([Figs. 83], [84].)
Two large poison-fangs, and only one or two small solid teeth near the posterior extremity of the maxillary. Head shields large; nostrils lateral, the nasal shields separated by the internasals. Body greatly elongate; scales smooth and imbricate; ventrals and subcaudals large.
Four species, distributed in the eastern parts of the Indian Ocean and in the Western Pacific.
P. laticaudatus (syn. P. fischeri; [fig. 84]).—Olive above, yellowish on the belly, with 29-48 black annuli.
Total length: 970 millimetres; tail 90.
Habitat: From the Bay of Bengal to the China Sea and the Western South Pacific Ocean.
P. colubrinus ([fig. 83]).—Olive above, yellowish on the belly, with 28-54 black annuli, some or all of which may be interrupted below.
Total length, 1,270 millimetres; tail 125.
Habitat: From the Bay of Bengal to the China Sea and the Western South Pacific Ocean.
P. muelleri.—62 black annuli, some of which are interrupted on the belly.