270 



COLUBEID^. 



distance from the mouth. Eostral nearly twice as broad as deep ; 

 nasals as long as the praefrontals ; supraocular raised, its free 

 border pointed ; one prae- and three postoculars ; six or seven 

 upper labials, third and fourth entering the eye ; two pairs of 

 small chin-shields, in contact with each other. 22 to 24 scales 

 round the neck, 25 to 30 round the body ; scales with a short keel, 

 which is strong and tubercular in the males. Greyish or pale olive 

 above, whitish beneath, with dark cross-bands, narrower than the 

 interspaces between them, tapering to a point on the sides of the 

 belly ; belly uniform or with a series of dark cross-bars alternating 

 with spots. 



Total length 890 millim. ; tail 115. 



Western Tropical Pacific. 



a. (J . Hong Kong. Dr. J. G. Fischer. 



b. 2 ■ ? -Dr. Gilnther [P.]. 



207. HYDRELAPS. 



Maxillary longer than the lower aspect of the ectopterygoid, not 

 extending forwards as far as the palatine ; poison-fangs moderate, 

 followed, after an interspace, by 6 solid teeth. Snout short; 

 nostrils superior, in a single nasal which is in contact with its 

 feUow ; head-shields large ; no loreal or prsBoeular, the prefrontal 

 bordering the eye. Body moderately elongate, feebly compressed ; 

 scales imbricate ; ventrals small but well-developed. 



North Coast of Australia. 



1. Hydrelaps darwiniensis. (Plate XII. fig. 1.) 



Eye extremely small, about half as long as its distance from the 

 mouth. Rostral broader than deep, scarcely visible from above ; 

 frontal longer than broad, nearly as long as its distance from the 

 end of the snout, as long as or a little shorter than the parietals, its 

 lateral sides diverging posteriorly ; a single postocular ; temporals 

 1-1-2, anterior very large and descending between the fifth and 

 sixth labials ; six upper labials, third and fourth entering the eye ; 

 two pairs of small chin-shields, in contact with each other, the 

 anterior shorter than the posterior. Scales perfectly smooth, 

 imbricate, in 27 to 29 rows on the neck as well as on the body. 

 Ventrals 170-172. Annulate blackish and yellowish white, the 

 black rings broader than the white above, narrower beneath ; head 

 dark olive, spotted with black. 



Total length 435 millim. ; tail 43. 



North Australia, 



a-b. 2 (V. 170, 172). Port Darwin. R. G. S. Bnckland, Esq. [P.]. 



