Vietnamese pond turtle

The Vietnamese pond turtle or Annam leaf turtle (Mauremys annamensis) is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae.

It can be distinguished from its relatives by its color pattern: the head is dark with three or four yellow stripes down the side. The plastron (belly shield) is firmly attached, yellow or orange, with black blotch on each scute.^[1]

Endemic to a small area in central Vietnam,^[1] it was reportedly abundant in the 1930s but all field surveys after 1941 had failed to locate any individuals in the wild.^[2] As it was occasionally seen traded as food, it was not yet extinct in the wild however.^[3]

In 2006 a wild population of Mauremys annamensis was found near Hội An in Quảng Nam Province.^[2] Despite its rarity, specimens of Mauremys annamensis have been observed for sale in China and Hong Kong and have been illicitly imported into the USA. A small number of Mauremys annamensis are being captive-bred on Hainan Island in southern China,^[3] as well as at the Cuc Phuong Turtle Conservation Center located in Cuc Phuong National Park in northern Vietnam.^[4] The species is nonetheless close to extinction in the wild, as illegal hunting seems to continue.^[1]

Hybridization with other Geoemydidae is known to occur. The species has produced hybrids with the Malayan Box Turtle in captivity. In addition, the supposed new species Ocadia glyphistoma has turned out to be the offspring of a male Chinese Stripe-necked Turtle and a female of the present species; it might have been taken from the wild or also have been captive-bred. Captive Vietnamese Pond Turtle - which are occasionally available to experienced hobbyists, under the auspices of the IUCN.coordinated captive-breeding program - must therefore never be housed together with related species.^[5]

Footnotes

1. ^ ^{a b c} Asian Turtle Network: Mauremys annamensis. Version of August, 2006. Retrieved 2006-DEC-09.
2. ^ ^{a b} Asian Turtle Network: Mauremys annamensis recorded in natural habitat after 65 years. Version of 2006-DEC-07. Retrieved 2007-SEP-03.
3. ^ ^{a b} IUCN: Inclusion of Annam Pond Turtle Annamemys (Mauremys) annamensis in Appendix II. Retrieved 2006-DEC-09.
4. ^ Asian Turtle Network: Cuc Phuong Turtle Conservation Center and by IUCN-affiliated breeders. Retrieved 2006-DEC-09.
5. ^ Parham et al. (2001), Buskirk et al. (2005). Hybridization in the wild would not seem to constitute a major threat, as the two parent species of "Ocadia" × glyphistoma are not closely related and the hybrids are thus likely to be sterile. However, with a species as rare as the Vietnamese Pond Turtle, more research into this issue is certainly necessary.

References

• Asian Turtle Trade Working Group (2000). Mauremys annamensis. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 03 September 2007.
• Buskirk, James R.; Parham, James F. & Feldman, Chris R. (2005): On the hybridisation between two distantly related Asian turtles (Testudines: Sacalia × Mauremys). Salamandra 41: 21-26. PDF fulltext
• Parham, James Ford; Simison, W. Brian; Kozak, Kenneth H.; Feldman, Chris R. & Shi, Haitao (2001): New Chinese turtles: endangered or invalid? A reassessment of two species using mitochondrial DNA, allozyme electrophoresis and known-locality specimens. Animal Conservation 4(4): 357–367. HTML abstract Erratum: Animal Conservation 5(1): 86 HTML abstract

External links

• Major infusion of new bloodlines forecast for the Vietnam Pond Turtle, Mauremys annamensis, TMG
• Mauremys Gallery