SEA SNAKES IN THE INDIAN MUSEUM. 



280 



Rostra/, — portion seen above half the suture between the nasals. Prefrontals 

 touch the 2nd supralabial. Frontal, —sutures subequal. Temporals, — one anterior on 

 right side, two on left, behind which two small scales border the parietals. Marginals, — 

 one small, between the 3rd and 4th infralabials. Infralabials, — four. The suture 

 between the first subequal to that between the anterior sublinguals, 4th largest, and 

 in contact with three scales behind. Sublinguals, — two well-developed pairs, both in 

 contact. Costals, — imbricate everywhere. 



This is obviously a species hitherto not described. The specimen is in bad pre- 

 servation, being very sodden, faded, and very young. The scales can be with difficulty 

 counted, and a rent in the neck makes it probable that the ventrals might count from 

 15 to 30 more than the 420 I count up to this point. It is girt with 59 well-defined 

 annuli, not confluent ventrally, little if at all broader vertebrally, and at midcosta about 

 as broad as the interspaces. The number of scales anteriorly, together with the ventrals, 

 declare its specific identity. 



13. Distira ornata (Gray). 



Distira ornata, Blgr. Cat. Snakes Brit. Mus., Vol. Ill, p. 290. 



,, ,, Wall hi Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1903, pp. 95 & 101. 



Distira andamanica, Annandale in Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, 1905, p. 194. 











Scales. 













cfl 





1 t« 











-G 





JZ 











bO 





Ml 





Museum 

 No. 



Habitat. 



Donor. 







C 



Ventrals. 









W CD 



si 



H 







X> 



-0 



en £ 



O <u 





I+3H 



Trivandrum 



Trivandrum Mus. (Exchanged) 



35 



46 



41 



273 



15238 



Andamans 



Marine Survey (Type of Distira andamanica) 



33 



39 



35 



245 



15266 



Colombo 



Marine Survey 



35 



41 



38 



232 



Rostral, — portion seen from above half or less than half the suture between the 

 na.sa.}$.—Prcefrontals touch the 2nd supralabial (except in two specimens out of 15). 

 Frontal, — parietal sutures longest but not twice the prefrontals. Temporals, — two or 

 three anterior, the uppermost large, and succeeded by two or three small scales in contact 

 with the parietals. Marginals, — none. Infralabials, — five. Suture between the first 

 subequal to, or smaller than that between the anterior sublinguals ; the 5th largest, and 

 in "contact with three behind. Sublinguals,-— two well-developed pairs, the posterior 

 separated by two or three scales. Costals, — subimbricate or juxtaposed anteriorly, 

 juxtaposed posteriorly. 



