An addition to the LACERTILIAN FAUNA of the 

 SOLOMON ISLANDS. 



By Edgar R. Waite, F.L.S., Zoologist. 



(Fig. 2). 



The Trustees have received a fine female Gecko from Mr. 

 Charles M. Woodford, British Resident, Solomon Group. 



Mr. Woodfoid's knowledge of the fauna of the group under 

 his administration led him to suggest that the Gecko was an 

 undescribed species ; though previously known, it indeed proves 

 to be new to the Solomon Islands. This is the more interesting 

 as the group has been so well worked by Messrs. Guppy and 

 Woodford. In this connection Dr. G. A. Boulenger remarks^ : — 

 " The fact that, in spite of the extent of the collection (over 200 

 specimens) and the special attention paid by the collector [Mr. 

 Woodford] to this group of animals, only four species are there- 

 by added to the herpetological list of the Solomons, shows that 

 our knowledge of this part of the fauna approaches completion." 

 In the paper quoted Boulenger gives a complete list (28) of 

 the reptiles of the Solomon Group, to the date of publication. 

 Several species have, however, been added since that time, and it 

 is now my piivilege to add another. 



Mr. Woodford's Gecko proves to be : — 



Gymnodactylus louisiadensis, De Vis. 



Ann. Rep. Brit. New Guinea, App. cc, 1892, p. 5, and Ann. 

 Queensland Mus., ii., 1892, p. 11. 



The type was obtained at Sudest Is. (Tagula Is.) Louisiade 

 Archipelago. A species from Moroka, British New Guinea, was 

 described and figured by Boulenger'^ under the name G. h>ri«'. 

 Dr. Franz Werner^ thoroughly reviewed these two forms and 

 inclined to the belief that they are not specifically distinct. For 

 present purposes I assume this to be so. Mr. Woodford's speci- 

 men, however, seems to be a typical example, differing from the 

 type only in respect to arrangement of the colour bands, in having 

 the internasal plates broken up into four, and the subdigital 

 lamellae and labial plates slightly different in number, 



1 Boulenger— Proc. Zool. Soc. 1888, p. 88. 

 , -^ Boulenger— Ann. Mus. Civ. Sto. Nat. Genova, (2), xviii., 1897 (1898), 

 p. 695, pi. vi. 

 3 Werner— Verb. Zool.-bot. Ges. Wien, li., 1901, p. 604. 



