BOMBINATOR. 153 



howevei', these excrescences are otteu not different 

 from those of B. vjncus, which in the males may 

 exceptionally assume the form of spines. Gular fold 

 usually absent or rather indistinct; sometimes, how- 

 ever, as well marked as in B. igneus. 



Upper parts yellowish, greyish-brown, or olive, as if 

 powdered with metallic bronzy dust, uniform or with 

 dark spots disposed as in B. igneus ; usually a pair of 

 more or less distinct, light yellowish or whitish, round 

 spots between the shoulders, and another pair further 

 back in the middle of the body. Black has been as- 

 signed as the ground colour of the lower surfaces in B. 

 igneus ; in this species in most cases these parts should 

 be described as yellow, varying from pale straw-colour 

 to orange, with greyish-blue or black spots or mar- 

 blings, which may be lighter in the centre. In some 

 specimens, however, the black is more diffused, and 

 might be regarded as the ground colour on which 

 small yellow blotches are irregularly distributed, in 

 addition to white dots, as in B. igneus ; such is the 

 specimen from Basle figured on PI. VI, fig. 4, and 

 I have seen similar ones from Belgium and Normandy. 



The yellow of the lower surface of the thigh sends 

 up a process which is well visible from behind when 

 the animal swims, as a patch halfway between the 

 vent and the leg, and the bright colour of the lower 

 surface of the arm often extends uninterrupted across 

 the breast, which it never does in B. igneus. The 

 fingers and toes are tipped with bright yellow, and 

 the yellow palmar and plantar spots involve the whole 

 of the inner digit, unless interrupted by a small black 

 spot, sometimes the whole of the second, and may 

 even extend on their upper surface ; the plantar spot 

 is often, but by no means always, confluent with the 

 tarsal. In specimens from the peninsula of Italy 

 (the typical B. imcliyinis of Fitzinger), such as the 

 one from Calabria figured on PI. VI, fig. 3, the 

 yellow tarsal spot is absent or reduced to a few small 

 marblings, and the lower surface of the tibia may also 



