The Mekong snail-eating turtle (''Malayemys subtrijuga'') is a species of

turtle Turtles are reptiles of the order (biology), order Testudines, characterized by a special turtle shell, shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Crypt ...

in the family

Geoemydidae The Geoemydidae (formerly known as Bataguridae) are one of the largest and most diverse families in the order Testudines (turtles), with about 70 species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two in ...

. It was

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

within the genus '' Malayemys'' until Brophy (2004, 2005) reevaluated (based on morphology) '' Malayemys macrocephala'' (Gray, 1859),Gray, John Edward. (1859). Description of a new species of freshwater tortoise from Siam. ''Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London'' 1859(27):478–479. which has been long time considered to be a synonym of ''M. subtrijuga''.

Distribution

The Mekong snail-eating turtle is found in the Mekong River basin of

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

, southern

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, and

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and the northern

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...

, and Java, Indonesia. It could have been introduced to Java via human intervention from the Mekong River Basin. The occurrence of the species in Indonesia is regarded by Brophy (2005) to be allochthonous, i.e., non-native (

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

) or extinct (Java). The population of the Mekong snail-eating turtle is declining due to exploitation of the animal and their habitat.

Predators

The Mekong snail-eating turtle is usually eaten by birds, fish, and larger turtles.

References

Geoemydidae Reptiles described in 1845 Reptiles of Cambodia Reptiles of Laos Reptiles of Thailand Reptiles of Vietnam Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Turtle-stub