The allantoic bladder is very large, and perhaps more free than in the true
Batagurs. I t consists of two halves with a narrow isthmus, the left half always the
larger. When dilated, it equals in size the whole of the other viscera put together,
and its walls are very delicate. The cloacal bladders are small and globose, and
covered internally with numerous villi. There are large glandular structures in the
inguinal region.
The apex of the lung is partially divided in two, and below this it is externally
contracted; the portion below this, again, consists of three lobes one before the
other, the terminal, or most inferior, being moderately long and fine, with the
kidneys behind and along its inner border. In a male, with the carapace 6 inches
long, the lung measured when distended 3*50 inches long, with a breadth at the
apex of 1"*97.
The iris is of a pale sparkling metallic yellowish-white, much mottled with black,
especially anteriorly and posteriorly, producing in some the appearance as if a black
band passed through the iris.
The axillary and inguinal septa are but little developed, and the vertebral formula
in the female is C. 9, D. 8, S. 3, 0. 19, or 20. In some males, there are
a fewer number of caudal vertebrae than in the female, although the tail is
considerably longer in the former than in the latter sex. But the greater' length
is brought about as in other species by the much longer and larger vertebrae of the
male. The transverse processes in the caudal vertebrae begin to show themselves
strongly on the seventh, and increase to the thirteenth, beyond which they diminish,
disappearing on the last three.
By its skull this genus is closely allied to B. thurgi, having a similarly formed
palate and internal nares, the former, however, being less pitted than in _5T. thv/rgi.
The grooving and ridging of the mandible are also the same, or nearly so, as in that
species, only the palate has a proportionally greater antero-posterior expansion, and
the coronoid process does not rise above the level of thepost-coronoid portion of the
ramiis, being outwardly directed and sessile. The sub-genera, JIardella and Morenia,
if there were no other characters but those derived from the skull to separate them,
might with propriety be united; but the different structure of their shells, and the
remarkably elongated lung of Ha/rdella, suffice to distinguish them as two subgeneric
modifications of Batagwr.
The skull is remarkably distinct from the skull of B. (M.) peter si, Andr.,
differing from that species in being much broader, and more especially in its having
a much shorter and broader muzzle.
This appears to be one of the most prevalent species in Arracan and Burma.
I t is thoroughly aquatic in its habits, but has nevertheless the power of living out
of water for a lengthened period, doubtless by reason of its large allantoic bladder.
I t is very gentle in its habits, and does not attempt to bite, but when suddenly
handled emits a kind of hissing noise, retracting itself into its shell. I t lives on the
bulbous roots of aquatic plants like its near congener, Batagv/r thv/rgi.
+ B a t a g u r (M o r e n ia ) P e t e r s i , Andr. Plate LIX.
Emye oceliata, Blyth., Journ. As..Soc., Bengal, vol. xxvii,p.. 281, 1854; id., h c., vol. xxxii, p. 82,
1859; Theobald, Cat. Kept. Journ. As. Soc., Bengal, vol. xxxvii, ex No., 1868, p. 13, plate.
Morenia oceliata, Gray, Suppl. Cat. Sh. Rept., B. M., 1870, p. 68.
The adult female is slightly smaller, and more elongately and narrowly oval
than the female of B. (M.) oceliata. The shell is more arched, with much
greater fullness over the fourth and fifth vertebráis than in B. (M.) oceliata, and like
the latter it has a vertebral ridge. The post-inguinal portion of the plastron also
is much broader than in the last mentioned species. The nuchal is long,
due to the circumstance that the anterior margin of the shell is hardly, if at all,
emargmate, the nuchal thus having more the appearance of a narrow marginal,
than of a nuchal plate. The proportions between the anterior and lateral margins
are the exact opposite of what prevails in B. oceliata, because the first marginal has
much greater antero-posterior breadth than the sixth marginal; this plate in
B. oceliata being much broader than any of the other marginal plates. The length
of the nuchal itself equals the breadth of the sixth marginal, whereas in B.
oceliata, the length of the nuchal is less than one-half the breadth of the sixth
marginal. The lateral marginals also are not so outwardly directed as in B. oceliata,
and in this they follow the more arched character of the shell, but the anterior
marginals are more upwardly reverted than in B . oceliata. The fourth marginal
in B. oceliata is applied to the whole of the outer surface of the axillary plate,
with the exception of a small surface, anteriorly to which the third marginal
touches, but in B. petersi the fourth marginal is only applied to the anterior half
of the outer surface of the axillary, and the third only touches the anterior
angle of the axillary. This character is persistent throughout a large series in B.
oceliata in which the fifth marginal is always largely excluded from articulating
with the axillary by the fourth marginal, whereas in B.petersi the fourth and fifth
marginals are nearly equally divided between the axillary. The vertebráis are of
nearly equal breadth; the first is longer than broad, with a posterior concave margin
and its anterior margin convex. The second, third and fourth shields are broader
than long,, the length diminishing as they are traced backwards; the fifth shield has
a broad anterior border like the other vertebráis. The ridge terminates on the
posterior border of the second, third, and partially on the fourth vertebral, in an
abrupt eminence. The outer margins of the post-gulars and of the preanals are somewhat
expanded; the gulars, anteriorly as in i?, oceliata, form a nearly straight line, and
each plate is triangular. The post-gular suture is relatively longer than in B. oceliata,
and the mesial preanal suture is very much shorter than in that species (see Duméril
and Bibron’s figure of type) ; the suture in B. petersi equalling less than one-half of
the mesial anal suture, while in B. oceliata the preanal suture nearly equals the
length of the anal suture. The pectorals also of B. petersi are relatively larger
than in B. oceliata. In B. oceliata the inguinal plate forms a suture with the sixth
z 4s