Cryptoblepharus is a genus of skinks, lizards in the family Scincidae. The genus contains at least 53 species.
Taxonomy
The genus Cryptoblepharus was established in 1834 by the zoologist Arend Friedrich August Wiegmann.
The type species of the genus was not nominated by the author, but this was assigned to Ablepharus poecilipleurus Wiegmann, 1834 in a revision by Leonhard Stejneger published in 1899.
An emendation to the name as Cryptoblepharis by J. T. Cocteau in 1836 is considered a synonym, as is Petia, the name published by John Edward Gray in 1839 without a type or description.
Cryptoblepharus species, some of which are often seen in urban environments, are commonly named as fence skinks, or by characteristics such as their lack of eyelids, snake-eyed skinks, or as shining-skinks for their glossy skins.
Description
Member species of the genus Cryptoblepharus are small-bodied, lack eyelids, are pentadactyl, and have shiny scales. They are able to move rapidly and with great agility, snatching insects from the air and climbing vertical surfaces with ease. They are often observed basking in the sun and disappearing into a hole or crevice in response to a perceived threat. Females may share a site to deposit their eggs, the species returning annually to lay a small clutch.
The author, Paul Horner of the Northern Territory Museum, published revised systematics that sampled widely distributed populations in the Australian region, with small samples of taxa from other regions, to identify twenty five taxa in Australia, another thirteen in the southwest of the Indian oceanic area, and a further twenty four in the Indo-Pacific, listing 62 taxonomic descriptions of the genus in total.
Species
A list of recognised species includes the following 53 species.
- Cryptoblepharus adamsi <small>Horner, 2007</small><!--Beagle Supplement 3, December 2007: 21-198.--> – Adams's snake-eyed skink
- Cryptoblepharus africanus <small>(Sternfeld, 1918)</small> – East African snake-eyed skink, African coral rag skink
- Cryptoblepharus ahli <small>Mertens, 1928</small> – Ahl's snake-eyed skink
- Cryptoblepharus aldabrae <small>(Sternfeld, 1918)</small>
- Cryptoblepharus ater <small>(Boettger, 1913)</small> – black snake-eyed skink
- Cryptoblepharus australis <small>(Sternfeld, 1918)</small> – inland snake-eyed skink
- Cryptoblepharus balinensis <small>Barbour, 1911</small>
- Cryptoblepharus bitaeniatus <small>(Boettger, 1913)</small>
- Cryptoblepharus boutonii <small>(Desjardins, 1831)</small> – Bouton's skink, Bouton's snake-eyed skink, snake-eyed skink
- Cryptoblepharus buchananii <small>(Gray, 1838)</small> – Buchanan's snake-eyed skink
- Cryptoblepharus burdeni <small>Dunn, 1927</small>
<!-- now C. plagiocephalus *Cryptoblepharus carnabyi -->
- Cryptoblepharus caudatus <small>(Sternfeld, 1918)</small>
- Cryptoblepharus cognatus <small>(Boettger, 1913)</small> – Nossy Be snake-eyed skink
- Cryptoblepharus cursor <small>Barbour, 1911</small>
- Cryptoblepharus cygnatus <small>Horner, 2007</small> – Swanson's snake-eyed skink<!--Beagle Supplement 3, December 2007: 21-198.-->
- Cryptoblepharus daedalos <small>Horner, 2007</small> – dappled snake-eyed skink
<!--Beagle Supplement 3, December 2007: 21-198.-->
- Cryptoblepharus egeriae <small>(Boulenger, 1888)</small> – Christmas Island blue-tailed shining-skink, blue-tailed skink, Christmas Island blue-tailed skink
- Cryptoblepharus eximius <small>Girard, 1857</small>
- Cryptoblepharus exochus <small>Horner, 2007</small> – noble snake-eyed skink<!--Beagle Supplement 3, December 2007: 21-198.-->
- Cryptoblepharus fuhni <small>Covacevich & Ingram, 1978</small> – black-boulder shinning-skink
