Abstract: A new genus and species of skink, Kuniesaurus albiauris, is here described from the Ile des Pins off southern New Caledonia. This new taxon possesses a unique suite of morphological apomorphies (scalation) that does not allow it to be placed in any existing Australasian eugongylid genus. It is known only from a single area in dense coastal forest on limestone, on the main island of the Ile des Pins. The species area of occupancy is restricted, and the habitat occupied under threat from the spread of the highly invasive Little Red Fire Ant Wasmannia auropunctata. These factors place this new skink at a level of risk sufficient for it to be listed as Critically Endangered under IUCN Red List criteria. The affinities of the lizard fauna of the Ile des Pins with respect to that present on southern New Caledonia are also discussed, most notably the absence from the Ile des Pins of taxa typically restricted to ultramafic surfaces.

Keywords: Scincidae, systematics, new species, biogeography, conservation

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The ILE des Pins is a moderately large island 150 [km.sup.2]), 50km south of New Caledonia's main island, the Grande Terre, from which it is separated by a shallow series of straits, reefs, lagoons, and passes. Although currently separated, these two landmasses have experienced repeated land-bridge connection and disjunction with fluctuating sea level over the Pleistocene period (Pelletier 2007). Surrounding the Ile des Pins itself are a number of small satellite islands. These islands are raised fossil coral heads formed ca. 118,000 B. P. (Dubois et al. 1974) and mosdy emergent since the end of the Pleistocene (Balouet and Olson 1989). They reach no more than 20 m in elevation.

Field research on the Ile des Pins in 1990 by Bauer and Sadlier resulted in the first comprehensive overview of the island's lizard fauna (Bauer and Sadlier 1994), but was both short in duration and limited in scope, being largely restricted to coastal habitats on the west side of the island. A comprehensive study of the lizards of the satellite islands surrounding Ile des Pins was undertaken by Geneva between 2000 and 2003, resulting in an updated overview of the region's herpetofauna (Geneva et al. 2013). Independent studies by Ineich of the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris (MNHN) resulted in the rediscovery of the giant skink Phoboscincus bocourti on one of the small islets (Ineich 2009) after the species had been "lost" to science for nearly 150 years. These field studies in combination resulted in the recognition of a moderately rich lizard fauna of nine skinks and eight diplodactylid geckos (Geneva et al. 2013). More recently (2011-2014) field surveys by the Institut Mediterraneen de Biodiversite et d'Ecologie marine et continentale (IMBE) lab team (HJ coordinator), supported by the Province Sud, have been undertaken to document the extent and impact of invasive species (rodents, feral cats, and exotic ants) on the satellite islands surrounding Ile des Pins, and to a lesser extent the main island, with an emphasis on their impact on the region's...