Coelognathus erythrurus manillensis can be distinguished from congeners by the following combination of characters (1) ventrals 211-217; (2) subcaudals fewer than 107; (3) ventrals plus subcaudals 305-322; and (4) body and tail uniform light brown to reddish-brown in adults. Characters and character states taken from Leviton (1979).
This subspecies is recognized to occur on the islands of Luzon and Mindoro in the Philippines. Leviton (1977) reported on the tentative identification of a single specimen from Polillo Island; however, it was recommended that this specimen be inspected for confirmed identification prior to expanding this subspecied recognized range.
Luzon and Mindoro Pleistocene Aggregate Island Complexes (PAIC; Brown and Diesmos, 2002).