Black pond turtle
CITES Appendix I (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Superfamily: Testudinoidea
Family: Geoemydidae
Subfamily: Geoemydinae
Genus: Geoclemys
Species:
G. hamiltonii
Binomial name
Geoclemys hamiltonii
(Gray, 1831)
Synonyms[3]
  • Emys hamiltonii
    Gray, 1831
  • Emys guttata
    Gray, 1831
  • Emys picquotii
    Lesson, 1831
  • Clemmys (Clemmys) hamiltonii
    — Fitzinger, 1835
  • Geoclemys hamiltonii
    — Gray, 1856
  • Damonia hamiltonii
    — Gray, 1869
  • Melanochelys pictus
    Murray, 1884
  • Clemmys palaeindica
    Lydekker, 1885
  • Damonia hamiltoni
    — Lydekker, 1889 (ex errore)
  • Geoclemmys hamiltonii
    — Boulenger, 1889
  • Emys hamiltoni
    — M.A. Smith, 1931
  • Geoclemys hamiltoni
    — M.A. Smith, 1931

The black pond turtle (Geoclemys hamiltonii), also known commonly as the spotted pond turtle and the Indian spotted turtle, is a species of freshwater turtle in the family Geoemydidae. The species, which is endemic to South Asia,[4] belongs to the monotypic genus Geoclemys.

Etymology

The specific name, hamiltonii, is in honor of Scottish botanist and ichthyologist Francis Hamilton.[5]

Description

G. hamiltonii is mainly black with small yellowish or white spots, and a much-elevated carapace, with three interrupted keels or series of nodose prominences corresponding to the vertebral and costal shields. The posterior border of the carapace is strongly serrated in young, but feebly in the adult. The nuchal is moderate, broader posteriorly than anteriorly. The first vertebral is not or scarcely broader anteriorly than posteriorly. The second and third vertebrals are broader than long in the young, nearly as long as broad in the adult, narrower than the costals. The plastron is large, angulate laterally, truncate anteriorly. The posterior lobe of the plastron is much narrower than the opening of the shell, nearly as long as the width of the bridge, deeply notched posteriorly. The head is rather large. The snout is very short, not projecting. The upper jaw is emarginated mesially. The width of the mandible at the symphysis nearly equals the horizontal diameter of the orbit. A large shield covers the upper surface of the snout and the crown, sometimes divided into three, one shield around the upper jaw and one on each side between the eye and the ear. The digits are webbed to the claws. The tail is extremely short. The shell is dark brown or blackish, elegantly marked with yellow spots and radiating streaks, and the soft parts are dark brown or blackish, with round yellow spots, largest on the head and neck.[6]

Maximum straight carapace length is 41 cm (16 in).[7]

Diet

G. hamiltonii preys predominately upon snails, but also eats dragonfly larvae, other insects, freshwater crustaceans, and other animal and vegetable food items.[1]

Reproduction

G. hamiltonii is oviparous.[8]

Each female lays two clutches per year. Clutch size is 12–36 eggs, and the second clutch is usually smaller than the first. Each hatchling has a straight carapace length of about 37 mm (1.5 in).[1]

Geographic range

G. hamiltonii is found in southern Pakistan (Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra River drainages), northern India (Assam, Bihar, Jammu, Meghalaya, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal), Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Praschag, P.; Ahmed, M.F.; Singh, S. (2019). "Geoclemys hamiltonii ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T9029A152050337. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-1.RLTS.T9029A152050337.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ↑ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  3. ↑ Fritz, Uwe; Havaš, Peter (2007). "Checklist of Chelonians of the World" (PDF). Vertebrate Zoology. 57 (2): 222. ISSN 1864-5755. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-01. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  4. ↑ Chelonia.org
  5. ↑ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Geoclemys hamiltonii, p. 114).
  6. ↑ Boulenger GA (1890). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xviii + 541 pp. (Damonia hamiltonii, p. 34).
  7. ↑ Das (2002).
  8. ↑ Species Geoclemys hamiltonii at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.

Further reading

  • Das I (2002). A Photographic Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of India. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 144 pp. ISBN 0-88359-056-5. (Geoclemys hamiltonii, p. 125).
  • Gray JE (1831). Synopsis Reptilium or Short Descriptions of the Species of Reptiles. Part I: Cataphracta, Tortoises, Crocodiles, and Enaliosaurians. London: Treuttel, Wurz & Co. 85 pp. (Emys hamiltonii, new species, pp. 21, 72).
  • Khan, Mohammad Ali Reza (1982). "Chelonians of Bangladesh and their conservation". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 79 (1): 110–116 + Plates I–II. (Geoclemys hamiltoni, p. 113).
  • Murray JA (1884). "Additions to the reptilian fauna of Sind". Annals and Magazine Natural History, Fifth Series 14: 106–111.
  • Philippen H-D (2004). "Geoclemys hamiltonii (Gray 1831) - Strahlen-Dreikielschildkröte ". Reptilia (Münster) 9 (5): 51–54. (in German).
  • Smith MA (1931). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. I.—Loricata, Testudines. London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xxviii + 185 pp. + Plates I–II. (Geoclemys hamiltoni, pp. 111–112 + Plate I, figure 6).
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