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Eulamprus quoyii (DUMÉRIL & BIBRON, 1839)

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Higher TaxaScincidae, Sphenomorphinae (Sphenomorphini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Eastern Water-skink, Eastern Water Skink 
SynonymScincus vittatus QUOY & GAIMARD 1824 (non Scincus vittatus OLIVIER 1804)
Lygosoma Quoyii DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1839: 728 (part.)
Hinulia gastrosticta GÜNTHER 1875: 11
Hinulia quoyi — LUCAS & FROST 1894: 69
Sphenomorphus quoyi — BARBOUR 1914: 204
Lygosoma (Sphenomorphus) quoyi — SMITH 1937: 220
Sphenomorphus quoyii — VERON 1969
Sphenomorphus quoyi — VERON & HEATWOLE 1970
Lygosoma quoyi — BRATTSTROM 1971
Sphenomorphus quoyii — COGGER 1983: 187
Eulamprus quoyii — COGGER 2000: 487
Eulamprus quoyii — ESCORIZA BOJ 2005
Eulamprus quoyii — COUPER et al. 2006: 380 
DistributionAustralia (New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria)

Type locality: see type data.  
Reproductionovoviviparous. There is evidence for maternal-fetal transfer of nutrients in this species (Blackburn 1994). 
TypesLectotype: MNHN-RA 7113 (2923), New Holland, collected by Péron & Lesueur, designated by Wells & Wellington (1985). Syntypes: MNHN-RA 2976, (Port Macquarie), MNHN-RA 2977 (Australia), MNHN-RA 7112 and MNHN-RA 7113 (Neutral Bay), from Port Macquarie, N. S. W., Neutral Bay, N. S. W. and Australia (var. A) and China (var. B). Extralimital syntype Var. B is specimen of Leiolopisma reevesi (Gray, 1839) fide Guibé (1954) (Lygosoma quoyii)
Syntypes: MNHP 7112-3, from Neutral Bay, Port Jackson, N. S. W. [Scincus vittatus]
Syntypes: BMNH 1946.8.15.34-35 (Qld.), BMNH 1946.8.15.36 (Australia), BMNH 1946.8.4.99 (Kangaroo Is.), from Qld., Kangaroo Is., S. A. and Australia [Hinulia gastrosticta] 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (4346 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy after COGGER 1983. Kaiser et al. 2013 considered the generic names Karma Wells 2009, Magmellia Wells 2009 invalid and rejected their use instead of Eulamprus.

Type species: Lygosoma Quoyii DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1839 is the type species of the genus Eulamprus FITZINGER 1843: 22.

Phylogenetics: see Singhal et al. 2017 and 2018 for a phylogeny of Australian sphenomorphine skinks.

Distribution: see map in Pepper et al. 2018: Fig. 2.

Limb morphology: 5 digits, 5 toes (Singhal et al. 2018, Brandley et al 2008)

Morphology: Hutchinson et al. 2021 present a table of morphological character states across 20 Australian sphenomorphine skinks, including this genus.

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
EtymologyNamed after Jean Rene Constant Quoy (1790-1869), a French zoologist and naval surgeon.

