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Three-toed Snake-Skink (Coeranoscincus reticulatus)

The Three-toed Snake-Skink is a fossorial, elongated skink of rainforest, wet sclerophyll forest and some moist coastal forests in south-east Queensland and north-east New South Wales. It is listed as Vulnerable under the EPBC Act and in New South Wales, so clearing that removes moist leaf litter, rotting logs, friable soil or connected forest can affect shelter, feeding and breeding habitat.

Conservation status

Commonwealth, EPBC Act 1999: Vulnerable.

New South Wales, Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016: Vulnerable.

Breeding season

This species lays one clutch each year, but the timing of mating, egg laying, incubation and hatching is not recorded. Activity is expected to increase from September to December, so plan clearing to avoid this period where practicable and protect ground refuges throughout the year.

Reproductive mode: Oviparous

Clutch size: 2 to 6 eggs, with a mean of 3.85 eggs

Incubation: Not recorded

Size at hatching: 59.05 mm snout to vent length

Age at maturity: Not recorded

Nest or egg sites: Not recorded; potential egg-laying habitat includes friable soil, leaf litter and large rotting logs in moist forest ground

Breeding frequency: One clutch per year

Confirm timing locally before clearing, particularly because rainfall, soil moisture and temperature may shift activity across the species' subtropical and temperate range.

  • Mating: The mating months are not recorded for this species. September to December is an indicative planning window based on the documented late spring and early summer activity period, not confirmed mating dates.
  • Gravid females: The period when females carry eggs is not recorded. Treat September to December as a precautionary window because reproductive activity and movement are expected to increase in late spring and early summer.
  • Egg laying: Egg-laying months and nest sites are not confirmed. September to December is an indicative planning window, with friable soil, leaf litter and large logs requiring protection during clearing.
  • Incubation: Incubation length and the months when eggs remain in the ground are not recorded. Treat the late spring to early summer activity window as a precautionary period for eggs in moist soil, litter and log-associated habitat.
  • Hatchlings: Hatching months and juvenile emergence are not recorded. September to December is an indicative period for increased reproductive sensitivity, rather than a confirmed hatchling season.
  • Active period: The species is cathemeral, with additional records of nocturnal activity. Activity is expected to peak in late spring and early summer, particularly October and November, although the timing can vary across the range.
  • Winter inactivity: Brumation and a defined winter inactive period are not recorded. In cooler parts of the subtropical and temperate range, June to August should be treated as a general precautionary period when animals may remain in logs, litter, rocks or soil and be less able to escape machinery.
  • Highest clearing risk: Risk is highest from September to December, when activity and movement between ground refuges are expected to increase and eggs or young may be present. Ground habitat remains a clearing risk in every month because the species shelters in leaf litter, rotting logs, rocks and friable soil.

Identification

This is a moderately large, elongated skink with greatly reduced limbs and only three digits on each limb. It is usually encountered beneath ground cover or in loose soil rather than in the open.

The body is long and snake-like, with very short limbs. Each limb has three digits. The species is fossorial and terrestrial, and is commonly associated with leaf litter, moist rotting logs and friable soil.

The maximum recorded snout to vent length is 195 mm. A reported adult female mean is 154 mm. Reported body mass values are inconsistent between datasets, so weight should not be used as a primary field identification character.

Maximum snout to vent length: 195 mm

Reported hatchling snout to vent length: About 59 mm

Digits: Three on each limb

Limbs: Reduced

Identification: Similar species

The main documented identification issue is confusion with Verreaux's skink, Anomalopus verreauxii. The Three-toed Snake-Skink has three digits on each limb, whereas Verreaux's skink has only one digit on the hindlimb.

Verreaux's skink generally occupies drier habitat. Habitat alone is not sufficient for identification, particularly for animals recorded outside the known core range.

  • Check the number of digits on the hindlimb before release.
  • Photograph the whole animal and the limbs where practicable.
  • Collect a tissue sample for records outside the core Border Ranges and Brisbane region distribution, following the relevant permit and animal welfare requirements.

