Eastern long-necked turtle | |
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Ventral view of female | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Testudines |
Suborder: | Pleurodira |
Family: | Chelidae |
Genus: | Chelodina |
Subgenus: | Chelodina |
Species: | C. longicollis |
Binomial name | |
Chelodina longicollis Shaw, 1794 [2] | |
Synonyms [1] | |
The eastern long-necked turtle (Chelodina longicollis) [6] [7] is an east Australian species of snake-necked turtle that inhabits a wide variety of water bodies and is an opportunistic feeder. [7] It is a side-necked turtle (Pleurodira), meaning that it bends its head sideways into its shell rather than pulling it directly back.
The species is found throughout south eastern Australia where it is found west of Adelaide (South Australia) eastwards throughout Victoria, Northern Territory and New South Wales, and northwards to the Fitzroy River of Queensland. Where these turtles come in contact with Chelodina canni they freely hybridise, exhibiting hybrid vigor in the Styx River Drainage of Queensland. [7] [8]
The carapace is generally black in color, though some may be brown. It is broad and flattened with a deep medial groove. The scutes are edged in black in those individuals with a lighter background color. [7] The plastron is also very broad and is cream to yellow in color with sutures edged in black. [7] The neck is long and narrow, typical of the subgenus Chelodina, and reaches a length of approximately 60% of the carapace length. The neck has numerous small pointed tubercles and is grey to black in color dorsally, cream below, as is the narrow head. [7] Females tend to grow to larger sizes and have deeper bodies. The maximum sizes recorded for females and males varies throughout the range, in river environments of the Murray it is 28.2 cm (11.1 in) and 24.9 cm (9.8 in) respectively, whereas in the Latrobe Valley it is 21.6 cm (8.5 in) and 18.8 cm (7.4 in) respectively. [7] It is thought this is linked to productivity of the local environment. [7]
When it feels threatened, this turtle will emit an offensive smelling fluid from its musk glands. This trait gives the turtle one of its other common names, "stinker". [9]
The eastern long-necked turtle is carnivorous, eating a variety of animals. This includes insects, worms, tadpoles, frogs, small fish, crustaceans, molluscs, plankton, and carrion. [10]
In early summer, the female will lay between two and ten eggs in the banks of her aquatic habitat. Three to five months later the hatchlings break out of their shells. These young turtles often fall prey to predators such as fish and birds. Females will lay one to three clutches of eggs per year.
Chelodina, collectively known as snake-necked turtles, is a large and diverse genus of long-necked chelid turtles with a complicated nomenclatural history. Although in the past, Macrochelodina and Macrodiremys have been considered separate genera and prior to that all the same, they are now considered subgenera of the Chelodina, further Macrochelodina and Macrodiremys are now known to apply to the same species, hence Chelydera is used for the northern snake-necked turtles.
The Chaco side-necked turtle or Chaco sideneck turtle is a species of turtle in the family Chelidae. It is found in Argentina, Paraguay, and possibly Bolivia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. The turtle possesses long horny spurs on its upper thighs. It is 18 cm in shell length. Like other members of its genus, the turtle buries itself in the mud when the streams run dry, a behaviour possibly parallel to the winter hibernating behaviours of turtles further north.
The Brazilian radiolated swamp turtle is a species of turtle in the Chelidae family endemic to Brazil.
The New Guinea snake-necked turtle is a species of turtle in the family Chelidae. The species is found almost exclusively within Western Province, Papua New Guinea.
Parker's snake-necked turtle is a species of turtle in the family Chelidae.
Pritchard's snake-necked turtle is a species of turtles in the family Chelidae. The species is endemic to a restricted area of Central Province, Papua New Guinea.
Reimann's snake-necked turtle is a species of turtle in the family Chelidae. The species is endemic to Oceania and Southeast Asia.