The genus Eulamprus was named after the Greek prefix eu- (well in the sense of "very") plus lampros (bright or shiny), in reference to the glossy body scales. Derivation not stated by Fitzinger (1843). 
References
  • Annable, Terence J. and Dean C. Metcalfe. 2015. Eulamprus quoyii (eastern water skink) cannibalism. Herpetological Review 46 (2): 256-257 - get paper here
  • Annable, Terence J. and Dean C. Metcalfe. 2015. Eulamprus quoyii (eastern water skink) prey competition with bird. Herpetological Review 46 (1): 92 - get paper here
  • Barbour, T., 1914. On some Australasian reptiles. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 27: 201—206. - get paper here
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
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  • Blackburn, D.G. 1994. Standardized criteria for the recognition of embryonic nutritional patterns in squamate reptiles. Copeia 1994 (4): 925-935 - get paper here
  • Borges-Landáez, P.A. & R. Shine 2003. Influence of Toe-Clipping on Running Speed in Eulamprus quoyii, an Australian Scincid Lizard Journal of Herpetology 37 (3): 592-595. - get paper here
  • Bowles, F.D. 2000. A short note on the herpetofauna of Brisbane and its suburbs. Herpetological Bulletin (73): 27-29 - get paper here
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  • Hutchinson, M. N., Couper, P., Amey, A., & Worthington-Wilmer, J. 2021. Diversity and Systematics of Limbless Skinks (Anomalopus) from Eastern Australia and the Skeletal Changes that Accompany the Substrate Swimming Body Form. Journal of Herpetology 55 (4): 361-384 - get paper here
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  • King, D. 1964. The osteology of the water skink, Lygosoma (Sphenomorphus) quoyii. Australian Journal of Zoology 12: 201-216 - get paper here
  • Kinghorn, J. Roy 1924. Reptiles and batrachians from south and south-west Australia. Rec. Austral. Mus. 14 (3): 163-183 - get paper here
  • Law, B.S. 1991. Ontogenetic Habitat Shift in the Eastern Australian Water Skink (Eulamprus quoyii)? Copeia 1991 (4): 1117-1120. - get paper here
  • Law, B.S. & R.A. Bradley 1990. Habitat Use and Basking Site Selection in the Water Skink, Eulamprus quoyii Journal of Herpetology 24 (3): 235-240. - get paper here
  • Lucas, A. H. S. & Frost, C. 1894. The lizards indigenous to Victoria. Proc. R. Soc. Vict. (ns) 6: 24-92 - get paper here
  • Mo, M. 2024. Apparent disappearance of two species of urban-adapted skinks, Tiliqua scincoides and Eulamprus quoyii, from a suburban area of Sydney, Australia. Reptiles & Amphibians, 31(1), e22388-e22388 - get paper here
  • Mo, Matthew 2015. Herpetofaunal community of the constructed Lime Kiln Bay Wetland, south Sydney, New South Wales. Victorian Naturalist 132 (3): 64-72 - get paper here
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  • Pepper, Mitzy; Joanna Sumner Ian G. Brennan Kate Hodges Alan R. Lemmon Emily Moriarty Lemmon Garry Peterson Daniel L. Rabosky Lin Schwarzkopf Ian A. W. Scott Glenn Shea J. Scott Keogh 2018. Speciation in the mountains and dispersal by rivers: Molecular phylogeny of Eulamprus water skinks and the biogeography of Eastern Australia. Journal of Biogeography 45: 2040– 2052 - get paper here
  • Quoy, J.R., and J.P. Gaimard. 1824. Zoologie. In: M.L. de Freycinet: Voyage Autour du Monde, Entrepris par le ministére et conformément aux instructions de s. exc. M. le Vicomte du Bouchage, Secrétaire d'etat au Department de la Marine, Exécuté sur les corvettes de S.M. l'Uranie et la Physicienne, pendant les années 1817-1820. Paris. iv + 712 pp. - get paper here
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  • Schwarzkopf, L. 2005. Sexual Dimorphism in Body Shape Without Sexual Dimorphism in Body Size in Water Skinks (Eulamprus quoyii) Herpetologica 61 (2): 116-123. - get paper here
  • Singhal, Sonal; Huateng Huang, Maggie R. Grundler, María R. Marchán-Rivadeneira, Iris Holmes, Pascal O. Title, Stephen C. Donnellan, and Daniel L. Rabosky 2018. Does Population Structure Predict the Rate of Speciation? A Comparative Test across Australia’s Most Diverse Vertebrate Radiation. The American Naturalist - get paper here
  • Skinner, Adam; Mark N. Hutchinson, Michael S.Y. Lee 2013. Phylogeny and Divergence Times of Australian Sphenomorphus Group Skinks (Scincidae, Squamata). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 69 (3): 906–918 - get paper here
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