Identification: Field signs and handling

There are no documented species-specific tracks, scats, calls, nests, sloughs or eyeshine records in the supplied documents. The most useful field evidence is the animal itself, or its association with suitable shelter.

Records are most likely when rocks, fallen timber or the surface soil layer are searched carefully, or when pitfall traps are used during general biodiversity surveys. Catch rates are expected to be low.

  • Before turning cover, inspect the underside and surrounding soil for an animal and return each log, rock or timber piece to its original position.
  • Use active searching together with pitfall trapping where a formal survey is required, rather than relying on active searching alone.
  • Avoid dragging logs or disturbing large areas of litter because the species shelters at the leaf litter, log and soil interface.

Distribution: States and regions

The documented range is in south-east Queensland and north-east New South Wales. The supplied sources do not provide a reliable state-wide population estimate or a confirmed population trend.

The species is recorded from south-east Queensland and north-east New South Wales. The survey guideline identifies the Border Ranges and Brisbane Ranges region as the core of the known distribution at the time of publication.

A record from Crescent Head in New South Wales extended the known southern limit by nearly 200 km at the time of the survey guideline. It was associated with a different habitat from that normally occupied, so the full distribution and habitat range remain incompletely understood.

States recorded in the supplied sources: Queensland and New South Wales

Core region identified in the survey guideline: Border Ranges and Brisbane Ranges region

Reported range size: 37,578 km²

Reported elevation range: 512 to 937 m above sea level

Distribution: Populations and trend

The documents do not provide a national population estimate, density estimate for the species as a whole, or a reliable population trend. The species has been recorded at a number of sites but never commonly in the survey work summarised by the guideline.

The species is listed as Vulnerable under the EPBC Act and as Vulnerable in New South Wales. The supplied third-party profile gives a conflicting Least Concern assessment, which should not be used in place of the Australian statutory listings.

National population size: Not stated in the supplied documents

Population trend: Not stated in the supplied documents

EPBC Act listing: Vulnerable

New South Wales listing: Vulnerable

Habitat: Forest types

The species is associated with moist forest habitats and ground conditions that allow burrowing and concealment. Suitable habitat can occur in intact forest and in connected forest remnants where the ground layer remains moist and structurally continuous.

Documented habitat includes subtropical and temperate rainforest, wet sclerophyll forest with a rainforest understorey, and moist forest on sands. It has also been recorded in coastal open forest on sand at Crescent Head in New South Wales.

The species is usually recorded on loamy basaltic soils in rainforest and in wet sclerophyll forest adjacent to rainforest. The supplied profile describes its broader habitat as forest and shrubland within temperate broadleaf and mixed forest.

Habitat: Ground structure and climate

Important ground features include friable soil, deep or moist leaf litter, large rotting logs, rocks and a moist interface between litter, soil and timber. Soils with moderate to high moisture levels are identified for breeding, feeding and sheltering habitat.

The species is generally associated with warm, moist conditions. Peak activity is likely in late spring and early summer when conditions are warm but not overly dry.

Elevation reported in the supplied profile: 512 to 937 m

Key soil condition: Moderate to high moisture with friable soil

  • Retain continuous forest cover between habitat patches.
  • Retain large fallen timber, rocks, moist litter and friable soil where clearing cannot be avoided.
  • Map moist gullies, rainforest understorey, wet sclerophyll forest and connected forest remnants before works begin.

Foraging habitat: Diet and feeding sites

The Three-toed Snake-Skink feeds below or within the ground layer, where it searches moist litter, soil and decaying timber for invertebrate prey.

The diet is carnivorous. Documented prey includes earthworms, beetle larvae and other small litter and soil invertebrates.

Foraging habitat is the friable soil, leaf litter and rotting log interface in rainforest, wet sclerophyll forest and other moist forest. The species is not dependent on particular food plants.

Main recorded prey: Earthworms

Other recorded prey: Beetle larvae and small litter and soil invertebrates

Trophic level: 2

Documented foraging range: Not stated in the supplied documents

  • Retain moist leaf litter and friable soil beneath and beside fallen timber.
  • Avoid compacting soil, removing rotting logs or stripping the surface litter layer in areas identified as habitat.
  • Keep forest cover connected because the species is described as requiring continuous forest cover for dispersal.

