Taxonomic notes: This species distribution, encompassing several archipelagos off the coast of New Guinea, suggests that it may be a complex of several island-endemic cryptic species (A. Allison pers. comm. 2014).

This species is endemic to Papua New Guinea, where it occurs in Milne Bay in the southeastern corner of the mainland and the adjacent island groups D’Entrecasteux, Trobriand, Muyua and Killerton, and the Louisiade Archipelago (Zug 2004, Kraus and Allison 2004). The species ranges from sea level to 4-500 m (A. Allison pers. comm. 2014).

This species occurs in lowland and mid-montane rainforest. All members of New Guinea's Carlia radiation are associated with open habitats, and often thrive in areas of disturbance and regrowth.

This is an abundant species (A. Allison pers. comm. 2014).

There is no trade in this species.

There are no known major threats to this species. This area is subject to the highest rate of forest loss in New Guinea (Shearman and Bryan 2011). The impact of this on the species is unknown, however it is likely that this species is able to adapt to disturbance well in common with related species in New Guinea.

• 5.3.4 Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]

There are no known species-specific conservation measures in place for this species.

Carlia eothen has been assessed as Least Concern as although it occurs in the area of New Guinea undergoing the fastest rate of lowland forest change, it is somewhat widespread and is likely to adapt to forest disturbance within its range. Future taxonomic changes affecting this species may reveal it to be a species complex containing species endemic to specific islands or archipelagos, and changes in taxonomy may affect these species' conservation status.

• Kraus, F. and Allison, A. 2004. New records of reptiles and amphibians from Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. Herpetological Review. 35: 413-418.
• Shearman, P. and Bryan, J. 2011. A bioregional analysis of the distribution of rainforest cover, deforestation and degradation in Papua New Guinea. Austral Ecology 36: 9-24.
• Zug, G.R. 2004. Systematics of the Carlia "fusca" Lizards (Squamata: Scincidae) of New Guinea and Nearby Islands. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu.