A new skink (Emoia: Lacertilia: Reptilia) from the forest of Fiji

6 Pages·1995·2.6 MB·

by  G R Zug

PROCEEDINGSOFTHEBIOLOGICALSOCIETYOFWASHINGTON
108(3):395-400. 1995.
A new skink (Emoia: Lacertilia: Reptilia) from the
forest of Fiji
George R. Zug and Ivan Ineich
(GRZ) Department ofVertebrate Zoology, National Museum ofNatural History,
Washington, D.C. 20560, U.S.A.;
(II) Laboratoire des Reptiles et Amphibiens, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle,
25 rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France
—A
Abstract. moderate-sized turquoise-colored skinkfrom the montane for-
est ofVanua Levu, Fiji differs from all other central Pacific skinks in a com-
bination ofmensural and scalation characters. This skink, Emoia mokosari-
niveikaun. sp., isamemberoftheEmoiasamoensisspeciesgroupandconcolor
subgroup, and its coloration and color pattern are unique among skinks ofthe
genus Emoia.
Vanua Levu is the second largest island Family Scincidae
ofthe Fijian group. In spite ofits size and Genus Emoia
accessibility, no one has surveyed method- Emoia mokosariniveikau, new species
ically the diversity and distribution of its Figs. 1-2
amphibiansandreptiles. Forestlizards, such -USNM
Holotype. 322473, adultfemale
as Lepidodactylus manni and Emoia par- from near Saivou, ca. 23 km (road) NW of
ked, shouldoccurthere,butnorecordsexist
of such occurrences (Zug 1991). We have Savusavu, Vanua Levu, Fiji, collected 23
begun such a survey, but as yet our efforts October 1992 by I. Ineich and G. R. Zug.
aresmall. Ourfirstsurveyin 1992 provided a Dmieamgbneosriso.f—tEhmeosiaamomeonksoissargirnoiuvpei(ksaeunsius
new distributional records for a number of
lizard species (e.g., Emoia parkeri) and Bdirffoewrsnf1r9o9m1)otahnedrtFhiejicaonncEomlooirasubbyg:rosuipze.oIft
yielded a single specimen ofa new Emoia. mm
adultfemales (55 SVL), largerthan ca-
Because this species is a forest lizard and eruleocauda (42-50 mm), cyanura (39-53
the native forest ofVanua Levu continues mm), impar (40-47 mm) and parkeri (43-
to disappear, we wish to alert Fijians and 52 mm) and smaller than campbelli (57-64
biologistsofthis,presumably,Vanualevuan
mm), concolor (59-77 mm), nigra (88-108
endemic by describing the lizard promptly. mm) and trossula (75-100 mm); adult col-
Forests, where they still persist, are threat- oration(copperybrowndorsalgroundcolor
enedthroughoutOceania,andthecontinual
overlainbyturquoiseonneckandtrunkand
discoveryofnewspeciesofforestplantsand
dark transverse bars on sides oftrunk onto
animals re-enforces the urgency of forest
back), caeruleocauda, cyanura, impar and
conservation and the establishment offor-
parkeri(lightstripesonblackordarkbrown
est reserves.
background), campbelli and trossula (small
dark transverse bars scattered overbeige to
brassy background), concolor (uniform or
Methods
nearlysogreentoolive-beigeground-color),
Mensural and meristic characters follow and nigra (uniform black ground-color);
the definitions andprotocols ofZug (1991). number oflamellae beneath the fourth toe
5
396 PROCEEDINGSOFTHEBIOLOGICALSOCIETYOFWASHINGTON
Fig. L Scalation ofthe holotype ofEmoia mokosariniveikau(USNM 322473). Dorsalandlateralviews of
thehead (left); ventral surface ofthe rightfourth toe (right); scalebarsequal 1 mm.