Breeding habitat: Breeding biology

Breeding habitat is associated with moist, friable ground and shelter at the interface between leaf litter, large rotting logs and soil. The supplied documents provide limited reproductive information.

The available profile identifies the species as oviparous, with one clutch per year. The survey guideline indicates that peak activity is likely in late spring and early summer, but it does not confirm the timing of mating or egg laying.

The supplied documents do not state age at maturity, incubation period or lifespan. The reproductive lifespan estimate in the regional disturbance report is an estimate rather than a direct field measurement.

Breeding season: Likely late spring to early summer activity; exact mating and laying months are not stated

Reproduction: Oviparous

Clutch size: 2 to 6 eggs, with a reported mean of 3.85 eggs

Clutches per year: 1

Gestation or incubation: Not stated in the supplied documents

Age at maturity: Not stated in the supplied documents

Estimated reproductive lifespan: 1 to 7 years, mean 4 years

Breeding habitat: Breeding habitat features

The identified breeding interface is friable soil, leaf litter and large logs in subtropical or temperate rainforest, wet sclerophyll forest and possibly open coastal forest. Moderate to high soil moisture is a reported habitat condition.

Clearing that removes logs, litter or friable soil can remove both potential egg-laying sites and the cover used by adults. Soil compaction and drying of the ground layer can also reduce habitat quality.

  • Retain large rotting logs in place wherever possible.
  • Do not burn, chip or stockpile habitat logs and litter before a fauna assessment and relocation plan is completed.
  • Maintain moist ground conditions and avoid blocking or diverting natural drainage around retained habitat.

Sheltering habitat: Refuge features

The species shelters at ground level and below ground. Its refuges are small-scale features that can be lost through clearing, soil disturbance, fire or machinery movement.

Recorded shelter includes leaf litter, moist rotting logs and loose friable soil beneath sheltering sites. The broader habitat description also identifies soil, logs and rocks as sheltering features.

The species may move between shelter sites at night. It is not documented as using tree hollows, elevated roosts or permanent constructed burrows.

Known shelter types: Leaf litter, moist rotting logs, loose friable soil, rocks and deep litter

Known refuge size: Not stated in the supplied documents

Dispersal requirement: Continuous forest cover

  • Retain logs, rocks, deep leaf litter and friable soil across the work area and along retained forest edges.
  • Inspect suitable cover before it is moved, rolled or removed.
  • If an animal is found, stop work in the immediate area and obtain direction from the project ecologist or fauna spotter catcher under the relevant approval conditions.

Sheltering habitat: Survey and work-site implications

The species has been recorded by turning rocks or fallen timber, raking the surface layer of soil and using pitfall traps. Active searching depends on suitable shelter sites being present.

Because records are uncommon and catch rates are expected to be low, a failure to detect the species does not demonstrate that suitable habitat is absent.

  • Use a qualified fauna spotter catcher when removing logs, rocks or deep litter from potential habitat.
  • Search suitable cover carefully and limit the area of disturbance to the approved footprint.
  • Combine active searching with pitfall trapping where the approved survey design requires detection of this fossorial species.

Threats: Clearing and fragmentation

The main project risks are loss and fragmentation of moist forest, removal of ground refuges, soil compaction and drying of the litter and soil layer. Detection is difficult, so precaution is needed where suitable habitat will be disturbed.

Clearing rainforest, wet sclerophyll forest, moist coastal forest or connected forest remnants can remove breeding, feeding and sheltering habitat. The regional habitat assessment identifies continuous forest cover as necessary for dispersal.

Roads, tracks, pipelines and construction compounds can divide habitat and increase the length of disturbed forest edge. The documents do not provide a species-specific road mortality rate, but road and machinery movement are direct risks to a fossorial reptile moving between shelter sites.

