. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. Zoology. 30 Bulletin Museum of Comparative Zoology, Vol. 141, No. 1. Fig. 23. Hemipenis morphology in Dromi'cus cursor (MCZ 6011) showing the typical apical awn of the melanofus species assemblage; semidiagrammatic. The organ is un- everted and dissected in situ. Approx. X 5. geneous one and in many respects is similar to the cantherigerus assemblage. As in the latter group there are eight supralabials, but here only the fourth and fifth enter the orbit. The number of scale rows may be 17 or 19, and the ventral scales number a
. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. Zoology. 30 Bulletin Museum of Comparative Zoology, Vol. 141, No. 1. Fig. 23. Hemipenis morphology in Dromi'cus cursor (MCZ 6011) showing the typical apical awn of the melanofus species assemblage; semidiagrammatic. The organ is un- everted and dissected in situ. Approx. X 5. geneous one and in many respects is similar to the cantherigerus assemblage. As in the latter group there are eight supralabials, but here only the fourth and fifth enter the orbit. The number of scale rows may be 17 or 19, and the ventral scales number appro-ximately between 150 and 200. In contrast to Alsophis, the number of sub- caudals is rarely over 100. The anal plate is divided. All of these snakes are moder- ate in size and are roughly between 600 and 1000 millimeters in total body length. A single apical pit is usually present on the dorsal body scales, but may be absent as in jiiliae mariae. Hemipenis. The hemipenis of cursor (Fig. 23) is shorter proportionately than in Alsophis cantherigerus, and the sulcus spermaticus is less deeply divided. As in that species, several rows of stout spines extend along the sides of the organ but, in contrast to it, small spines are also present between the diverging branches of the sulcus. The organ is generally weakly bifurcated and the apical ornament is dis- tinct from all other West Indian xenodon- tines. Here papillae are never present; instead, a series of membranous folds radi- ate from the apex and terminate in a transverse fold of tissue which encircles the tip of each lobe. This fold forms a well-defined apical disk on each lobe when the organ is everted. The sulcus forks and proceeds onto the disk and to the tip of each lobe. The structure of the hemipenis in the other species in this assemblage is essen- tially like that of cursor. Origin and Zoogeography. The melanotus group offers no problem of origin. This well-defined and closely related assem- blage is moiphological
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