(48-49), caeruleocauda (33-41) dindparked 45% SVL, fourth toe tip extending nearly
(31-41), cyanura and impar (57-80), and to axilla when adpressed to side of body;
nigra (31-39). From members of the sa- body length 48% SVL. Digits offore- and
moensis group ofEmoia, E. mokosariniv- hindfeetlongand strongly clawed; hindtoes
eikau differs by: size of adult females (55 length pattern 4>5-3>2>l (Fig. 1). Head
mm
SVL),smallerthananeityumensis{>! long and slender, slightly depressed, snout
mm), campbelli (>68 mm), concolor (>59 pointed; head length (HL) 22% SVL; neck
mm), flavigularis (>59 mm), loyaltiensis length (ear to axilla) 14% SVL; head width
(>60 mm), nigra (>88 mm), samoensis 60% HL; snout length (anterior comer of
{>19 mm),sanfordi(>68 mm)andtrossula eye to tip ofsnout) 48% HL; and preocular
{>15 mm); scalerowsaroundmidbody(30), length (eye to naris) 32% HL.
aneityumensis{>39),flavigularis(>34)and Shiny, imbricate scales on body; dorsal
nigra (^32); number of lamellae beneath scalesgrosslysmoothbutwithshallow, lon-
fourth toe (48-49), aneityumensis (^38), gitudinal striations visible microscopically;
campbelli (:^42), flavigularis (^48), mur- 61 scales from parietals to base oftail, an-
phyi (^65), nigra (:^39), nigromarginala teriormost pair enlarged as nuchals; mid-
(<48), parkeri (<41) and sanfordi (^61); dorsalscalessubequalinsizetomorelateral
see Tables 1 & 2 for summary ofmeasure- ones; 30 scales around midbody. Narrow
ments and scalation. lamellae on underside of all digits; 42/39
Description of holotype.—An adult fe- (left/right) beneath 4th finger; 48/49 be-
mm
male (55.1 SVL), slender-bodied with neath 4th toe (Fig. 1). Head scales smooth
long tail (91 mm, regenerated, round in (Fig. 1); rostral broad, touching frontonasal
cross-section, tapering gradually to point) acrossbroadsuture; supranasals small, nar-
and well-developed limbs; hindlimb length rowly rectangular; prefrontals broadly in
VOLUME 108, NUMBER 3 397
Table 1.—Summary of mensural characteristics ofthe Emoia samoensis group (sensu Brown 1991). All
measurements are for sexually mature individuals; only ranges are provided and all measurements are in
millimeters.
Snout-vent
SpeciesoiEmoia Sex length Hindlimblength Headlength n
aneityumensis^ F 74.9-85.4 34.8-36.9 17.2-18.2 2
campbelli MF 92.9 37.2 18.5 1
68.0-89.8 31.6-42.0 15.7-20.3 4
concolor^ F 58.7-77.3 26.2-38.0 12.9-19.8 15
M
56.8-85.5 27.6-40.6 13.6-20.0 27
F&M — —
flavigulari^ 58.9-75.5 22
F&M — —
loyaltiensis^ 60.0-83.2 5
mokosariniveikau F 55.1 25.0 12.4 1
murphyi^ MF 59.4-65.4 25.1-30.3 13.5-14.4 3
65.7 33.9 15.5 1
nigra}' F 87.7-107.5 42.3-53.3 18.9-23.9 8
M
88.0-112.1 44.8-53.4 20.0-25.5 10
F&M — —
nigromarginatO' 51.8-77.4 26
parkerP' F 42.9-52.0 18.9-23.7 9.9-11.7 8
M
46.9-50.0 20.4-23.0 10.6-12.4 5
samoensis^ F&M 78.0-118 — — 24
F&M _ —
sanfordi" 68.3-115.0 36
trossula^ F 75.4-100.1 34.7-46.4 16.9-21.1 30
M
74.1-106.5 35.6-53.0 17.3-24.2 51
^Emoia aneityumensisincludes allconcolor-like specimens from Aneityum, Futuna, and Tanna.
^Datafrom Fijian specimens only (Zug 1991).
'^Data from Brown (1991).