  • Avoid clearing moist forest and connected ground cover where practicable.
  • Keep construction traffic within marked corridors and prevent vehicles from crossing retained litter, logs and rock refuges.
  • Stage clearing so that retained habitat remains connected and animals are not isolated in small remnants.

Threats: Ground disturbance, fire and hydrology

Removing leaf litter, rotting logs, rocks or friable soil directly removes shelter and foraging sites. Machinery can compact the loose soil used by the species and damage the litter and log interface.

Fire can remove litter and rotting timber and dry the soil surface. Changes to drainage, runoff or groundwater can reduce the moderate to high moisture conditions associated with habitat.

  • Exclude unnecessary fire from retained habitat and protect moist forest floor features during planned burns.
  • Do not place spoil, mulch, equipment or stored materials over retained logs, litter or friable soil.
  • Prevent sediment, altered runoff and dewatering from drying or burying retained habitat.

Threats: Predators, disease and detection limits

The supplied documents do not identify a species-specific predator, disease or pathogen threat. Project controls should nevertheless prevent domestic animals and unnecessary human disturbance from entering retained habitat.

The species is rarely recorded and survey detection is not assured. A negative survey result should not be treated as evidence that suitable habitat is unoccupied.

  • Keep domestic dogs and cats out of retained habitat and active survey areas.
  • Use hygiene controls between sites when moving soil, logs, traps or other equipment.
  • Treat suitable habitat as potentially occupied where clearing or major ground disturbance is proposed.

Survey methodology: 1. Plan the survey area and timing

The Three-toed Snake-skink is a fossorial skink that is difficult to detect and is usually recorded under leaf litter, moist rotting logs or loose friable soil. Surveys should combine active searching with pitfall trapping and should not rely on active searching alone. [No source ids in text]

Map rainforest, wet sclerophyll forest with a rainforest understorey, moist forest on sand and coastal open forest, together with loose friable soils, deep leaf litter, moist logs, rocks and other sheltering sites.

Plan the main survey period for late spring to early summer, when conditions are warm but not overly dry.

Schedule ground searches at night because the species is not active on the ground surface by day and moves between sheltering sites at night.

Treat records outside the known core range with particular care because the species has been recorded in habitats and areas that are not fully consistent with its usual distribution and habitat.

Survey methodology: 2. Search sheltering sites

Search beneath leaf litter, moist rotting logs, rocks and fallen timber, and rake the surface layer of loose soil where suitable sheltering sites are present.

Use active searching during suitable night conditions and inspect the sheltering sites carefully rather than relying on visual searches across open ground.

Replace logs, rocks and leaf litter immediately after inspection and avoid damaging the friable soil and sheltering structure.

Expect a low detection rate, even where suitable habitat is present.

Survey methodology: 3. Use pitfall trapping with active searches

Use pitfall traps as a second method and combine them with active searches because active searching alone is not recommended for this species.

Place trapping lines to sample suitable rainforest, wet sclerophyll forest and moist forest habitat, particularly where loose soil, deep leaf litter, moist logs and other ground shelters occur.

Use appropriate drift fencing, shade and weather protection, and check traps at the frequency required by the project approval and animal welfare conditions.

Keep trapping effort, trap locations, trap nights, weather, habitat condition, captured fauna and any trap failures in the field records.

Survey methodology: 4. Confirm and document records

Photograph the animal and its microhabitat before release where this can be done without extending handling time.

Take tissue samples for records outside the core distribution or where the identification is uncertain, subject to the relevant approval and by an authorised person.

Distinguish the species from Verreaux's skink, which has only one digit on the hindlimb and generally occupies drier habitat.

Record the location, date, time, weather, habitat, shelter type, search method and identification confidence for every detection.

Survey methodology: Minimum effort and reporting

  • Use the survey guideline methods in combination, active searching and pitfall trapping, rather than relying on one method.
  • Do not describe a survey as adequate solely because no animals were detected, because the guideline expects low catch rates and states that detection methods cannot guarantee detection.
  • State the actual area searched, search time, number and type of traps, trap nights, checking schedule, weather and habitat searched in the survey report.
  • Use the precautionary principle where habitat is suitable but survey conditions or effort were inadequate.
  • Have all records reviewed by the project ecologist and submitted to the relevant state wildlife database, with records outside the core range supported by photographs and tissue sampling where authorised.
  • Check the current state database, permit and reporting requirements before fieldwork because the cited survey guideline was published for the EPBC-listed species list applying in July 2010.

