Beale's eyed turtle (''Sacalia bealei'') is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae (formerly Bataguridae). The species is endemic to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Description

''S. bealei'' has a yellowish-brown, smooth, rather depressed

carapace A carapace is a Dorsum (biology), dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tor ...

spotted with black, and it has an olive-green head. Another form of this species has a brown carapace. In both forms, there are two pairs of black-centered ocelli on the back of the head which is peppered with black spots. This is a turtle of moderate size and will grow up to a maximum straight-line carapace length of 18 cm (7 inches).

Habitat

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

species, ''S. bealei'' lives in mountain streams at all elevations, but with a preference for heavily forest-covered streams with many large stones so as to provide shelter.

Diet

''S. bealei'' feeds on

crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, mu ...

and worms, and accepts meat in captivity.

Behavior

A timid and nervous species, ''S. bealei'' will scramble and flail wildly with its claws when handled.

Reproduction

''S. bealei'' is reported to lay 6 eggs at a time. The nests are often half-buried by leaves and soil, and the entire nesting process may take up to 165 minutes.

Common names

''S. bealei'' is sometimes called Beale's four-eyed turtle, though that is not an ideal

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

due to the possibility of confusion with the

four-eyed turtle The four-eyed turtle (''Sacalia quadriocellata'') is a reptile of the order Testudines. Its name refers to two bright yellow or green spots that occur on the back of its head that can look like another pair of eyes. Geographic range This species ...

proper ('' S. quadriocellata'').

Etymology

The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

, ''bealei'', is in honor of Thomas Beale, a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

naturalist and

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

Geographic range

''S. bealei'' occurs throughout the provinces of central and Southern China. It is considered very rare in Hong Kong.

Conservation status

Listed as endangered by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

,Asian Turtle Trade Working Group (2000). "''Sacalia bealei'' (errata version published in 2016). The

Red List of Threatened Species 2020: https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2000.RLTS.T19796A9016239.en. Downloaded on 21 June 2021. these turtles are hunted for use in folk medicine. However, the Hong Kong Reptile and Amphibian Society has found that this species is sold in pet shops in Hong Kong, with the specimens almost certainly locally caught, even though the species is locally protected. It is also threatened by habitat loss. The fact that it lays only one clutch per year and that the eggs are often heavily infested with ants makes conservation efforts even harder for this already very rare species.