WildlifeOfEverywhere.com
‹ Back

Cantor's Giant Softshell Turtle

Tortoises & Freshwater Turtles

Photo: Ong Jyh Seng (iNaturalist) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Pelochelys cantorii

Basic stats

Diet

Crustaceans, molluscs and fish; some aquatic plants

Range

Eastern and southern India, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, eastern and southern China, the Philippines and Indonesia

The Asian giant softshell turtle has a broad head, small eyes close to the tip of the snout, and a smooth olive-coloured carapace; juveniles may have dark-spotted carapaces and heads with yellow around the carapace. The largest specimen reported, a carapace length of 129cm, is considered suspect, and the heaviest known (about 250kg) was in fact a misidentified Yangtze giant softshell turtle (Wikipedia, general species account).

It occurs across eastern and southern India, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, eastern and southern China (Yunnan, Guangdong and as far east as the vicinity of Fuzhou), the Philippines and Indonesia. It is an ambush predator, primarily carnivorous, feeding on crustaceans, molluscs and fish (The Reptile Database; Wikipedia, general species account).

Quick answers

What does the Cantor's Giant Softshell Turtle eat?
Crustaceans, molluscs and fish; some aquatic plants
Where is the Cantor's Giant Softshell Turtle found?
Eastern and southern India, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, eastern and southern China, the Philippines and Indonesia
📷 Upload a photo of this species
🏠Home 🐾Species 🗺️Places 📋Planner 📷Sightings 🔍Search