NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Coastal snake-eyed skink
Cryptoblepharus litoralis (Mertens, 1958)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Cryptoblepharus litoralis, the coastal snake-eyed skink or supralittoral shinning-skink, is a small skink found in North Queensland, Australia and New Guinea.
They are generally found darting around the rocky outcrops on beaches and headlands, not far from the water, hunting for small insects. Its genus name means "hidden eyelid", and its species name "intertidal". It is commonly known as the coastal tree skink.
Cryptoblepharus litoralis is around 55 mm snout to vent, and dark-brown to black in colour with white to beige spots. The lower surface of the feet are shiny black. Cryptoblepharus plagiocephalus is a very similar species, but has brownish lower surfaces on the feet.
Wikipedia contributors, Cryptoblepharus litoralis; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:49:35.345382+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Cryptoblepharus litoralis (Mertens, 1958)
- Name authority
- (Mertens, 1958)
- Common name
- Coastal snake-eyed skink
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Scincidae
- Genus
- Cryptoblepharus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderAutarchoglossa
- familyScincidae
- subfamilyEugongylinae
- genusCryptoblepharus
- speciesCryptoblepharus litoralis (Mertens, 1958)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Cryptoblepharus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Cryptoblepharus caudatus (Sternfeld, 1918) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Arafura snake-eyed skinkCryptoblepharus gurrmul Horner, 2007 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Snake-eyed SkinkCryptoblepharus boutonii (Des Jardin, 1831) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cryptoblepharus burdeni Dunn, 1927 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Black Snake-eyed SkinkCryptoblepharus ater (Boettger, 1913) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cryptoblepharus bitaeniatus (Boettger, 1913) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Nosy Be Snake-eyed SkinkCryptoblepharus cognatus (Boettger, 1881) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Swanson’s snake-eyed skinkCryptoblepharus cygnatus Horner, 2007 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Dappled snake-eyed skinkCryptoblepharus daedalos Horner, 2007 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cryptoblepharus eximius Girard, 1858 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Black-boulder Shinning-skinkCryptoblepharus fuhni Covacevich & Ingram, 1978 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cryptoblepharus furvus Horner, 2007 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Ablepharus boutonii litoralis Mertens, 1958 Mertens, 1958 | synonym |
| Cryptoblepharus horneri Wells & Wellington, 1985 Wells & Wellington, 1985 | ambiguous synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Cryptoblepharus&species=litoralis Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:ZV2Q. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.