REPTILES 



329 



accidentally or intentionally (Hemidacfylus. Lepidodacfylus, 

 Varanus, Ramphofyphlops) . Some species inhabit beach 

 areas and are found among driftwood (Lipinia, Emoia. 

 Hemidacfylus, Lepidodacfylus) . They may have been 

 washed ashore on the atoll from other areas on floating 

 debris or come as stowaways on the boats of early inter- 

 island travelers. Gehi/ra and Hemiph[;llodacfylus are pri- 

 marily restricted to forest areas and may have been rafted 

 to the atoll from other islands by storm waves which some- 

 times wash over low-lying areas and can dislodge large 

 trees and fallen debris. 



Enewetak Atoll has few species of reptiles compared to 

 large, high islands such as Hawaii. Due to its dry climate, 

 lack of extensive forest area, and relative isolation, it also 

 has fewer sp)ecies than some other atolls. Systematic 

 reports on the terrestrial reptiles of atolls are rare and 

 often are based on chance observation (e.g., Marshall, 

 1951; Moul, 1954; Sachet, 1962). Specimens discussed in 

 these reports and many of the sp)ecimens collected from 

 Enewetak were found by chance by people working on 

 other projects. K. J. Frogner took advantage of limited 

 opportunities to visit the various islands of Enewetak Atoll 

 to collect as many specimens as possible, and much of 

 what is known about the habitat of the lizards on the atoll 

 is based on his work. However, a more thorough search, 

 especially on the forested islets, could reveal more species 

 present. Based on specimens in the USNM collection from 

 nearby Pacific islands and other atolls in the Marshall 

 Islands, the following species of lizards possibly could be 

 found on Enewetak Atoll (R. Crombie, USNM, personal 

 communication): 



Gehi;ra rnutilata - widespread in Oceania 

 Lamprolepis smaragdina - widespread in Oceania 



(found on Ailuk, Arno, Jaluit, Likiep, Taka, 



Ujae, Ujelang, Utirik, and Wotho Atolls in the 



Marshall Islands) 

 Cr\;ptoblepharus boutoni - widespread in Oceania 



(Pokak and Taongi in the Marshalls) 

 Emoia baudini group - spotty in Oceania, 



identification doubtful 

 E. arnoensis - Marshalls and possibly Caroline 



Islands (Arno, Bikini?, Lae, Jaluit, Rongerik?) 

 £. boetigeh orientalis - spotty (Arno, Bikini?, 



Rongerik?) 

 £. mivarti - spotty (Lae, Ujae, Wotho) 

 Ci/rtodacfylus pelagicus - spotty (Arno Atoll) 

 Perochirus ateles - spotty in Oceania but on Arno Atoll 



According to George Balazs (personal communication), 

 only two species of sea turtles — the green turtle, Chehnia 

 mx^das. and the hawksbill turtle, Eretmachel\js 

 imbricata — are known to Enewetak Atoll. Too few speci- 

 mens have been examined to determine whether these two 

 species belong to the subspecies C. nn\;das japonica of the 

 western Pacific or E. imbricata squamata of the Indo- 

 Pacific. At least one incidence of a possible sea turtle nest- 

 ing on Ikuren Islet has been observed (P. Lamberson, per- 

 sonal communication and photo). 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



This report is based in part on observations made by 

 the author during employment at the Mid-Pacific Research 

 Laboratory, which is supported by the Division of Biomedi- 

 cal and Environmental Research of the Department of 

 Energy under contract No. AT(26-l)-628 to the University 

 of Hawaii. Appreciation is extended to R. Crombie for his 

 interest and help in identification of specimens and for 

 his critique of the manuscript. Thanks are also extended to 

 S. McKeown for many helpful suggestions and to 

 G. Balazs for information on sea turtles. 



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