Tuesday 18 June
Reimann’s snake-necked turtle (Chelodina reimanni)

Reimann’s snake-necked turtle fact file
- Description
- Biology
- Range
- Habitat
- Status
- Threats
- Conservation
- Find out more
- Glossary
- References
- Print factsheet
Reimann’s snake-necked turtle description
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Reptilia |
| Order | Testudines |
| Family | Chelidae |
| Genus | Chelodina (1) |
Due to its preference for remote rivers, Reimann’s snake-necked turtle was only first described in 1990 (4). Its skin is a rough, greyish-brown on the upperside and slightly more yellow on the underside. Tiny, round tubercles can be seen on the upper surface of the neck creating a bumpy texture to the skin (3). The smooth carapace, or shell, is dark chestnut to hazel brown in colour with un-serrated edges, and it is rather flat in comparison to many other turtle species. The head is also smooth, wider than most turtle species and dark brown to grey in colour, and the snout is slightly upturned. Reimann’s snake-necked turtles found in western Indonesia have slightly wider heads than those found in the more eastern areas such as Papua New Guinea (2).
- Size
- Average male carapace length: 14 cm (2)
- Average female carapace length: 20 cm (2)
- Maximum carapace length: 35 cm (3)
- Male weight: 313 g (2)
- Female weight: 955 g (2)
Reimann’s snake-necked turtle biology
Little is known about the biology of this species in the wild. However, it is known that breeding usually occurs two to three times a year. The female will produce a clutch of 6 to 16, greyish-white, oval eggs with hard shells, measuring up to 34 millimetres long (2) (3). The eggs, which weigh four to five grams (2), are laid within a nest which is a deep hole in the substrate. In captivity the young hatch after 65 to 80 days (2). Reimann’s snake-necked turtle has a diet of insects, molluscs and crayfish (3).
TopReimann’s snake-necked turtle range
This species occurs in West Irian Jaya (Indonesia) and Papua New Guinea (1) (3).
TopReimann’s snake-necked turtle habitat
Reimann’s snake-necked turtle inhabits marshes and shallow water. During the dry season (August to October) this species may move on to land or simply remain in the mud. The water that it inhabits will typically be at least 30 degrees Celsius throughout most the year (2).
TopReimann’s snake-necked turtle status
Classified as Near Threatened (NT) on the IUCN Red List (1).
TopReimann’s snake-necked turtle threats
The international live animal trade threatens the future of this species. Reimann's snake-necked turtle has a small range and therefore the population can be affected greatly by the capture of individuals (1).
TopReimann’s snake-necked turtle conservation
Whilst there are not known to be any specific conservation measures in place for Reimann’s snake-necked turtle, a number of organisations, such as the Turtle Survival Alliance, are working to conserve freshwater turtles around the world (5) (6).
TopFind out more
For further information on the conservation of freshwater turtles see:
-
Turtle Survival Alliance:
http://www.turtlesurvival.org -
Turtle Conservation Fund:
http://www.turtleconservationfund.org
Authentication
This information is awaiting authentication by a species expert, and will be updated as soon as possible. If you are able to help please contact:
arkive@wildscreen.org.uk
Glossary
- Molluscs
- A diverse group of invertebrates, mainly marine, that have one or all of the following; a horny, toothed ribbon in the mouth (the radula), a shell covering the upper surface of the body, and a mantle or mantle cavity with a type of gill. Includes snails, slugs, shellfish, octopuses and squid.
- Tubercles
- Small, rounded, wart-like bumps on the skin.
References
-
IUCN Red List (March, 2010)
http://www.iucnredlist.org - Artner, H. (1995) Keeping and breeding of Chelodina reimanni, Philippen and Grossman, 1990 – including field observations to its habitat in Irian Jaya, New Guinea (Testudines: Chelidae). Herpetozoa, 8: 17-24.
-
Ernst, C.H., Altenburg, R.G.M., Barbour, R.W. (1996) Turtles of the World. ETI Information Systems Ltd, Netherlands. Available at:
http://ip30.eti.uva.nl/BIS/turtles.php - Love, B. and Lamar, W.W. (1997) The World’s Most Spectacular Reptiles and Amphibians. Carmichael Publications, Tampa, Florida.
-
Turtle Survival Alliance (November, 2009)
http://www.turtlesurvival.org -
Turtle Conservation Fund (November, 2009)
http://www.turtleconservationfund.org
More »Related species
Close
Image credit
© Paddy Ryan
Paddy Ryan
Ryan Photographic
2802 East 132nd Circle
Thornton
CO
80241
USA
Tel: +01 (303) 457 9795
paddyaryan@aol.com
http://www.ryanphotographic.com/
Close
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
Close
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.
Close
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:
- view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
- download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
- teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.
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.














