The land reptiles of Western Samoa

Abstract

Museum voucher specimens and literature records show that the land reptiles of Western Samoa comprise 14 species:—five geckos, eight skinks, and a snake. There is uncertainty about the presence of a sixth species of gecko. An identification key is provided, and known locality records are cited to give an indication of distribution within Western Samoa. Most species are common on both main islands. There are no endemic species, and beyond Western Samoa many species are widely distributed in the south-west Pacific. The exceptions are four regional endemics -the skinks Cryptoblepharus poecilopleurus (the Samoa group and French Polynesia), Emoia adspersa (Western Samoa and a few small islands from Tuvalu to Tokelau), E. murphyi (Western Samoa and some northern Tongan islands), and E. samoensis (Western and American Samoa). The zoogeography of many south Pacific reptiles is confused by two equally plausible possibilities—that they spread naturally between islands by rafting, and that they were spread accidentally or deliberately by early Polynesian seafarers.