Chinese pond turtle

Chinese pond turtle
Conservation status
Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Superfamily:	Testudinoidea
Family:	Geoemydidae
Genus:	Mauremys[2]
Species:	M. reevesii
Binomial name
Mauremys reevesii[2] (Gray, 1831)[2]
Synonyms[3]
Emys reevesii Gray, 1831 Clemmys (Clemmys) reevesii — Fitzinger, 1835 Emys vulgaris picta Schlegel, 1844 Emys japonica A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron in A.M.C. Duméril & A.H.A. Duméril, 1851 Geoclemys reevesii — Gray, 1856 Damonia reevesii — Gray, 1869 Damonia unicolor Gray, 1873 Clemmys unicolor — Sclater, 1873 Damonia reevesii var. unicolor — Boulenger, 1889 Geoclemys [reevesii] reevesii — Siebenrock, 1907 Geoclemys reevesii unicolor — Siebenrock, 1907 Geoclemmys [sic] reevesi — Vogt, 1924 (ex errore) Geoclemys grangeri Schmidt, 1925 Geoclemys paracaretta Chang, 1929 Geoclemys reevesi grangeri — Mell, 1929 Chinemys reevesi — H.M. Smith, 1931 Geoclemys papacaretta [sic] Fang, 1934 (ex errore) Emys reevesi — Bourret, 1941 Chinemys reevesii Mertens & Wermuth, 1955 Chinemy reevesi — Mao, 1971 Chinemys grangeri — Pritchard, 1979 Chinemys pani Tao, 1988 Chinemys reevessi [sic] Obst, 1996 (ex errore) Chinemys reveesii [sic] Fritz, 1996 (ex errore) Mauremys reevesii — Spinks, Shaffer, Iverson & McCord, 2004

Mauremys reevesii in East Timor

Mauremys reevesii, commonly known as the Chinese pond turtle, the Chinese three-keeled pond turtle, or Reeves' turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae, a family which was formerly called Bataguridae.^[2] The species is endemic to Asia.

Geographic range

Mauremys reevesii is found in China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan.^[2][4]

Habitat and behaviour

M. reevesii is semiaquatic, and basks in the sun on rocks or logs and can often be found leaving water to do so. They can usually be found in marshes, relatively shallow ponds, streams, and canals with muddy or sandy bottoms.

Conservation status

The Chinese three-keeled pond turtle (M. reevesii) is threatened by competition with released pet red-eared sliders (T. s. elegans), overhunting (its plastron is used in traditional Chinese medicine),^[5][6] capturing for the pet trade and wild habitat destruction. The IUCN considers M. reevesii an endangered species.^[4] This species, fortunately, breeds well in captivity.

Etymology

The specific name, reevesii, is in honor of English naturalist John Reeves.^[7]

Hybridization

This species is notorious for its ability to produce hybrids with other Geoemydidae, even species that are only distantly related. The supposed new species "Mauremys" pritchardi was based on a hybrid of unknown origin between a male of this species and a female yellow pond turtle (Mauremys mutica). Furthermore, it has hybridized with the Chinese stripe-necked turtle (Ocadia sinensis), female Malayan box turtles (Cuora amboinensis), a male four-eyed turtle (Sacalia quadriocellata), and the Japanese pond turtle (Mauremys japonica) in captivity.^[8][9]

Any individuals that are available as pets therefore need to be kept separate from other members of the family.

Farming

M. reevesii is one of the species raised on China's turtle farms. According to a 1998 survey, 548 farms raised this turtle species in four provinces in China. The statistical data from different provinces were in different formats; however, two provinces reported 20,650 turtles living on 26 farms, with 5,000 animals reproduced annually; the other two provinces reported the total weight of their turtles, namely some 260 tons of these animals on 522 farms. Over the five-year period, 1990–1995, 13 traditional Chinese medicine factories consumed 430 tons of C. reevesii plastrons.^[10]

Based on a more recent (2002) survey of 684 Chinese turtle farms (less than half of all 1,499 turtle farms that were registered at the time), researchers found that 2.8 million of turtles of this species (reported there as Chinemys reevesii) lived on these farms, with some 566,000 specimens sold by farmers every year. The total weight of the annual product was 320 tons, with the estimated value of over US$6 million, which makes the market value of a Chinese pond turtle equal to around $12—about twice as much that of the most common farmed species, Pelodiscus sinensis. Taking into account the registered farms that did not respond to the survey, as well as the unregistered producers, the total amounts must be considerably higher.^[11]

Pet trade

Chinese pond turtles are also farmed for the pet trade. In captivity, they require similar care to red-eared sliders (T. s. elegans).

