Gastrointestinal helminths of eleven species ofEmoia(Squamata: Scincidae) from Papua New Guinea

Polyphyly of the Dinurinae Looss, 1907 (Digenea: Hemiuridae) and resurrection of the Mecoderinae Skrjabin & Guschanskaja, 1954 based on novel collection of Tubulovesicula laticaudi Parukhin, 1969 from marine elapid snakes in Sri Lanka

With one exception, the only known hemiurid trematodes that do not use teleost fishes as definitive hosts instead occur in marine elapid snakes. These comprise six species across four genera and three subfamilies, and so presumably indicate at least three independent invasions of marine snakes from teleost fishes. Here, one of these taxa, Tubulovesicula laticaudi Parukhin, 1969 (= T. orientalis Chattopadhyaya, 1970 n. syn.) is reported from Sri Lanka, collected from Shaw's sea snake Hydrophis curtus (Shaw) (Elapidae: Hydrophiinae: Hydrophinii), the annulated sea snake H. cyanocinctus Daudin and the yellow sea snake H. spiralis (Shaw) off Nayaru in the Bay of Bengal, and from H. spiralis in Portugal Bay, Gulf of Mannar. Novel molecular data, for COI mtDNA and ITS2 and 28S rDNA, are the first for a species of Tubulovesicula Yamaguti, 1934. Nominally, Tubulovesicula belongs in the Dinurinae Looss, 1907, but in phylogenetic analyses based on 28S rDNA, our sequences for T. laticaudi resolved relatively distant from that for representatives of Dinurus Looss, 1907, the type-genus, rendering the subfamily polyphyletic. Tubulovesicula laticaudi resolved closest to data for the type-species of the Plerurinae Gibson & Bray, 1979, but that subfamily is also polyphyletic. These findings lead us to re-evaluate an alternative classification considered by Gibson & Bray (1979). We propose restricting the Dinurinae for forms with a permanent sinus-organ (Dinurus, Ectenurus Looss, 1907; Erilepturus Woolcock, 1935; Paradinurus Vigueras, 1958; Qadriana Bilqees, 1971) and resurrect the Mecoderinae Skrjabin & Guschanskaja, 1954 for forms with a temporary sinus-organ (Mecoderus Manter, 1940, Allostomachicola Yamaguti, 1958, Stomachicola Yamaguti, 1934 and Tubulovesicula).

Cryptic extinction of a common Pacific lizard Emoia impar (Squamata, Scincidae) from the Hawaiian Islands

Most documented declines of tropical reptiles are of dramatic or enigmatic species. Declines of widespread species tend to be cryptic. The early (1900s) decline and extinction of the common Pacific skink Emoia impar from the Hawaiian Islands is documented here through an assessment of literature, museum vouchers and recent fieldwork. This decline appears contemporaneous with the documented declines of invertebrates and birds across the Hawaiian Islands. A review of the plausible causal factors indicates that the spread of the introduced big-headed ant Pheidole megacephala is the most likely factor in this lizard decline. The introduction and spread of a similar skink Lampropholis delicata across the islands appears to temporally follow the decline of E. impar, although there is no evidence of competition between these species. It appears that L. delicata is spreading to occupy the niche vacated by the extirpated E. impar. Further confusion exists because the skink E. cyanura, which is very similar in appearance to E. impar, appears to have been introduced to one site within a hotel on Kaua'i and persisted as a population at that site for approximately 2 decades (1970s–1990s) but is now also extirpated. This study highlights the cryptic nature of this early species extinction as evidence that current biogeographical patterns of non-charismatic or enigmatic reptiles across the Pacific may be the historical result of early widespread invasion by ants. Conservation and restoration activities for reptiles in the tropical Pacific should consider this possibility and evaluate all evidence prior to any implementation.