Mangrove skink

Description

Emoia atrocostata, commonly known as the littoral whiptail-skink, mangrove skink, or littoral skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. It inhabits mangroves, back-beach vegetation and rocky shorelines. It is semi-aquatic and forages in tidal pools. The species can be distinguished from the similar many-lined sun skink by the lack of keeled scales on the dorsal surface of the Mangrove Skink. 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 to orange. E. atrocostata can be found on the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and in Queensland, Australia.