East Timor

During surveys in East Timor (Timor-Leste), a small but well-established population of M. reevesii was found living in marshes near the city of Dili. The species is not native to the island and was possibly introduced by locals of Chinese origin.^[12] East Timor is home to the Roti Island snake-necked turtle of the timorensis subspecies (sometimes considered a species of its own). Although the introduced population of M. reevesii is not known to present a risk to the native turtles per se, they could indirectly present a threat to the natives if confused. M. reevesii from the introduced population are sometimes captured to be sold to people of Chinese origin and this may cause problems if extended to the native turtles.^[12] A potential solution is to remove the introduced M. reevesii (thereby restricting the trade to captive farmed M. reevesii).^[12]

References

Further reading

• Gray JE (1831). Synopsis Reptilium; or Short Descriptions of the Species of Reptiles. Part I.—Cataphracta. Tortoises, Crocodiles, and Enaliosaurians. London: Treuttel, Wertz, and Co. viii + 85 pp. (Emys reevesii, new species, pp. 73-74). (in English and Latin).

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chinemys reevesii.

• http://chinesische-dreikiel.npage.de/
• http://nlbif.eti.uva.nl/bis/turtles.php?menuentry=soorten&id=250
• http://www.arkive.org/chinese-pond-turtle/chinemys-reevesii/
• Chinemys reevesii, The Reptile
• http://www.biosch.hku.hk/ecology/hkreptiles/turtle/Mauremys_reevesii.html

Turtle family Geoemydidae
Genus	Species of the family Geoemydidae
Batagur	Burmese roofed turtle Northern river terrapin Painted terrapin Red-crowned roofed turtle Southern river terrapin Three-striped roofed turtle
Cuora	Amboina box turtle Bourret's box turtle Indochinese box turtle McCord's box turtle Keeled box turtle Pan's box turtle Southern Vietnamese box turtle Chinese three-striped box turtle Yellow-headed box turtle Yellow-margined box turtle Yunnan box turtle Zhou's box turtle
Cyclemys	Asian leaf turtle Assam leaf turtle Eastern black-bridged leaf turtle Enigmatic leaf turtle Myanmar brown leaf turtle Oldham's leaf turtle Western black-bridged leaf turtle
Geoclemys	Black pond turtle
Geoemyda	Black-breasted leaf turtle Ryukyu black-breasted leaf turtle
Hardella	Brahminy river turtle
Heosemys	Arakan forest turtle Giant Asian pond turtle Spiny turtle Yellow-headed temple turtle
Leucocephalon	Sulawesi forest turtle
Malayemys	Malayan snail-eating turtle Mekong snail-eating turtle
Mauremys	Balkan pond turtle Caspian turtle Chinese pond turtle Chinese stripe-necked turtle Japanese pond turtle Red-necked pond turtle Spanish pond turtle Vietnamese pond turtle Yellow pond turtle
Melanochelys	Indian black turtle Tricarinate hill turtle
Morenia	Burmese eyed turtle Indian eyed turtle
Notochelys	Malayan flat-shelled turtle
Orlitia	Malaysian giant turtle
Pangshura	Assam roofed turtle Brown roofed turtle Indian roofed turtle Indian tent turtle
Rhinoclemmys	Black river turtle Brown wood turtle Colombian wood turtle Furrowed wood turtle Large-nosed wood turtle Maracaibo wood turtle Mexican spotted wood turtle Painted wood turtle Spot-legged turtle
Sacalia	Beal's eyed turtle Four-eyed turtle
Siebenrockiella	Black marsh turtle Philippine forest turtle
Vijayachelys	Cane turtle
Phylogenetic arrangement based on turtles of the world 2011 update: annotated checklist.