Wildlifeof China
Chinese Stripe-necked Turtle
Tortoises & Freshwater Turtles
Photo: Holly Cheng · CC BY-SA 3.0
Mauremys sinensis
Basic stats
Diet
Small shrimp, small fish, aquatic snails and mosquito larvae; duckweed and water spinach
Range
Taiwan, southern China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Hainan, Hong Kong), Laos and northern Vietnam
Clutch size
5–20 eggs, hatching in about 60 days
The Chinese stripe-necked turtle, or golden thread turtle, has a green body. As a juvenile the carapace is greyish-green with three distinctive ridges; as an adult it fades to brown and two of the ridges gradually disappear, and the plastron is ivory (Wikipedia, general species account).
It is one of the two species most commonly recovered from Shang dynasty divination sites, even though the Shang capital lay over 1,000km north of its modern range. The diet is small animals and aquatic plants, and after mating the female may lay 5–20 eggs that hatch in about 60 days. The Reptile Database gives southern China, Taiwan, Laos and northern Vietnam (The Reptile Database; Wikipedia, general species account).
Quick answers
- What does the Chinese Stripe-necked Turtle eat?
- Small shrimp, small fish, aquatic snails and mosquito larvae; duckweed and water spinach
- Where is the Chinese Stripe-necked Turtle found?
- Taiwan, southern China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Hainan, Hong Kong), Laos and northern Vietnam
- How many eggs does the Chinese Stripe-necked Turtle lay?
- 5–20 eggs, hatching in about 60 days