Oligosoma lineoocellatum (DUMÉRIL, 1851)
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Oligosoma lineoocellatum
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| Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Eugongylinae (Eugongylini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Canterbury spotted skink |
| Synonym | Lygosoma lineo-ocellatum DUMÉRIL 1851: 169 Mocoa formosa BLYTH 1853 (fide DAS et al. 1998) (see comment) Mocoa zealandica — GUNTHER 1875 Lygosoma lineo-ocellatum — BOULENGER 1887: 273 Leiolopisma lineo-ocellata — MITTLEMAN 1952: 26 Leiolopisma formosa — MITTLEMAN 1952: 24 Leiolopisma festivum MCCANN 1955 Leiolopisma grande grande — MCCANN 1955 Leiolopisma festivum — GREER 1974: 16 Leiolopisma lineoocellatum — GREER 1974: 16 Scincella formosa — GREER 1974: 7 Leiolopisma infrapunctatum — ROBB 1974 Leiolopisma lineoocellatum — BRYGOO 1985: 59 Oligosoma lineoocellatum — WELLS & WELLINGTON 1985 Oligosoma festivum — WELLS & WELLINGTON 1985 Oligosoma lineoocellatum — PATTERSON & DAUGHERTY 1995 Oligosoma lineoocellatum — HICKSON et al. 2000 Oligosoma lineoocellatum — HITCHMOUGH et al. 2016 |
| Distribution | New Zealand (North Island (Hawkes Bay, Wellington), South Island), Cook Strait [Leiolopisma festivum McCann 1955] Type locality: "New Zealand" (unpublished genetic data indicates Canterbury, New Zealand, fide G. Patterson, pers. comm. 6 Feb 2016). |
| Reproduction | ovovivparous |
| Types | Lectotype. MNHN-RA 1991.2731 (formerly MNHN-RA 5053A), NZ (locality unknown), (coll. M. Arnoux & M. Belligny, date unknown), designated by Melzer et al. 2017. Paralectotypes. NZ (locality unknown), 3 specimens (MNHN 5475, unknown; MNHN 2007.2418 [5475A], unknown; MNHN 5053, unknown) (coll. M. Arnoux & M. Belligny, date unknown). Specimens were loaned to Te Papa, National Museum of New Zealand (NMNZ; Wellington) by MNHN (Paris) for examination. Other referred specimens (8 specimens, erroneously designated as paralectotypes). Birdlings Flat (43° 50’S, 172° 42’E), 2 specimens (NMNZ RE001740 (2/2/8.2), male; NMNZ RE001740 (2/2/8.3), immature) (coll. G. Hardy, unknown date); Lake Ellesmere area (43° 32’S, 172° 32’E), NMNZ RE002035, male (coll. D. Newman, unknown date); Birdlings Flat (43° 50’S, 172° 42’E), 4 specimens (NMNZ RE003712 (S67), unknown; NMNZ RE003713 (S68), female; NMNZ RE003714 (S69), female; NMNZ RE003715 (S70), female (coll. A. Whitaker, 1960); Mt Somers (43° 45’S, 171° 18’E), NMNZ RE005456, female (coll. C. Daugherty, 11 Jan 1985). |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: In general, members of the O. lineoocellatum species complex can be distinguished from other similar sympatric species by colour pattern and scale counts. The dorsal green or brown ground colour speckled with black and white ocelli resembles only O. chloronoton. However, all O. lineoocellatum complex species have either two anterior subocular scales, or three where the third is much reduced in size compared with the first two. All O. chloronoton complex species in contrast have three similarly sized anterior suboculars. The subdigital lamellae count in O. chloronoton is usually less than 22, whereas in O. lineoocellatum it is usually greater than 22. Oligosoma lineoocellatum can be distinguished from other species in the O. lineoocellatum species complex by a combination of characters. The adpressed limbs often do not meet (7 out of 12 specimens), whereas they usually meet in O. prasinum sp. nov., and always meet in O. elium sp. nov. The subdigital lamellae count is usually below 24, compared with O. prasinum and O. elium where it is usually above 24. Dorsal ocelli continue down the tail unlike in many specimens of O. prasinum and O. elium. Pale dorsolateral stripes are usually much more pronounced than in O. prasinum. The ear width in O. lineoocellatum relative to SVL is approximately 50% greater than in O. prasinum. O. lineoocellatum will occasionally have three anterior suboculars, where the other species will always have two. There are significant differences in SVL/HW between O. lineoocellatum and O. kokowai sp. nov., as well as O. lineoocellatum and O. prasinum (Figure 6a) [Melzer et al. 2017]. |
| Comment | Synonymy: Mocoa formosa is most likely not an Oligosoma but given its uncertain status may remain in its synonymy untilf further clarified (fide Glenn Shea, pers. comm., 8 May 2017). The type locality given by DUMÉRIL 1851 is in error (fide McCANN 1955; HARDY 1977). Distribution: not on Stewart Island (G. Patterson, pers. comm. 6 Feb 2016). |
| Etymology | The specific latin name refers to the rows of eye-like spots (ocelli) on the dorsal surface. |
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