^Datafrom Samoan specimens only.
contact medially; frontoparietal single; in- erally by 8/8 supraciliaries; anterior loreal
terparietalsmallwithaparietaleye;parietal longer than high and equal in area to pos-
large and in contact behind interparietal; terior loreal; posterior loreal longer than
4/4 supraoculars on each side bordered lat- high; upper eyelid immoveable with 9/9
Table2.—SummaryofscalecharacteristicsoftheEmoiasamoensisgroup. Sexualdimorphismhasnotbeen
identifiedin scale characters; the followingranges derive fromjuvenilesand adults. Footnote legendas in Ta-
ble 1.
Numberofscales Subdigitallamellae
SpeciesofEmoia Dorsal Midbody 4thfinger 4thtoe n
aneityumensis^ 74-80 39^1 23-30 33-38 5
campbelli 57-64 30-34 31-38 42-51 10
concolor^ 54-62 27-33 30-^8 43-65 78
—
flavigularis^ 53-64 34-40 36-48 22
_
loyaltiensi^ 62-71 30-34 51-60 5
mokosariniveikau 61 30 39^2 48-49 1
murphyi'^ 54-58 28-31 45-51 65-74 8
nigra^ 60-69 32-40 20-24 31-39 33
nigromarginatO" 56-64 28-32 — 38^8 26
parkeri^ 54-60 28-33 22-30 31-41 24
—
samoensis^ 58-68 30-34 45-54 24
—
sanfordi" 56-64 28-34 61-76 36
trossula^ 58-77 30-40 27-42 42-65 117
398 PROCEEDINGSOFTHEBIOLOGICALSOCIETYOFWASHINGTON
Fig.2. DorsolateralviewoftheholotypeofEmoiamokosariniveikau(USNM'illAl'i)inlife.Thedorsolateral
'stripe" is areflectionfrom the photographicflash.
scalesalongupperedge; lowereyelidmove- terior throat bluish ivory, throat to base of
able with large transparent disc surrounded tail pale yellow, bluish tinted laterally on
by small opaque scales; 8/8 supralabial trunk.
—
scales, enlarged 6th beneath eye; 8/8 infra- Etymology. Fijians, Polynesians aswell
labial scales. Ear opening vertically ellipti- (Crombie &Steadman 1986), largelyignore
cal,toptiltedposteriorly,with2/2distinctly theirnativelizards. Mokoisthewidelyused
enlarged scales on anterior edge. colloquial name for lizard, whether it is a
A
In life (Fig. 2), dorsal ground-color shiny skink or gecko, big or small. few other
coppery brown, head uniform bright cop- names do exist. Vokai refers exclusively to
pery; broadturquoisebands on side ofneck theFijianiguana{Brachylophus)andisused
and trunk, bands extend upward toward andrecognizedbyallFijians. Sariandboliti
midline, continuous on neck and anterior refer also to lizards, although they are of
trunk, and staggered and discontinuous on uncommon usage. Sari refers to a small
posterior halfoftrunk; at abdominal level, green lizard (Capell, 1973) when used in
small, irregularbars ofdarkbrown orblack combination with the Fijian moko as a suf-
appear on side and extend onto dorsum, fix, and to this Fijian word, we append the
bars usually edged with blue; on tail, dark Fijianniveikau,meaningoftheforest. This
bars alternate at midline and interspaced combination produces mokosari ni veikau
with brown then beige. Venter from mid or small green lizard ofthe forest, and is a
throat onto base oftail light orangish yel- nouninapposition. [Wehavetakenliberties
low, bordered on chin and ventrolaterally with "green lizard" as turquoise is greenish
bylightturquoisefromlateralbands. Limbs blue rather than strictly green.]
