterior shield ; a divided 6th supra - 

 labial may create a pseudo third anterior temporal. Supra- 

 labials : Subject to much variation. Sometimes only the 

 3rd and 4th touch the eye, or the 3rd and 5th, the 4th being 

 represented by a cuneate shield. A confluence of parts of the 

 3rd, 4th , and 5th again leads to many anomalies. Sublinguals : 

 Sometimes the fellows of the posterior pair are completely 

 separated by a scale. Cuneate : Rarely the series begins 

 after the 3rd infralabial, and more rarely only one shield 

 occurs between the 3rd and 4th infralabials. 



Costals : The keels are sometimes in places tridentate. 



Dentition. — From three skulls in my collection from 

 Baluchistan and Madras. Maxillary: Postnodal, 6 to 10.* 

 Palatine: 7 to 9. Pterygoid: 15 to 19. Mandibular: 16 to 17. 



Distribution.— (a) General : From the Persian Gulf to 

 China, Japan, and Papuasia. 



(b) Local : It is probably the commonest seasnake from 

 the Persian Gulf to Baluchistan. It is one of the commonest 

 hydrophids on both the Malabar and Coromandel Coasts of 



* I have examined these in over twenty specimens. 



