318 MR. G. KREFFT ON N KW AUSTRALIAN SNAKES. [May 13,
ceous sort of structure ; and the form altogether presents very much
tiie appearance of a bug. Ventral sucker round and rather deep.
Length about 3 lines, breadth about 2| lines.
Hab. 1 Old collection.
5. Descriptions of new Australian Snakes. By Gerard
Krefft, F.L.S.^ C.M.Z.S., Curator and Secretary of the
Australian Museum at Sydney, N.S.W.
Cacophis fordei. (Figs. 1 & 2.)
Scales in 15 rows. Abdominal plates ? Subcaudals 1
Two anal plates.
Total length 13 inches, head |, tail 1|.
Figs. 1 & 2.
IIIIIIIB
Cdcoph is fordei.
Body elongate and rounded ; head rather small, not distinct from
trunk, flat, regularly shielded ; vertical moderate, with a very sharp
angle behind ; superciliaries much smaller, occipitals slightly larger
than the vertical ; rostral rather depressed, with a groove on its
lower edge ; one anterior, two posterior oculars ; one large and elon-
gate temporal shield, with two others behind, the upper one being
nearly as large as the first temporal ; six upper labials, the third and
fourth coming into the orbit ; these shields increase from the first to
the last, which is the largest ; the lower labials are also six in number ;
the eye is small, with rounded pupil ; scales hexagonal, about as
broad as they are long, except the upper rows on the back, which
are more elongate. The head is scarcely to be distinguished from
the body, and for one-fourth of the whole length there is no increase
in size ; the body then gradually enlarges, being much stouter pos-
teriorly, with a short and very distinct tail. In young and half-
grown individuals these characters are not so clearly defined ; the
tail is nearly of the same size as in the adult, rather stout, but dis-
tinct from the body. The general colour is a kind of sepia-brown
above, in adults much lighter anteriorlj', a white or yellowish collar
BioStor