copperybeigedorsallywithdarkspots, uni- Distribution.—Emoia mokosariniveikau
form yellow ventrally; distinct dark stripe is known only from the type locality on the
on posterior surface ofthigh. northern slope of Vanua Levu's central
Inalcohol,dorsalground-colorbluishgray mountain range. Since the type locality is
anteriorly and coppery beige posteriorly, not isolated ecologically or geographically,
lateral bars black; ventrally, chin and an- E. mokosariniveikau likely occurs through-
VOLUME 108, NUMBER 3 399
outthelengthofislandwhereoriginalforest natural assemblage, we here recognize two
remainsorhasregeneratedsufficiently. Dick species subgroups within the central Pacific
Watling (in litt., Aug 1994) described an (Fiji-Samoa-Tonga area) members of the
Emoia captured (Aug 1978) at Solevu, Va- samoensis group. The samoensis subgroup
nua Levu. His description closesly matches contains samoensis and trossula. These
mm
E. mokosariniveikau but cannot be con- Emoia are moderately large (74-118
firmed because the specimen has not been adult SVL), heavy-bodied skinks with 57-
located. One(Cahf Acad. Sci./CAS 155973; 77 dorsal scale rows, 30-40 midbody scale
Joske's Thumb, Viti Levu) ofthe paratypes rows, and 42-65 lamellae on the fourthtoe.
oftheEmoiacampbelliseriesdoesnotmatch The concolor species subgroup contains
the other members ofthat type series and campbelli, concolor, mokosariniveikau and
shares some similarities with E. mokosar- murphyi. These Emoia are moderate-sized
mm
iniveikau', however, its discoloration and (56-90 adultSVL), slender-bodiedwith
poor preservation prevent confirmation of 54-67 dorsal scale rows, 27-34 midbody
its specific identity. scalerows,and42-74lamellaeonthefourth
toe. These subgroups are tentative group-
Comments on Relationships ings and serve only for our initial analysis
ofrelationshipswithinthesamoensisgroup.
Brown first recognized the Emoia atro- ThisdivisionofspeciesagreeswithBrown's
costata and the E. samoensis "complexes" (1991) concolor and samoensis subgroups,
in 1953 (Brown & Marshall 1953). He gave except forexclusion of£". nigra andE. par-
a set ofcharacters defining the atrocostata keri. We question the status of these two
complexandnotedthatthesamoensiscom- speciesasmembers ofthesamoensisgroup.
plex was closely related to the former and In addition to its distinctive coloration
differed in the presence ofmore numerous (black or dark brown ground color in con-
and more highly modified digital lamellae. trast to coppery beige to green), E. nigra is
LaterinaprivatelycirculatedkeytoEmoia, behaviorally unlike the other semiarboreal
Brown (1970) recognized five "natural to strongly arboreal samoensisgroup mem-
groups" of Emoia: adspersa; atrocostata; bers. For example, E. trossula forages on
baudini-cyanura; cyanogaster; physicae. andabove thegroundand regularlyescapes
Emoia concolor, murphyi, and samoensis by climbing, in contrastE. nigra forages on
were listed as members ofthe cyanogaster the ground and, even if resting in a tree,
group. Brown later reintroduced the sa- regularlyescapesdownwardandawayfrom
moensis group with the recognition of E. thetree (Zug 1991). Emoiaparkerihas dor-
campbelli and E. trossula (Brown & Gib- solateralstripesunlikeanyotherjuvenileor
bons, 1986). The samoensis group was not adultsamoensisgroup member. Its snout is
characterized therein and remains defined more attentuate and its prefrontals are not,
A
largely by its species content. character- or slightly, in contact on the midline.
