Taxonomy
Common name :
Le scinque de litière des rivages
Strand Litter Skink Red List Status -
Least Concern (LC) , assessed in 11/12/2017Protected species -
in Southern Province , in Northern Province
Caledoniscincus haplorhinus remains very widespread, is able to thrive in disturbed and modified habitats, and is generally abundant wherever it occurs. It is therefore listed as Least Concern.
Geographical area
This species is endemic to New Caledonia. It occurs throughout Grande Terre, and on Recif d'Entrecasteux (Ile Surprise), Iles Belep, Ile des Pins, Iles Loyauté (Maré, Lifou, Ouvéa) and many smaller satellite islands. It can occur at elevations of 1,000 m but it is more numerous at lower elevations (500 m). The extent of occurrence is estimated at 85,004 km2.
Population
There are no quantitative data on population size and trends for this species but because it has adapted so well to modified environments and is now often abundant in such habitats, any decrease in population size and extent resulting from losses and degradation of natural habitats in the past will, to some extent, have been off-set.
Habitat
This species occurs in a very wide range of open and wooded habitats from the strand line to montane maquis shrublands, including coastal sites, grassland, savanna, maquis shrublands, sclerophyll forest and disturbed parts of closed forest. Absent from dense closed forest. It prefers much more open habitats than Caledoniscincus austrocaledonicus. It is diurnal, terrestrial and is active in sunlight. It shelters in litter, dense vegetation and beneath other cover (stones, logs, debris); forages in the open and in sunlit-patches.
Threats
Although this species will be at risk to further loss and fragmentation of natural forest and shrubland habitats through clearance and wildfires, and habitat degradation from livestock and introduced ungulates (deer and pigs), the greatest threat is expected to be from the introduced ant, Wasmannia auropunctatus, which is known to decimate lizard populations in low and mid-elevation forested habitats. Predation by introduced mammals (rodents and cats) is a relatively low risk.
Conservation
This species is protected in Province Nord under Code de l'environnement de la Province Nord (Délibération No. 306-2008/APN, 24 October 2008) and in Province Sud under Code de l'environnement de la Province Sud (Délibération No. 25-2009/APS, 20 March 2009). It is present in most reserves throughout New Caledonia. No specific conservation management is currently being undertaken.
Bibliography
Sadlier, R.A., Bauer, A.M. and Colgan, D.J. 1999. The scincid lizard genus Caledoniscincus (Reptilia: Scincidae) from New Caledonia in the Southwest Pacific: a review of Caledoniscincus austrocaledonicus (Bavay) and description of six new species from Province Nord. Records of the Australian Museum(51) , p.57-82.
IUCN 2021. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2021-2.
Jourdan, H., Sadlier, R.A. and Bauer, A.M. 2001. Little Fire Ant Invasion (Wasmannia auropunctata) as a threat to New Caledonian lizards: Evidences from a sclerophyll forest (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Sociobiology(38) , p.283-301.
Jourdan, H., Sadlier, R.A. and Bauer, A.M. 2000. Premières observations sur les conséquences de l’invasion de Wasmannia auropunctata 1863 (Roger) sur les prédateurs supérieurs dans les écosystèmes Néo-calédoniens. Actes des collectes insectes sociaux(13) , p.121-126.
Bauer, A.M. and Sadlier, R.A. 2000. The Herpetofauna of New Caledonia.
Uetz, P. (ed.) 2017. The Reptile Database.
Experts
Assessor(s): Sadlier, R., Bauer, A., Jourdan, H., Astrongatt, S., Deuss, M., Duval, T., Bourguet, E., McCoy, S., Bouteiller, A., Lagrange, A.
Reviewer(s): Cox, N.
Contributor(s): Whitaker, A.
Facilitator(s): Lietar, J., Tanguy, V., Warimavute, G.