The Arabian Sand Skink (Scincus mitranus), often called the Eastern Sandfish, is a sleek, sand-swimming lizard perfectly adapted to the shifting dunes of the Arabian Peninsula. By day it burrows beneath the hot surface, emerging at dawn and dusk to hunt. Using rapid lateral undulations, it “swims” just below the sand to ambush prey—primarily termites, ants, beetles, and other small arthropods. With its smooth scales reducing friction and eyes protected by transparent eyelids, the Sand Skink can vanish from view in seconds, then resurface to digest its catch in the cooler shade.

Scincus mitranus is known by several common names:

• Eastern Skink animalia.bio

• Arabian Sand Skink reptile-database.reptarium.cz

• Eastern Sandfish animalia.bio

• Sand Fish reptile-database.reptarium.cz

• Red Sandfish reptifiles.com