West African Mud Turtle (Pelusios castaneus)
Classification: Introduced Species - While the West African Mud Turtle has been seen and identified in the state of Oregon, there are no records of any breeding populations. Sightings of this species are most likely of released or escaped pets that were imported for the pet trade.
Description: On the top of the head is where the only pattern is found on the West African Mud Turtle. Light to yellow reticulations which are more or less defined is found here. This trait separates them from the East African Mud Turtle (Pelusios subniger) which features an unmarked head. There is a "figure 8" shaped plastron. Both P. castaneus and P. subniger exhibit a hinged plastron. This differentiates them from a very similar species of turtle, the African helmeted turtle (Pelomedusa subrufa) which sports a fixed plastron.
Habitat: found in freshwater habitats such as mud holes, swamps, rivers, and ponds.
Range: Introduced into Oregon. The West African mud turtle is found in the following countries of West and Central Africa: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo. Additionally, it has been introduced to Guadeloupe.
Found in these States:
OR
Diet: The West African mud turtle is carnivorous and feeds on aquatic prey. There are five phases to feeding; preliminary head fixation on the prey, fine tuning the head fixation, final approach by the head, grasping of the prey followed by manipulation and transportation, and suction, resulting in ingestion after which the prey is swallowed. The final phase varies according to whether the prey is fast moving, like a fish, or slow moving like a gastropod mollusc.
Reproduction: Females dig nest cavities and lay their eggs in late winter or early spring. Baby turtles hatch out about two months later. Clutches can be as large as 11 to 18 eggs by a single female. The chalky eggs are laid in a sandy-soil substrate and the female digs a deep hole which she lowers herself down into a significant amount.
Status: This species has an expansive range and is relatively abundant in the wild. It does not appear to be threatened, although over collection for the pet and food trade is always going to be an issue for any turtle.
Subspecies: None in our range.
»» Kingdom: Animalia - Animals
»» Phylum: Chordata - Chordates
»» Subphylum: Vertebrata - Vertebrates
»» Class: Reptilia - Reptiles
»» Order: Testudines - Turtles & Tortoises
»» Family: Pelomedusidae - African side-necked turtles
»» Genus: Pelusios
»» Species: Pelusios castaneus - West African Mud Turtle
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "West African Mud Turtle", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. Content may have been omitted from the original, but no content has been changed or extended.
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