342 



TEIONYCIDiE. 



Hab. — The river Indus, the Ganges, and, according to Cantor, Penang 

 also. Other authenticated localities are Calcutta, Dacca in Bengal and 

 Futtehgur (N. W. Provinces). 



Family, TRIONYCID^. 



PrESHWATEE TufiTLES. 



Shell much depressed, covered with soft skin, feet strongly webhed, 

 claws 3 on all feet. Carnivorous. 



Emyda, Gray. 



Shell oval, depressed, only partly ossified, covered with soft skin, a 

 more or less broad margin remaining cartilaginous. Sternum united 

 tc thorax by cartilage. A broad flexible flap on each side of the pos- 

 terior sternal lobe. Peet strongly webbed. Claws 3-3. 



Emyda granosa, Sclmpff. Test., p. 127; Qunlh. Rep. Br. Ind., 

 p. 45. Trionyx granosa, Theob, Bept. Br. Ind., p. 32 ; Murray, ZooL, 

 ^c, Sind., p. 255 ; Gray, III. Ind. Zool. — The Bonqoma. 



Upper surface of shell and sternal plates granular ; the odd osseous 

 plate on the sternum is very small ; the plates of the posterior pair 

 rather small, far apart in young specimens, not confluent and only in 

 large individuals forming a suture together. Colour above, pale 

 greenish olive, with yellow spots on the head, neck, and shell, which 

 disappear with age. Hind margin of shell with 6-7, bony granular 

 plates. Grows to 10 inches. 



Hab. — The River Indus in Sind, extending into the Punjab and 

 N. W. Provinces. Common in lakes and dhunds. Abundant on the 

 Coromandel Coast, and in lower Bengal. Found also m Sikkim and 

 at Bombay. 



Trionyx, Geoff. 



Shell as in Emyda. Sternum sometimes with two pairs of extern- 

 ally visible osseous plates, and with the hinder lobe not dilated into 

 lateral valves. Muzzle produced into a nasal tube. Snout conically 

 pointed. 



Trionyx gangeticus, Cuv. Rep. Anim ; Murr. Zool., Src, Sind, 

 p. 256; Gunth. Rep. Br. Ind., p. 47 j Theob. Rep. Br. Ind., p. 28. T. 

 hurum, Gray, III. Ind. Zool. — The Ganges Tuetle. 



Carapace rather longer than broad, with a slight swelling on the 

 vertebral line. The anterior dorsal bone rather short, broad, rugose like 

 the other costal plates, and confluent with the first pair of costals. 

 The small tubercles of the epidermis are arranged in 12 or 13 irre- 

 gularly interrupted rows. In large individuals the lunate bone of the 

 sternum is granular. Colour variable, light to dark or olive green of 

 various shades, with2 or 3 pairs of brown ocelli, which disappear with age. 



Hab. — The Rivers Indus, Ganges, and tributaries up to Nepaul, 

 also the rivers of the Punjab and the N. W. Provinces. 



