Mochlus

Skinks of the genus Mochlus are cylindrical in shape and robust. They get the common name "writhing skinks" from the side-to-side movement that they make when held in the hand.^[1]

Skinks in the genus Mochlus feed on insects and millipedes.^[1]

The following 19 species are recognized as being valid.^[2]

• Mochlus brevicaudis (Greer, Grandison & Barbault, 1985)
• Mochlus fernandi (Burton, 1836) – fire skink
• Mochlus grandisonianus Lanza & Carfi, 1966 – Lanza's writhing skink
• Mochlus guineensis (W. Peters, 1879) – Guinean forest skink
• Mochlus hinkeli Wagner, Böhme, Pauwels & Schmitz, 2009 – Hinkel's red-sided skink, Hinkel's red-flanked skink
• Mochlus laeviceps (W. Peters, 1874) – common writhing skink
• Mochlus lanceolatus Broadley, 1990 – Broadley's writhing skink
• Mochlus mabuiiformis (Loveridge, 1935) – Mabuya-like writhing skink
• Mochlus mafianus (Broadley, 1994) – mafia writhing skink
• Mochlus mocquardi (Chabanaud, 1917) – Mocquard's writhing skink^[3]
• Mochlus paedocarinatus Lanza & Carfi, 1968 – Lanza's writhing skink, Abyssinian writhing skink
• Mochlus pembanus Boettger, 1913 – Pemba Island writhing skink
• Mochlus productus (Boulenger, 1909) – Boulenger's writhing skink
• Mochlus simonettai (Lanza, 1979) – Simonetta's writhing skink
• Mochlus somalicus (Parker, 1942) – Somali writhing skink
• Mochlus striatus (Hallowell, 1854)
• Mochlus sundevallii (A. Smith, 1849) – Sundevall's writhing skink
• Mochlus tanae (Loveridge, 1935) – Loveridge's writhing skink, Tana River writhing skink
• Mochlus vinciguerrae (Parker, 1932) – Vinciguerra's writhing skink

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Mochlus.

Günther A (1864). "Report on a Collection of Reptiles and Fishes made by Dr. Kirk in the Zambesi and Nyassa Regions". Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1864: 303–314. (Mochlus, new genus, p. 308).