Tuesday 21 May
In the News: First crane egg in the western UK in four centuries

What’s the World’s Favourite Species?
Find out here.| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Reptilia |
| Order | Testudines |
| Family | Geoemydidae |
| Genus | Mauremys (1) |
The diminutive Chinese pond turtle (Mauremys reevesii) has a somewhat rectangular upper shell (carapace) with three distinct keels, or ridges, running down its length, which become worn and less pronounced with age (4) (5). The upper shell typically ranges from tan to dark brown (4) (5), while the skin is usually grey-green with yellowish spots and a distinctive pattern of yellow stripes running along the sides of the head and neck (5) (6). However, the shell and skin of melanistic individuals may be completely black and lack this striping (2) (6). Melanism occurs very rarely in females, but is common in older males. The lower shell (plastron) is generally yellow with a large brown blotch on each scute, but is dark brown or black in melanistic individuals (2).
The Chinese pond turtle mates in spring, with nesting occurring in June and July, and up to three clutches of four to nine eggs are laid each season. Newly hatched young in Japan reportedly spend the winter in the nest and emerge in March or April the following spring (2).
This is an omnivorous species that feeds on aquatic plants and fruits as well as worms, aquatic insects, frogs and fishes (2).
TopRecorded from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and Korea (5).
TopUsually found in relatively shallow ponds, marshes, streams and canals that have muddy or sandy bottoms (2) (5). These semi-aquatic turtles will frequently leave the water to bask on rocks or logs (5).
TopThe Chinese pond turtle is classified as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List 2007 (1) and listed on Appendix III of CITES in China (3).
TopThe Chinese pond turtle makes a popular pet and this has led to its over-collection in China, where the species is also eaten. Elsewhere, the turtle is considered to be under little risk (2).
TopIts listing on Appendix III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in China helps regulate the number of Chinese pond turtles that can be exported (3). Fortunately, this species breeds well in captivity and captive-bred individuals now supply much of the demand in the pet market (4).
TopFor more information on the Chinese pond turtle see:
Authenticated (17/12/07) by Dr. Gerald Kuchling, Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation and Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the University of Western Australia.
TopMore »Related species
Link to this photo
Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.
Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.
Read more about
MyARKive
MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.
Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials
Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.
Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:
End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.
Additional use of flagged material
Green flagged material 
Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.
Creative commons material
Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.
Any other use
Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.
Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.