OCR Text |
Show 1899.] BATRACHIANS OF THE MALAY PENINSULA AND SIAM. 915 I have come across the following specimens :- j- i-. Number of Approximate length ^' circular folds. in millimetres. (i) Bangkok 356 350 (ii) „ (Feb. 1898) 320 304 (iii)* „ *294 294 (iv)* „ 312 282 (v)* „ 305 180 (vi)* ,, 308 136 (vii) Ayuthia (June 1897) (v(iiiix)) * CPheannatnga,b o1o8n0 0ft. 332 304 (£]* : [(April 1898) (xii): 111 297 285 290 317 287 313 196 (xiii)* „ (March 1898) 298 188 (xiv)* „ (April 1898). 294 174 The counted number of circular folds must always be more or less approximate, as they are not all complete rings, some bifurcating in places ; but this table shows how very much they vary in number in individuals regardless of the length. Mr. Wray has shown me a specimen obtained by him in the Larut Hills, Perak, at between 3000 and 4000 feet elevation, and Mr. A. G. B. Van Sommeren had in his collection one from the Penang Hills from about 2200 feet. Dr. Hanitsch (Rep. Raffl. Libr. & Mus. 1898, p. 5) records specimens from Ipoh, Kinta district of Perak, caught November 1897, and from Gunong Panti, Johore, caught June 1898. Habits. In life the tentacles are constantly being protruded and retracted, and the throat is in constant motion, like a frog's. These creatures are gentle and make no attempt to bite; although their usual movements are very slow aud deliberate, when they want to they can wriggle away with surprising speed. They do not feel at all slimy when handled. These remarks apply equally well to /. monochrous. Colour (in life). Very dark rich purple, each circular fold showing as a narrow paler ring. Along each side of the body a bright lemon-yellow line, very distinct and sharply defined at the edges, but varying very much in width in specimens of about equal length. The eyes, though so small, are bright; they are black, with a very narrow pale brown ring round them. The tentacles are white. Distribution. Mountains of Ceylon, Malabar, Eastern Himalayas, Khasi Hills, Burma, Siam, Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Mentawei Islands, Borneo, Java. * In the ten specimens marked with an asterisk the tentacle is considerably nearer the eye than the nostril; of its position in the remaining specimens I find I have made no note. |