Malayemys subtrijuga (Mekong Snail-eating Turtle)

The common name of this Freshwater-Turtle in English is commonly called Mekong Snail-eating Turtle, Snail-Eating Turtle and Thai name called เต่านา (Dtao Na), เต่านาเเม่น้ำโขง (Dtao NA Mae Kohng).

Malayemys subtrijuga, Mekong Snail-eating Turtle, เต่านา
Source: iNaturalist.org; Malayemys subtrijuga (Schlegel & Müller, 1845). Photo by Huda Wiradarma. (CC BY-NC)

เต่านา : Malayemys subtrijuga (Schlegel & Müller, 1845)

Malayemys subtrijuga is a species of the Snail-eating Turtle Genus (Malayemys) within the Freshwater Pond Turtle Family (Geoemydidae), Superfamily Testudinoidea, in the Suborder Cryptodira, in the Turtles Order (Testudines), in the Reptile Class (Reptilia), in the Chordate Phylum (Chordata) in the Animal Kingdom (Animalia).

Published in Schlegel,H. & Müller,S. Over de Schildpadden van den Indischen Archipel. In: Temminck,V. (1839-1847) Verhandelingen over de natuurlijke geschiedenis der Nederlandsche overzeesche bezittingen, door de leden der Natuurkundige Commisie in Oost-Indie en andere schrijvers. Leijden folio. Afd. 1 Zoologie in 12 afleveringen, met 45 gekl. pl. - Vitg. door C.J. Temminck, Leiden, Leuchtmans u. Hoeck in comm.: 29-36. (1845).

Geographic Range

The range of Malayemys subtrijuga occurs in central Cambodia, southernmost Lao PDR, and the Mekong delta region and south central Viet Nam. It might occur in eastern Thailand. Records from Java and Sumatra (Indonesia) are uncertain.

Habitat and Ecology

Malayemys subtrijuga inhabits seasonally flooded habitats, including rice fields.

Generation length is estimated at 10 years (age of first reproduction = 5 years, lifespan = 20 years, reproduction period = 15, z = 0.4). Three generations is 30 years.

Synonym

  • Emys herrmanni August Friedrich Schweigger (1812)
  • Emys hermanni August Friedrich Schweigger (1812)
  • Emys subtrijuga Hermann Schlegel & Salomon Müller (1844)
  • Emys subtrijuga Coenraad Jacob Temminck & Hermann Schlegel (1845)
  • Emys nuchalis Edward Blyth (1863)
  • Damonia crassiceps John Edward Gray (1870)
  • Damonia (?) crassiceps John Edward Gray (1870)
  • Damonia oblonga John Edward Gray (1871)
  • Damonia subtrijuga George Albert Boulenger (1889)
  • Cistudo gibbosa Pieter Bleeker (1889)
  • Malayemys subtrijuga Wassili Adolfovitch Lindholm (1931)
  • Malayemys subtrijuga Ulrich Manthey & Wolfgang Grossmann (1997)
  • Malayemys subtrijuga Merel J. Cox et al. (1998)
  • Malayemis sic subtrijuga Tanya Chan-Ard et al. (1999)
  • Malayemys subtrijuga Timothy R. Brophy (2004)
  • Malayemys subtrijuga Maik Schilde (2004)
  • Malayemys subtrijuga Turtle Taxonomy Working Group (TTWG) (2014)

Species in same Genus Malayemys in Thailand