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Show 618 MR. STANLEY S. FLOWER ON THE [May 16, 16. CHELONE MYDAS (L.). Ghelonia virgata, Cantor, p. 11; Giinth. Rept. Brit. Ind. p. 53. Ghelone nydas, Blgr. Cat. Chel. etc. p. 180. The Edible or Green Turtle occurs in the Straits of Malacca and Gulf of Siam ; there are two specimens from the coast of Perak in the Taiping Museum; I got one in Singapore in Sept. 1898. In the Siamese Museum are the skulls and shells of two individuals from Kofai, also a large stuffed specimen from the same island, caught about 11th May, 1897; it was a female, and contained a large number of eggs. It had one claw on each front flipper (a specimen I saw on the coast of Ceylon, Sept. 1898, had on each flipper one distinct claw and one rudimentary). Turtles' eggs are esteemed a luxury by the Siamese, and it seems the turtle-egg industry at Kofai is farmed out by Government, and the farmers' people take good care no one else catches the turtles when they come ashore to lay their eggs on the island. Size. The female from Kofai, Gulf of Siam, measured:- Length of carapace following curve 1108 mm. Breadth „ „ „ 1016 „ Length of tail, from posterior side of vent to tip. 86 „ „ fore flipper about 673 „ „ hind flipper 419 „ Hab. Tropical and subtropical seas. 17. CHELONE IMBRICATA (L.). Ghelonia imbricata, Cantor, p. 13. Caretta squamata, Giinth. Rept. Brit. Ind. p. 54. Chelone imbricata, Blgr. Cat Chel. etc. p. 183 (skull fig. p. 181) ; Blgr. Fauna Brit. Ind., Rept. p. 49 (young fig.). The Hawksbill Turtle occurs jn the Straits of Malacca and in the Gulf of Siam. One from Singapore was recorded in the P. Z. S. 1896, p. 680. The Siamese Museum contains three half-grown specimens from Kosichang, and in August 1898 I obtained an adult off the same island. Hab. Tropical and subtropical seas. 18. THALASSOCHELYS CARETTA (L.). Ghelonia olivacea, Cantor, p. 13. Caouana olivacea, Giinth. Rept. Brit. Ind. p. 52. Tlialassochelys caretta, Blgr. Cat. Chel. etc. p. 184. The Loggerhead Turtle occurs in the Straits of Malacca and in the Gulf of Siam, but is apparently less common than either of the preceding species. There is a specimen from Penang in the Taiping Museum ; one from Singapore was recorded in the P. Z. S. 1896, p. 860. The Siamese Museum contains a skull from Kofai; also a carapace, 698 m m . in length, from the same island, possibly belongs to this species. Hab. Tropical and subtropical seas. |