ization is possible, however, by listing the Our analysis of intragroup relationships
identifying features from Brown's (1991) is not yet sufficiently advanced to declare
species group key: 1 1 premaxillary teeth; which character-states are synapomorphic
alpha palate; unfused nasal bones; parietal or, for that matter, to have identified a use-
eyepresent; anteriorloreal aslongornearly ful set ofcharacters for initiating a cladistic
aslongas posteriorloreal; dorsal scale rows analysis. All scalation and mensural fea-
<87; midbody scale rows <44; rounded to tures ofE. mokosariniveikau lie within the
moderatelythinsubdigitallamellae. Thein- range of the concolor subgroup. Its dorsal
cluded species are listed in Tables 1 and 2. and lateral coloration ofneck and trunk is
Assuming the samoensis group to be a unique within both subgroups. Its lateral
400 PROCEEDINGSOFTHEBIOLOGICALSOCIETY OFWASHINGTON
dark, light-bordered bars on the trunk are , & J. R. H. Gibbons. 1986. Species ofthe
similaronlytothebar-patternofsomepop- Emoiasamoensisgroupoflizards(Scincidae)in
ulations ofFijian E. twssula; however, its the Fiji Islands, with description of two new
species.—Proceedings ofthe CaliforniaAcade-
dark thigh stripe occurs only in other con- myofSciences 44(4):41-53.
colorsubgroup members. No traitcurrently , & J. T. Marshall, Jr. 1953. New scincoid
suggests a closer affinity of^. mokosariniv- lizardsfromtheMarshallIslands,withnoteson
eikau to any one ofthe other three central theirdistribution.-Copeia 1953(4):201-207.
Pacific concolor subgroup members. Capell, A. 1973. A new Fijian dictionary. Govern-
mentPrinter, Suva, 407 pp.
Crombie,R.I.,&D.W.Steadman. 1988. Thelizards
Acknowledgments ofRarotongaandMangaia,CookIslandGroup,
We appreciate and thank the following Zug, G.OcRe.ani1a9.9-1P.acTifhieclSicziaerndcseo(f1F9i8j6i:)n4a0t(ulr^a)l:h4i4s-t5o7r.y
individuals and agencies for their encour- and systematics.—Bishop Museum Bulletin in
agment and assistance ofour biological in- Zoology (2):i-xii, 1-136.
varedsst.igTathieo&nMsionfisFtirjyianofanPdriomtahreyr PIancdiufsitcrileisz,- Emoia anAepipteyunmdeinxs.is1.. VSapneucaitmue:nsBEMxNamHin1e9d56.1.3.64,
Forestry Co-operatives gave us permis- FMNH
1973.1534-35; 69151, 69638.
sion to study lizards in Fiji and to retain Emoia campbelli. Fiji: CAS 155967-70, 155972-73,
vouchersintheSmithsonian(USNM). Field 156257-58, 156710-12.
work was supported by the Smithsonian Emoiaconcolor.Fiji:mensuralandmeristicdatafrom
Scholarly Studies Program. Milika Naqa- AppendixtableBinZug, 1991;MNHN7084,7084A.
Emoia flavigularis. Solomon Islands: mensural and
sima and Michael Doyle ofThe University
meristic data from species descriptions in Brown,
of the South Pacific provided the proper 1991.
Fijian construction ofthe new specific ep- Emoialoyaltiensis.LoyaltyIslands:mensuralandme-
ihtehaetd.aKnadtehiSnpdefnocoetrosfkiEllmfoulilyaimllouksotsraarteidnitvh-e Emroisitaicmduartpahfyrio.mSsapmeociae:sUdeSscNriMpt2io6n8s36in3,Br3o2w2n7,431-9^991..
Emoia nigra. Fiji: mensural and meristic data from
eikau. RonaldCrombie, RobertFisher, and Appendixtable B inZug, 1991.
Dick Watling reviewed and improved our Emoia nigromarginata. Vanuatu: mensural and me-
early drafts ofthis article. risticdatafromspeciesdescriptionsinBrown, 1991.
Emoiaparkeri. Fiji: mensural andmeristicdatafrom
Appendixtable B inZug, 1991.
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manuscript, 11 pp. from speciesdescriptions in Brown, 1991.
w.it1h99o1.bseLrivzaatridosnosfotnhetgheeniruse£v'olmuot/iao(nScainndcibdiaoe-) EmAopipaentrdoisxsultaa.blFeijBi:imneZnusgu,ra1l99a1n.dmeristicdatafrom
geography.—Memoirs ofthe California Acad-
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