Family : SCINCIDAE
Species : Emoia atrocostata
Size (snout to vent) : 10 cm
Size (total length) : 26 cm

The Mangrove Skink inhabits mangroves, back-beach vegetation and rocky shorelines: the skinks venture into the intertidal zone at low tide to feed on insects and other invertebrates.

The species can be distinguished from the Many-lined Sun Skink Eutropis multifasciata by the lack of keeled scales on the dorsal surface.  Its colour is grey or brown-grey, flecked with black. There is a faint black band along each side. The throat is often bluish, and the belly greenish or yellow / orange.

The species ranges from the Ryukyu Islands (Japan) through Taiwan and the Philippines to much of Indonesia, New Guinea and northern Queensland (Australia). E. atrocostata is the only Emoia species in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore.

Fig 1 : Full-grown adult on a coral rubble shoreline near Bahowo Village, North Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Fig 2 : Example on a rocky beach on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia at Kampong Sedili.

Fig 3 : Example with a markedly orange belly at Sungei Buloh, Singapore.

Fig 4 : Half-grown example on a small, sandy beach, on the seaward side of fringing mangrove, at Tanjung Piai, Peninsular Malaysia.


References :

Manthey U., Grossmann W., 1997. Amphibien und Reptilien Sudostasiens. Natur und Tier - Verlag.