Cryptoblepharus pulcher (STERNFELD, 1918)
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Cryptoblepharus pulcher
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| Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Eugongylinae (Eugongylini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | Cryptoblepharus pulcher clarus (STORR 1961) Cryptoblepharus pulcher pulcher (STERNFELD 1918) |
| Common Names | E: Elegant snake-eyed skink Bright snake-eyed skink (clarus) |
| Synonym | Ablepharus boutoni pulcher STERNFELD 1918: 423 Ablepharus boutoni virgatus — MERTENS 1931: 112 Ablepharus boutoni virgatus — WORRELL 1963: 35 Cryptoblepharus boutonii virgatus – COOK 1973: 15 Cryptoblepharus virgatus — GREER 1974: 21 Cryptoblepharus virgatus — COGGER 1983: 142 Cryptoblepharus virgatus virgatus – WILSON & KNOWLES 1988: 120 Cryptoblepharus virgatus – STORR et al. 1981: 25 Cryptoblepharus virgatus – COGGER et al. 1983a: 142 Cryptoblepharus virgatus – COVACEVICH & COUPER 1991: 357 Cryptoblepharus virgatus – EHMANN 1992: 183 Cryptoblepharus virgatus – STORR et al. 1999: 25 Cryptoblepharus virgatus – COGGER 2000: 406 Cryptoblepharus virgatus – DALY et al. 2001: 85 Cryptoblepharus virgatus – GREER & JEFFERYS 2001: 3 Cryptoblepharus virgatus – WILSON & SWAN 2003: 150 Cryptoblepharus suburbia WELLS & WELLINGTON, 1985: 27 Cryptoblepharus virgatus suburbia WELLS & WELLINGTON, 1985 Cryptoblepharus virgatus suburbia – WELLS & WELLINGTON 1989: 29 Cryptoblepharus virgatus — COGGER 2000: 406 Cryptoblepharus virgatus — HORNER 2007 Cryptoblepharus pulcher pulcher — HORNER 2007 Cryptoblepharus pulcher — WILSON & SWAN 2013: 192 Cryptoblepharus pulcher clarus (STORR 1961) Ablepharus boutonii clarus STORR 1961: 176 Ablepharus boutonii clarus — WORRELL 1963: 35 Cryptoblepharus virgatus clarus – STORR 1976: 55 Cryptoblepharus virgatus clarus – WILSON & KNOWLES 1988: 120. Cryptoblepharus clarus – WELLS & WELLINGTON 1985: 27 Cryptoblepharus virgatus clarus — STORR et al. 1999 Cryptoblepharus virgatus clarus — WWW 2006 Cryptoblepharus pulcher clarus — HORNER 2007 Cryptoblepharus pulcher clarus — WILSON & SWAN 2013: 192 |
| Distribution | Australia (far eastern Australia and far southern coastal regions of Western and South Australia, New South Wales). Type locality: “Neuholland” Cooktown, Qld. clarus: Western Australia; Type locality: lower Dalyup River, in 33° 45’ S, 121° 32’ E (20 mi WNW of Esperance), W. A. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Lectotype: SMF 15680 (= 6347 1a in Boettger, 1893; 6348, 10a in Mertens, 1922), from Australia, designated by Mertens (1967) (Ablepharus boutoni pulcher) Lectotype: WAM R18228, designated by Wells & Wellington (1985); paratype: QM [clarus] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis. A medium sized (40–44 mm SVL), shortlegged, shallow-headed, arboreal Cryptoblepharus, distinguished from Australian congeners by combination of modal values of five supraciliary scales, 24 mid-body scale rows and 50 paravertebral scales; mean head depth of 39.3% of head length; plain, rounded, dark pigmented plantar scales, and narrow, pale dorsolateral stripes. Sternfeld diagnosed the taxon by “..b) Schuppen in 22–24 Reihen. Oberseite schhön rotbraun, die Dorsolateralstreifen silberweiß, auf dem Halse zu einer dünnen Linie verschmälert, nach hinten zu allmählich wieder breiter werdend; die hellen Streifen mehr oder weniger scharf schwarz begrenzt. Schnauze außergewöhnlich kurz”. (“ Scales in 22–24 rows. Upper side beautifully bay, dorsolateral stripes silver, narrowing on the neck to a thin painted line, gradually becoming wide again on the back; the light stripes more or less keenly black edged. Snout exceptionally short”). Diagnosis [clarus]: Very similar to conspecific C. p. pulcher but distinguished by having more midbody scale rows (mean 24.6 instead of 23.2), fourth finger (mean 15.1 instead of 14.6) and toe subdigital lamellae (mean 18.9 instead of 18.1), plantar scales (mean 9.8 instead of 8.9) and generally broader pale laterodorsal stripes. In addition, C. p. clarus has an allopatric distribution apparently restricted to far southern regions of Western and South Australia and may be further distinguished by two sexually dimorphic characters, where male C. p. clarus are larger than those of C. p. pulcher (mean SVL 36.1 instead of 33.7 mm) and female C. p. clarus have more paravertebral scales than those of C. p. pulcher (mean 50.2 instead of 48.4). With no fixed allelic differences, C. p. clarus is genetically similar to C. p. pulcher. Diagnosis [pulcher]. Very similar to conspecific C. p. clarus but distinguished by having fewer midbody scale rows (mean 23.2 instead of 24.6), fourth finger (mean 14.6 instead of 15.1) and toe subdigital lamellae (mean 18.1 instead of 18.9), plantar scales (mean 8.9 instead of 9.8) and generally narrower pale laterodorsal stripes. In addition, C. p. pulcher has an allopatric distribution apparently restricted to eastern regions of Queensland and New South Wales and may be further distinguished by two sexually dimorphic characters, where male C. p. pulcher are smaller than those of C. p. clarus (mean SVL 33.7 instead of 36.1 mm) and female C. p. pulcher have fewer paravertebral scales than those of C. p. clarus (mean 48.4 instead of 50.2). |
| Comment | Synonymy after HORNER 2007. Cryptoblepharus suburbia was placed in the synonymy of C. virgatus by Shea and Sadlier (1999), but was transferred to the synonymy of C. pulcher pulcher by HORNER 2007. |
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