Pacific Islands Herpetology No. IV, Admiralty Islands

Great Basin Naturalist Volume 11 Number 1 – Number 2 Article 1 9-29-1951 Pacific Islands Herpetology No. IV, Admiralty Islands Vasco M. Tanner Brigham Young University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn Recommended Citation Tanner, Vasco M. (1951) "Pacific Islands Herpetology No. IV, Admiralty Islands," Great Basin Naturalist: Vol. 11 : No. 1 , Article 1. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn/vol11/iss1/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Western North American Naturalist Publications at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Basin Naturalist by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact , . mm / 22 1952 (/(/' The Greari5asi4^ Naturalist Published by the Department of Zoology and Entomology Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah Volume XI SEPTEMBER 29, 1951 PACIFIC ISLANDS I Nos. Ill IERPETOLOGY NO. IV ADMIRALTY ISLANDS 0) VASCO M. TANNER Professor of Zoology and Entomology Brigham Young University Provo, Utah INTRODUCTION ogy. This is the fourth report on the South Pacific Islands HerpetolIt is concerned with specimens collected on Los Negros Island of the Admiralty group. The Admiralty Islands are located between 1° 30' and 3° 10' South Latitude and 146° and 148° East Longitude, being the most northerly of the Melanesion Islands. This group was discovered in 1616 by Schouten and Lemaire and consists of Manus, Los Negros, Los Reyes. Pak, Naura, Rambutvo, Baluan, Sauwai, Lou, Tong, and other small islands. All these islands are small except Manus which has an area of more than seven hundred square miles and has mountains that rise to a height of over three thousand feet. Los Negros, the next largest island of this group, forms an arc around the eastern end of Manus; the two being separated by a narrow channel. Within this arc is a good harbor, the Seeadler, which has depths ranging up to 120 feet. The central part of Los Negros was made into the large Momote airfield which was an important base in General Douglas MiirArthur's campaign to win back the Philippine Islands and move on to Japan. The Admiralties lies about 200 miles north and east of New Guinea and 260 miles west of New Ireland. New Hanover Island is between New Ireland and the Admiralties on an arc which extends through these Islands southward to the Solomon Islands. In 1940 there were about 14,000 natives on the islands, most of them en- lContribution No. 125, Dept. of Zoology and Entomology, B. Y. U. Provo, Utah. The Great Basin Naturalist VASCO M. TANNER 2 Vol. XI, NoS. 1-2 gaged in cultivating the coconut, the only commercial crop produced there. They are worthy sea fareing people fishing and diving for Their food consists principally of coconut, taro, sago, yams, bananas, breadfruit, and sugar cane. The herpetological fauna of this group is poorly known. Boulenger, 1887; Hediger, 1937; Mertens, 1934; Peters and Doria, 1878; Sternfield, 1918; and Vogt, 1912, have made some valuable reports on the reptiles of this area. However, their efforts have been confined mainly to the Bismarck archipelago. Sternfeld lists 16 species as having been collected on the Admiralty Islands, none of which were reported from Los Negros. Mr. Reimschiissel landed on Los Negros August 27, 1944, and left on September 16, 1944. Collecting was possible only a part of his stay on the Island. He reports as follows concerning his camp and general conditions on the Island: "My camp was located on a very bare part of the island where coral sand and coral rock made up the soil, mixed with old and decayed parts of plants which accumulated where the water puddled. Plant life is not as luxuriant as on Guadalcanal, the insects do not seem as numerous, but the bird life is plentiful. It rains one to two times each day. The water when in still pools has a milky color. Sometimes in small drainage areas the streams are also milky in pearl shells. color. "My time was very limited and even at night the lights were turned off, forcing me to hold off with my record keeping or other During these long hours of darkness I went hunting for Many of them were croaking and calling to one another. One species I observed is a small brownish one which hides under the coral rocks and amongst the plants. A beam of light would not frighten them so with their continual croaking I was able writing. frogs with a flashlight. to catch five specimens." I wish to extend my thanks to Mr. Reimschiissel for his interest and care in making collections of the reptiles and insects he encountered. The species listed below are, for the most part, new records for Los Negros Island. AMPHIBIANS Family Hylidae HYLA INFRAFRENATA INFRAFRENATA GUNTHER Gunther, Ann. Mag. Nat Hist., (3) XX, 1867, p. 56. Sept. 29. 1951 PACIFIC 1M.ANDS HERPETOLOGY NO. IV BYU 7309, 7314 BYU 7315, 7316 Admiralty Islands Los Negros 3 (E. Reimschiissel) Sept. 16, 1944 7326 Those specimens agree in measurements and color with those Two adult specimens (7309, 7316) arc (lark lavender blue in spirits. From Mr. Reimschiissel's notes I record the following: "I saw a large green frog which eluded my grasp; it landed on an elephant's ear and I managed to catch it. It was green, long legged, with golden colored eyes the pupil going reported from Morotai Island. — Longitudionally with the body. These were a number of small green which three or four were caught. I do not know whether immature or mature frogs but they were found in the forest area dining the day time, out in the sun or shade or on the tops of leaves which would hold their weight. Another small greenish brown frog was caught in the forest living under logs." frogs of these were Family Ranidae PLATYMANTIS sp. BYU 7310-11, 7320 BYU 7321-22, 7323 Admiralty Islands Los Negros (E. Reimschiissel) Sept., 1944 7324 It is not possible to make a specific determination of this species I have compared it with specimens of P. papuensis webSchmidt from the Tenaru River on Guadalcanal, collected by Robert C. Pendleton, and P. corrugatus papuensis collected at Hallandia, New Guinea by Mr. Reimschiissel. Dr. Walter C. Brown now has specimens BYU 7310-11 and 7320, making a study of them in comparison with Platymantis species now contained in some of the at present. eri American collections. The four specimens before me are all about 30 mm. in length. LIZARDS Family Gekkonidae GEHYRA OCEANICA (LESSON) Lesson, Voyage Coquille, Zool. II, I, 1830, p. 42 pi. II, fig. 3. BYU 7179 Admiralty Islands Los Negros (E. Reimschiissel) Sept. 7, 1944 One female specimen of this wide spread species was reported for the Admiralty Islands by Sternfeld. The Great Basin Naturalist VASCO M. TANNER 4 Vol. XI, NoS. 1-2 Family Scincidae DASIA SAMARAGDINUM PERVIRIDIS BARBOUR Barbour, Proc. N. Eng. Zool. Club, Vol. VII, p. 106, 1921 BYU 7162, 7207-18 Admiralty Islan (...truncated)