Elseya is a genus of large side-necked turtles, commonly known as Australian snapping turtles, in the family Chelidae. Species in the genus Elseya are found in river systems in northern and northeastern Australia and throughout the river systems of New Guinea. They are identified by the presence of alveolar ridges on the triturating surfaces of the mouth and the presence of a complex bridge strut.
The Western New Guinea stream turtle or New Guinea snapping turtle is a species of freshwater turtle in the Chelidae family. It is found in the Bird's Head Peninsula and the Bomberai Peninsula west of Cenderawasih Bay, and on the island of Waigeo of West Papua, Indonesia.
Emydura, the Australian short-necked turtles, are a genus of turtles in the family Chelidae. It was paraphyletic with Elseya. Consequently, it was split into two genera Myuchelys and Elseya by Thomson & Georges, 2009. They can grow quite large, 30 cm or more is not unusual and have a life span of around 20–30 years. They generally do not hibernate as their warmer climate lets them remain active all year round; they also spend more time in the water than other varieties. They are considered omnivore but rely on a constant supply of meat to remain healthy, feeding on basically anything that will fit into their mouth.
Dahl's toad-headed turtle is a medium-sized species of side-necked turtle in the family Chelidae. This critically endangered freshwater turtle is endemic to northern Colombia, where it lives in small pools, streams, and swamps, but aestivates on land.
The six-tubercled Amazon River turtle or six-tubercled river turtle is a species of turtle in the family Podocnemididae.
Chelodina canni, also known commonly as Cann's snake-necked turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Chelidae. The species is endemic to Australia, where it is found in the northern and northeastern parts of the continent. It has a narrow zone of hybridization with its related species the eastern snake-necked turtle, C. longicollis. For many years C. canni was assumed to be the same species as C. novaeguineae from New Guinea. However, in 2002 it was shown that these two species differ both morphologically and genetically, and therefore C. canni was separated and described as a unique species.
Mesoclemmys is a South American genus of turtle in the Chelidae family.
Elseya dentata, the northern snapping turtle, is a large aquatic turtle found throughout many rivers in northern Western Australia and the Northern Territory. It is one of three species in the nominate subgenus Elseya.
Chelodina (Chelydera) burrungandjii, the sandstone snake-necked turtle or Arnhem Land long-necked turtle, is a medium-sized turtle reaching carapace lengths of 316 mm. The species is found in the sandstone plateaus and escarpments and the plunge pools of Arnhem Land of the Northern Territory. The species had been long recognised as valid. However, it had been difficult to research due to the remoteness of its habitat. Efforts to breed this species in captivity had been largely unsuccessful, until National Aquarium Herpetologist Matthew Benedict lead a successful breeding project in 2021. The species occurs in proximity to Chelodina rugosa, to which it is closely related. For the most part the two species are parapatric in distribution. However, they do come together in limited locations such as plunge pools at the base of the escarpments. In these areas there is hybridization between the species.
Elseya schultzei, commonly known as Schultze's snapping turtle, is a species of chelid turtle endemic to northern New Guinea.
Chelodina (Chelydera) kuchlingi, commonly known as Kuchling's long-necked turtle or Kuchling's turtle, is a species of freshwater turtle in the family Chelidae. The species is endemic to Australia.
Chelodina (Chelydera) walloyarrina, the Kimberley long neck turtle or Kimberley snake-necked turtle, is a large species of long neck turtle endemic to the Kimberley region of Western Australia. In recent years, it has been unclear as to whether this was a valid species or not. It has been recognised as such by the 2017 and 2021 editions of the Turtle Checklist. In a recent paper it waslisted as a subspecies of Chelodina burrungandjii by Kehlmaier et al. 2019, however, that publication did not actually assess the type of the species nore did it analyse it. Hence it should be considered a full species.
Chelodina gunaleni, also known commonly as Gunalen's long-necked turtle and Gunalen's snake-necked turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Chelidae. The species is endemic to the lowlands of west-central West Papua, Indonesia, south of the central ranges.