208. HTBKOPHIS. 283 



further back the body annulate with black, the interspaces narrow 

 and pale olive above, broader and yellow beneath. 



Total length 970 millim. ; tail 95. 



Borneo. 



a. 5 (V. 416). Borneo. (Type.) 



The specimen contains fully developed young, which differ from 

 the mother in the prsefrontals forming a suture, instead of being 

 separated by the frontal. 



19. HydropMs melanocephalus. (Plahs XV.) 



Hydrophis sublsevis, '^ar. melanocephala, part., Gray, Cat. p. 53 

 (1849). 



Head very small ; body long, very slender anteriorly. Eostral 

 a little broader than deep ; frontal nearly twice as long as broad, as 

 long as its distance from the rostral, a little shorter than the 

 parietals ; one prse- and one postocular ; a single anterior temporal ; 

 seven or eight upper labials, third and fourth or third, fourth, and 

 fifth entering the eye, second largest and in contact with the prse- 

 frontal ; two pairs of small chin-shields, in contact with each other. 

 25 scales round the neck, 35 round the body; all the scales 

 rhomboidal and imbricate, on the neck smooth, on the body vrith a 

 small tubercle or short keel. Ventrals feebly enlarged, 329. 

 Head and anterior part of body black, the former with a yellowish 

 spot on the forehead and a yellowish streak behind the' eye, the 

 latter with yeUow rings interrupted below ; body oUve above, yellow 

 beneath, with black annuli, which are broader on the back. 



Total length 1070 millim. ; tail 85. 



Indian Ocean. 



o. $ (V. 329). Indian Ocean. Sir E. Belcher [P.]. (Type.) 



20. Hydrophis torciuatus. 



Hydrophis nigrocincta, part., ScMeg. Phys. Serp. ii. p. 606, pi. xviii. 



figs. 11 & 12 (1837). 

 Hydrus nigrocinctua, Cantor, Cat. Mai. Rept. p. 128 (1847). 

 Hydrophis torquata, Giinth. Rept. Brit. Ind. p. 369, pi. xxv. fig. H 



(1864) ; Bouknff. Faun. Ind., R^t. p. 402 (1890). 



Head small ; anterior part of body slender, its diameter about 

 one third the depth of the posterior part. Eostral broader than 

 deep ; nasals longer than the frontal, at least twice as long as the 

 suture between the prsefrontals ; frontal small, as long as broad 

 or a little longer than broad, shorter than its distance from the 

 rostral, much shorter than the parietals ; one prse- and one post- 

 ocular; prsefrontal in contact with the second labial; a single, 

 large anterior temporal ; six or seven upper labials, second largest, 

 third and fourth entering the eye ; two pairs of subequal chin- 

 shields, in contact with each other. 33 or 35 scales round the 

 neck, 43 or 45 round the body; scales imbricate and keeled. 