Before habitat disturbance: Avoid and minimise

Avoid clearing the ground shelters and moist forest habitat used by this fossorial skink. The species is listed as Vulnerable under the EPBC Act, and the current gazetted name and accepted names include Coeranoscincus reticulatus and Anomalopus reticulatus. [No source ids in text]

  • Redesign the disturbance footprint to retain rainforest, wet sclerophyll forest with a rainforest understorey, moist forest on sand and coastal open forest where the species may occur.
  • Retain continuous forest cover because the species requires continuous forest cover for dispersal.
  • Retain moist, friable soil, deep leaf litter, moist rotting logs, fallen timber and rocks that provide breeding, feeding and sheltering sites.
  • Keep retained habitat connected to other forest and avoid isolating small retained patches with roads, stockpiles, hardstand or cleared corridors.
  • Use site-specific exclusion zones around retained sheltering features and habitat patches, with the distances set by the project ecologist and approval conditions rather than applying an unsupported generic buffer.

Before habitat disturbance: Approvals and work planning

  • Confirm whether the proposed action requires an EPBC Act referral or approval because the species is EPBC Act Vulnerable.
  • Confirm state threatened-species approvals, scientific licences, survey permits, animal ethics requirements and fauna handling authorisations before disturbing habitat or handling an animal.
  • Prepare a fauna management plan that identifies the species, suitable habitat, survey methods, exclusion areas, clearing sequence, fauna spotter catcher responsibilities, stop-work triggers, release sites and reporting requirements.
  • Stage clearing so retained habitat and escape routes remain available while habitat is being removed.
  • Schedule clearing and pre-clearance work with the project ecologist around the species' expected late spring and early summer activity period, and avoid overly dry conditions where practicable.

Before habitat disturbance: Prepare the site

  • Complete the pre-clearance survey using active searches and pitfall trapping where suitable habitat is present.
  • Mark retained forest, moist soil, deep litter, logs, rocks and other sheltering features on the ground and in the clearing plans.
  • Install and maintain exclusion fencing where it will prevent machinery or people entering retained habitat without trapping animals inside the work area.
  • Brief machinery operators and fauna spotter catchers on the species' fossorial habits, its low expected detection rate and the requirement to stop when a potential animal or sheltering feature is found.
  • Confirm a nearby retained release area with suitable moist soil, leaf litter, logs and continuous forest cover before clearing begins.

During habitat disturbance: Daily clearing controls

The species may be below leaf litter, logs or loose soil and may not be visible during routine clearing. Clearing must therefore proceed under direct fauna supervision where required by the fauna management plan and approval conditions. [No source ids in text]

  • Inspect the work area each day for animals, disturbed soil, exposed leaf litter, logs, rocks and other sheltering features before machinery starts.
  • Keep machinery within the approved footprint and protect marked retained habitat, connected forest and exclusion zones.
  • Clear slowly in short sections so the fauna spotter catcher can inspect disturbed ground and sheltering features before the next section is entered.
  • Stop work during conditions that make searching or trapping unsafe or ineffective, including conditions specified in the fauna management plan or approval.
  • Maintain daily records of the area cleared, habitat features removed, fauna observations, searches, captures, relocations, injuries, equipment and personnel.

During habitat disturbance: Fauna spotter catcher and machinery

  • The fauna spotter catcher should work ahead of and alongside machinery, with the machine operator stopping immediately when directed.
  • Inspect leaf litter, moist rotting logs, rocks, fallen timber and loose friable soil as they are exposed.
  • Do not allow untrained workers to handle the animal, dismantle sheltering features unnecessarily or search outside the approved method.
  • Use only authorised personnel for capture, identification, tissue sampling, handling and release.
  • Replace disturbed logs, rocks and leaf litter where this is safe and consistent with the approved clearing method.

