396 SNAKES OF CEYLON. 



collection from the Orissa Coast. One in the Indian Museum 

 from Rangoon appears to be the only record from that coast. 

 This is No. 8,269 of Sclater's list identified by him as H. 

 dayanus. Another in the same institution is from Mergui. 

 The type is reported from Java. There is one in the British 

 Museum from Hong Kong, and I saw two specimens in the 

 Hong Kong Museum labelled " Swatow. " Herz, too, obtained 

 one irom Hainan. 



Genus ASTROTIA. 



(Der. unknown to me.) 



General Characters. — Length considerable. Neck robust. 

 Body massive. 



Cranial Osteological Characters.* — Nasals: Sutured to pre- 

 frontals and frontal, longer than frontal. Prefrontals: 

 Meeting parietal and postfrontals. Frontal : Broader than 

 long, meeting postfrontal at rim of orbit. Parietal : Not 

 keeled inferiorly. Quadrate : Oblique from above backwards, 

 extreme length superiorly about half its depth. Maxilla : 

 Not extending beyond palatine anteriorly, extending beyond 

 palatine posteriorly. 



Dentition.* — Maxillary : Postnodal, 7 ; feebly scaphi- 

 odont. Palatine: 7 to 8; anododont, isodont (?) ; no edentu- 

 lous space posteriorly. Pterygoid : 20 ; anododont, isodont (?) ; 

 posterior half edentulous. Mandibular : 18 to 19 ; anododont, 

 scaphiodont. 



There is one species only, viz., stokesi. 



Astrotia stokesi (Gray). 



Named in honour of Captain Stokes. 



Stokes's Seasnake. 



Synonymy. — Hydrus major, H. stokesi, Hydrophis annulatus, 

 H. guttata, Astrotia schizopholis, Distira stokesi. 



* I have no skull, and these details are taken from Boulenger's figures 

 (Catalogue, Vol. III., p. 280). 