- Cryptoblepharus furvus <small>Horner, 2007</small><!--Beagle Supplement 3, December 2007: 21-198.-->
- Cryptoblepharus gloriosus <small>(Stejneger, 1893)</small> – Glorioso snake-eyed skink
- Cryptoblepharus gurrmul <small>Horner, 2007</small> – Arafura snake-eyed skink<!--Beagle Supplement 3, December 2007: 21-198.-->
- Cryptoblepharus juno <small>Horner, 2007</small> – Juno's snake-eyed skink
<!--Beagle Supplement 3, December 2007: 21-198.-->
- Cryptoblepharus keiensis <small>(Roux, 1910)</small>
- Cryptoblepharus leschenault <small>(Cocteau, 1832)</small>
- Cryptoblepharus litoralis <small>(Mertens, 1958)</small> – coastal snake-eyed skink, supralittoral shinning-skink
- Cryptoblepharus megastictus <small>Storr, 1976</small> – blotched shinning-skink
- Cryptoblepharus mertensi <small>Horner, 2007</small> – Mertens's snake-eyed skink<!--Beagle Supplement 3, December 2007: 21-198.-->
- Cryptoblepharus metallicus <small>(Boulenger, 1887)</small> – metallic snake-eyed skink
- Cryptoblepharus nigropunctatus <small>(Hallowell, 1861)</small>
- Cryptoblepharus novaeguineae <small>Mertens, 1928</small> – New Guinea snake-eyed skink
- Cryptoblepharus novocaledonicus <small>(Mertens, 1928)</small> – New Caledonian shore skink
- Cryptoblepharus novohebridicus <small>(Mertens, 1928)</small>
- Cryptoblepharus ochrus <small>Horner, 2007</small> – pale snake-eyed skink<!--Beagle Supplement 3, December 2007: 21-198.-->
- Cryptoblepharus pannosus <small>Horner, 2007</small><!--Beagle Supplement 3, December 2007: 21-198.--> – ragged snake-eyed skink
- Cryptoblepharus plagiocephalus <small>(Cocteau, 1836)</small> – Péron's snake-eyed skink, callose-palmed shinning-skink
- Cryptoblepharus poecilopleurus <small>(Wiegmann, 1836)</small> – mottled snake-eyed skink, Oceania snake-eyed skink
- Cryptoblepharus pulcher <small>(Sternfeld, 1918)</small> – elegant snake-eyed skink
- Cryptoblepharus quinquetaeniatus <small>(Günther, 1874)</small> – five-lined snake-eyed skink
- Cryptoblepharus renschi <small>Mertens, 1928</small>
- Cryptoblepharus richardsi <small>Horner, 2007</small><!--Beagle Supplement 3, December 2007: 21-198.-->
- Cryptoblepharus ruber <small>Börner & Schüttler, 1981</small> – tawny snake-eyed skink
- Cryptoblepharus rutilus <small>(W. Peters, 1879)</small>
- Cryptoblepharus schlegelianus <small>Mertens, 1928</small> – Schlegel's snake-eyed skink
- Cryptoblepharus tytthos <small>Horner, 2007</small> – pygmy snake-eyed skink
<!--Beagle Supplement 3, December 2007: 21-198.-->
- Cryptoblepharus ustulatus <small>Horner, 2007</small> – russet snake-eyed skink <!--Beagle Supplement 3, December 2007: 21-198.-->
- Cryptoblepharus virgatus <small>(Garman, 1901)</small> – cream-striped shinning-skink, wall skink
- Cryptoblepharus voeltzkowi <small>(Sternfeld, 1918)</small> – Voeltzkow's snake-eyed skink
- Cryptoblepharus wulbu <small>Horner, 2007</small> – spangled snake-eyed skink<!--Beagle Supplement 3, December 2007: 21-198.-->
- Cryptoblepharus xenikos <small>Horner, 2007</small><!--Beagle Supplement 3, December 2007: 21-198.-->
- Cryptoblepharus yulensis <small>Horner, 2007</small><!--Beagle Supplement 3, December 2007: 21-198.-->
- Cryptoblepharus zoticus <small>Horner, 2007</small> – agile snake-eyed skink<!--Beagle Supplement 3, December 2007: 21-198.-->
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Cryptoblepharus.
References
Further reading
- Wiegmann AFA (1834). "Beiträge zur Zoologie, gesammelt auf einer Reise um die Erde, von Dr. F. J. F. Meyen, siebente Abhandlung. Amphibien ". Nova Acta Physico-Medica Academiae Caesareae Leopoldino-Carolinae 17: 185–268 + 10 color lithographs. (Cryptoblepharus, new genus, p. 203). (in German).