226 



SNAKES OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



"Maxillary a little longer than the ectopterygoid, extending 

 forwards beyond the palatine ; poison-fangs moderate, followed, 

 after a short interspace, by 8 to 10 grooved teeth; anterior 

 mandibular teeth feebly grooved. Snout short; nostrils su- 

 perior ; head-shields large or broken up into scales ; nasals in con- 

 tact with each other. Body moderate; scales imbricate; ven- 

 trals large, keeled in the middle." (Boulenger.) 



The genus is distributed in the Tropics, throughout the Malay 

 Archipelago and the western Pacific Ocean. Boulenger recog- 

 nizes four species, one of .which, Aipysurus annulatus Krefft, 

 Wall has placed in the genus Efnydocephahis. Only one species 

 has been recorded from the Philippines. 



AIPYSURUS EYDOUXII (Gray) 



Tomogaster eydonxii Gray, Cat. Vip. Snakes (1849) .59. 

 Thalassophis anguillxformis Schmidt, Abh. Natur. Hamburg 2 (1852) 



76, pi. 1. 

 Thalassophis mui-aenaefonnis Schmidt, Abh. Natur. Hamburg- 2 (1852) 



77. 

 Aipysurus Ixvis (non Lacepede) Guichenot, Voy. Pole Sud. Zool. 



3, Kept. (1853) 21, pi. 6; Dumefjl and Bibron, Erp. Gen. 7 (1854) 



1326, pi. 776, fig. 4; FiscHER, Abh. Natur. Hamburg. 3 (1856) 



32; Jan, Icon. Gen. (1872) 40, pi. 2, fig. 1. 

 Aipysurus viargaritophorus Bleeker. Nat. Tijds. Nederl. Ind. 1 6 



(1858) 49. 

 Aipysurus anguillxformis GiJnther, Rept. J3rit. India (1864) 357; 



Boettger, Zool. Anz. (1892) 420. 

 Aipysurus eydouxii Boulenger, Cat. Snakes Brit. Mus. 3 (1896) 304; 



Wall, Mem. As. Soc. Bengal 2 (1907-10) 189, figs. 5, A, B, C 



(after Jan). 



Descrijjtion of species. — (From Boulenger.) "Eye a httle 

 longer than its distance from the mouth. Rostral a little broader 

 than deep; upper head-shields regular; frontal large, once and 



two thirds to twice as long as 

 broad, longer than its distance 

 from the end of the snout, as 

 long as or a little longer than 

 the parietals; nasal in contact 

 with or narrowly separated 

 from the prseocular; one pr?e- 

 and two postoculars ; temporals 



a c 



Fig. 20. Aipysurus eydouxii (Gray) ; after 

 Jan, copied from Wall ; a, head, dorsal 

 view : ft, liead. lateral view : c. head 

 \'eiilral view. 



1 + 



or 2^-2; six upper la- 



bials, fourth entering the eye; 



anterior chin-shields shorter 

 than the posterior, which are separated by an azygous shield. 

 Scales smooth, in 17 rows. Ventrals, 140-142. 