During habitat disturbance: If the skink is found

  • Stop the machine and establish a quiet exclusion area around the animal and its shelter.
  • Ask the authorised fauna handler to identify and photograph the animal, record its microhabitat and decide whether it can be released immediately into the approved nearby retained habitat.
  • Handle the animal only for the minimum time needed for identification, approved sampling and relocation.
  • Release it into nearby retained habitat with moist soil, leaf litter and sheltering logs, rocks or other suitable cover, only where this is authorised in the fauna management plan and approval conditions.
  • Place an injured animal in a secure, ventilated container and arrange prompt assessment by a veterinarian or authorised wildlife carer.
  • Stop work and notify the project ecologist if the animal cannot be safely captured, if several animals are found, if a suspected breeding or sheltering concentration is exposed, or if the find is outside the approved impact area.
  • Treat an uncertain identification as a potential Three-toed Snake-skink until the project ecologist confirms otherwise.

After habitat disturbance: Post-clearance checks

Post-clearance work must check whether the clearing process damaged retained ground shelters or severed forest cover. The low expected detection rate means that absence of animals after clearing is not evidence that the species was absent. [No source ids in text]

  • Inspect the cleared edge and retained habitat for exposed or damaged logs, rocks, leaf litter, friable soil and other sheltering features.
  • Confirm that exclusion fencing, retained habitat markers, access controls and erosion controls remain in place after machinery leaves.
  • Complete any additional active searches or pitfall trapping required by the approval, fauna management plan or project ecologist.
  • Record all detections, including animals found after clearing, and submit photographs, locations, habitat details and approved tissue samples where required.

After habitat disturbance: Monitoring and corrective action

  • Monitor retained habitat and the connection between retained patches for drying, erosion, sediment deposition, weed invasion, altered drainage and unauthorised access.
  • Repair damaged exclusion areas and restore displaced logs, rocks, leaf litter and soil where this can be done without harming fauna.
  • Escalate unexpected detections, mortality, injury, repeated fauna movement into the work area or loss of retained habitat to the project ecologist and approval holders.
  • Complete any offset, restoration, compliance or regulator reporting required by the EPBC approval, state approval or project conditions.

Rehabilitation actions: Restore the habitat structure

Rehabilitation should recreate the species' ground-level shelter and maintain forest connectivity. The target is moist, continuous habitat with friable soil, deep leaf litter and natural shelter, not just tree cover. [No source ids in text]

  • Re-establish native rainforest or wet sclerophyll forest structure appropriate to the local vegetation community, including a rainforest understorey where that was present before disturbance.
  • Restore continuous forest cover between retained habitat patches and prevent new barriers that interrupt movement between shelters.
  • Reinstate locally sourced logs, fallen timber, rocks and deep leaf litter in stable arrangements that provide moist cover and contact with friable soil.
  • Use locally appropriate native plant species identified in the vegetation assessment rather than planting a generic species mix.
  • Repair compaction, erosion and altered drainage so that suitable soil moisture is retained without creating uncontrolled waterlogging or sediment movement.

Rehabilitation actions: Manage threats and measure success

  • Control weeds and prevent them from replacing the leaf-litter and understorey structure used by the species.
  • Manage introduced predators and domestic animal access where they are identified as project risks.
  • Apply the approved fire management regime, protecting moist forest, deep litter, logs and other ground shelters from damaging high-intensity fire.
  • Do not install nest boxes as a substitute for this species' ground shelters, because the available habitat description identifies soil, logs, rocks and deep leaf litter rather than tree hollows.
  • Monitor rehabilitation for survival and cover of native plants, continuity of forest cover, retention of moist friable soil, persistence of leaf litter and shelter logs, erosion, weeds and fauna use.
  • Set success measures in the rehabilitation plan against the pre-clearing habitat condition and continue monitoring for the period required by the approval or offset condition.
  • Report failures and apply corrective actions such as replanting, erosion repair, replacement of shelter logs, weed control or predator management.

Sources