56 ON A LIZARD AND THREE SPECIES OK SALARIAS, 
ON A LIZARD AND THREE SPECIES OE 
SALAEIAS, &c. 
BY 
C. W. DE VIS, M.A. 
The Queensland Museum has been frequently indebted to two 
zealous friends, Mr. F. A. Blackman and Mr. D. Macplierson, for 
appai-ently new forms of vertebrates — more especially those 
which belong to tribes which are but too liable to be overlooked 
by observers to whom size or utility are the chief attractions. 
Mr. Blackman keeps a watchful eye upon, amongst other things, 
the smaller lizards, and we have no reason to fear that his 
pursuit (if them will cease for lack of interesting objects. That 
particular lizard for example which he now enables us to study 
is an addition tc the number of lines connecting the Seines with 
the Pygopidse. The latter are one of the peculiai-ities of the 
Australian fauna, and it is in that fauna rather than any other 
that we may expect to find whatever intermediate forms may 
be extant, and several are already known, between the com- 
paratively stout and strong-limbed Hinulias and the nearly 
limbless and snake-like Pygopus or Lialis. Every link of this 
kind is of gi-eat morphological interest : and, theoretically con- 
sidered, adds another to the difficulties of special creation. 
The lizard before us, collected by Mr. Blackman at Breakfast 
Creek, near Brisbane, fails to effect an entrance into any one of 
the genera known to the writer. It is excluded from Lygosoma 
audits nearer allies by the absence of a visible ear; by virtue 
of its full complement of toes, together with its scaly lower 
eyelid, it stands apart from Cheilomeles; and even from its 
nearest affine the Javan genus, Podophys, it is differentiated by 
BY C. W. DE VIS, M.A. 57 
tlie simple squaraation of its lower eyelid, the subrhomboidal 
form of its nasal, the non-triangular shape of its interoccipital, 
the unequal length of its toes, and the total closure of its aural 
orifice. We are therefore constrained to give it, provisionally, 
at least, a place and binomial of its own. 
SCINCIDiE. 
LYGOSOMINA. 
Caltptotis, n.g. 
Habit, elongate, subcylindrical ; limbs, distant, weak ; toes 5/5 
short, unequal, clawed; ear orifice, none; lower eyelid, scaly; 
supranasals, none ; scales, smooth ; nasals, lateral, distant, in a 
subrhomboidal shield. 
CALYPTOTIS FLAVIVENTER. 
Head, sub triangular, broader posteriorly than the neck, which 
is rather long. The rostral shield rises with an obtuse angle on 
the muzzle to the level of the fore-edge of the nasal orifice. 
The nasal orifice is round, and in the middle of the nasal shield. 
The prefrontal is long, covers the muzzle behind the rostral, 
and joins the loreal laterally with a long, straight suture. The 
base of the frontal is undulated to occupy the concave posterior 
edge of the prefrontal ; its sides converge to an acute posterior 
angle. The parietals are trapeziums ; the interoccipital is 
moderately large. Labials, '6IQ. Two large temporals, the 
anterior descending between the fifth and sixth labials. Mental, 
large, succeeded by four pairs of submandibular shields, of which 
the anterior pair are mesially conjoined. There are twenty-two 
rows of scales at the middle part of the trunk. The scales of 
the back and belly are subequal and hexagonal. The mesial row 
of subcaudals is larger than the others. The preanals are but 
slightly, if at all, enlarged. The distance between the limbs is 
rather more than twice that of the fore-limb from the tip of the 
snout. The length of the hind limb is rather more than one- 
third of the distance between the limbs. Tail considerably 
longer than the body and head togethei', but variable in length. 
58 ON A LIZARD AND THREE SPECIES OF SALARIAS, 
Colour, above shining brown ; on the back, six black lines, one 
traversing each row of dorsal scales ; below, yellowish, with a 
conspicuous patch of bright salmon colour, or red, before or 
behind the vent ; tail beneath, whitish, flecked with black ; 
flanks speckled with black ; face and lips with black and white. 
Length, 11 cm. Loc. Breakfast Creek (F. A. Blackman) ; 
Macleay Island, Moreton Bay (R. Tryon.) 
The very natural group of Blennies, passing under the name 
Salarias, though by no means so prolific in species foreign to 
Australia as the typical genus, is almost as numerously 
specialized in Queensland waters. What peculiar conditions 
may favour their multiplicity therein is yet to be ascertained — 
indeed, all the writer has been able to learn of their habits is 
that they hide beneath stones, or shells, or in the rock perfora- 
tions left by boring mollusca, whence they dart out after their 
prey ; that out of water they are extremely agile, leaping over 
the bare rocks, by the resilience of their scaleless body, in such 
a manner as almost to elude capture ; and that they turn 
ferociously on the capturer, with the design, often successful, of 
burying their long fangs in unwary fingers. Several species 
have been recorded from Moreton Bay, and to these may now be 
added three which, as well as the rest, have been made known 
to us by Mr. D. MacPherson. 
