Tiritiri Matangi is a small island near Auckland that has been turned into a refuge for a number of species of New Zealand's native wildlife. Most people go there to see various birds that are very hard to see elsewhere. We went there in the hopes of seeing a wild tuatara. Alas, we were not so lucky. However, I did manage to see one black and white striped skink that I later identified as Oligosoma moco. It was momentarily on an exposed part of a rock near the ocean, but it skittered skinkily away before I could get my camera ready. It turned out to be the only wild reptile I saw in our week and a half travels in New Zealand.

This species was formerly classified as Leiolopisma moco.