MORPHOLOGICAL VARIATION OF EMOIA-MURPHYI (LACERTILIA, SCINCIDAE) ON ISLANDS OF THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC

We examined variation in measurements and scalation of 114 specimens o f Murphy's tree skink Emoia murphyi from five island groups of the sou thwest Pacific. In the largest sample (Niuafo'ou) males were significa ntly longer than females. Populations from Futuna, Samoa, Niuafo'ou, V ava'u and Ha'apai showed little morphological divergence, and there we re no geographic trends in scalation. We conclude that the various pop ulations are conspecific. The lack of morphological discontinuity sugg ests that the lizards dispersed between the far-flung island groups re cently, and makes more likely the possibility that Polynesian seafarin g rather than natural spread was the agent of dispersal. The source po pulation-whether within or beyond the known distribution of E. murphyi -is at present indeterminate.