SALARIUS LUPUS. 
D. 30, A. 20. 
The height of the body and length of the head are each 5 
in the total length. Dorsal not notched, higher anteriorly, the 
third ray being three-fifths of the height of the body, the 
web behind the last ray not reaching the base of the caudal fin. 
No crest on the nape, nor tentacles on the head. A short 
simple filament, half as long as the diameter of the eye, over the 
orbit ; another, still shorter, at each anterior nares. Profile of 
nape and vertex, oblique ; of muzzle, convex. Lower canines, 
large; upper canines, small. Caudal subtruncate, slightly 
BY C. W. DE VIS, M.A. 59 
rounded. Ground colour, yellow ; immaculate on the caudal and 
pectoral fins ; trunk densely marbled with blackish-brown, the 
marblings forming a line of nearly confluent large blotch.es on 
the back ; dorsal and anal fins spotted on the rays, and marbled 
on the webs with blackish-brown ; no definite markings on the 
head. This fish is closely allied to, possibly identical with S. 
viperidens, mihi, from Cape York. In describing that fish 
(Proc. Lin. /Soc.jST. S.Wales, Vol. IX., p. 697) I omitted to mention 
a short fimbriated tentacle on the orbit, and a pair of very 
short submental tentacles. The chief differences between lupus 
and viperidens are the simple orbital and nasal tentacles of the 
former, and the absence of submental filaments, the greater 
anterior elevation of the dorsal, deeper form, yellow-ground 
colour, and a much less development of the mandible at the 
base of the great canine — a conspicuous feature — in viperidens. 
SALARIAS GALEATUS. 
D. 30, A. 22. 
The dorsal fin is distinctly emarginate. An elevated occipital 
crest is continued forwards between the orbits. A long lower 
canine is set unusually backwards towards the rictus. There is 
no upper canine. A row of papilla surround the orbit, but 
tentacles are altogether absent. The height of the body is 5|, 
the length of the head 5, in the total length. The head and trunk 
are much compressed. The anterior part of the dorsal fin is 
rather low ; the posterior elevated higher than the body and 
subfilamentose. The caudal pointed and subfilamentose. Colour' 
dark brown, with black spots on the trunk disposed in irregular 
lines. The anterior dorsal with a series of dark oblique lines. 
The anal with or without short longitudinal white lines. On 
the trunk are mesially curved and backwardly elongated white 
lines, the most posterior forming two parallel lines on the 
caudal peduncle or these markings may appear as dark lines on 
a pale brown ground colour, which becomes still paler on the 
caudal peduncle. 
60 ON A LIZARD AND THREE SPECIES OF SALARIAS. 
SALARIAS FURTIVUS, 
D. 34, A. 24. 
The preabdominal lieiglit of the body is 6|, the length of the 
head 6|-, in the total length ; dorsal not notched, of uniform, 
height, about half as high as the body, and not reaching the 
caudal fin. ITo crest nor tentacles whatever. Lower canines 
long ; upper ones short. Anterior profile of head, from upper 
edge of orbit to the muzzle, rather oblique. Caudal fin, short, 
rounded. Ground colour, yellow, with three or four rows of 
small faint dark spots on the hinder part of the body, and a row 
on the back below the dorsal fin. Anterior dorsal, with a dark 
blotch on each ray and adjacent part of web near the base ; soft 
dorsal, with three or four longitudinal dark stripes. A dark 
spot behind the eye. In a third specimen, the cheeks and chin 
are spotted ; the spots on the body are more conspicuous and 
form a mesial line of larger spots of which the spot behind the 
eye is the commencement. On the other hand, the markings 
of the dorsal fin are faint. The anal is black edged. 
OBJECTS EXHIBITED. 
Dr. Bancroft exhibited — (1), Moths of a grass-green colour, 
which had been bred from specimens of a caterpillar which he 
had observed to be very destructive to the foliage of the " bitter- 
bark," Alstonia constricia. (Dr. Bancroft also alluded to the 
growing reputation which this bitter-bark was attaining, both 
in Europe and America, and stated that this was partly due to 
the fact that chemists in Germany had made it a subject of tho- 
ough investigation. He also remarked that it was likely to 
supersede both quinine and strychnia for the purpose of giving 
tonicity to the stomach in cases of fever). (2), A sample of a 
very valuable rice — the celebrated American " Golden Hull " — 
procured from plants which had been self-sown in a swamp 
near Brisbane. (3), A scapular of a large turtle, derived from an