Trionychidae

The Trionychidae are a taxonomic family of a number of turtle

genera, commonly known as softshell turtles. The family was Trionychidae
erected by Leopold Fitzinger in 1826. Softshells include some of
the world's largest freshwater turtles, though many can adapt to
living in highly brackish areas. Members of this family occur in
Africa, Asia, and North America. Most species have traditionally
been included in the genus Trionyx, but the vast majority have since
been moved to other genera. Among these are the North American
Apalone softshells that were placed in Trionyx until 1987.[2]

Contents
Characteristics
As food
Taxonomy
Past classification
Chinese softshell turtle
Phylogeny
Pelodiscus sinensis
Gallery
Scientific classification
Notes
Kingdom: Animalia
References
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Characteristics
Order: Testudines
They are called "softshell" because their carapaces lack horny Suborder: Cryptodira
scutes (scales), though the spiny softshell, Apalone spinifera, does
have some scale-like projections, hence its name. The carapace is Superfamily: Trionychia
leathery and pliable, particularly at the sides. The central part of the Family: Trionychidae
carapace has a layer of solid bone beneath it, as in other turtles, but
Fitzinger, 1826
this is absent at the outer edges. Some species also have dermal
bones in the plastron, but these are not attached to the bones of the Subfamilies
shell. The light and flexible shell of these turtles allows them to
move more easily in open water or in muddy lake bottoms. Having Cyclanorbinae
a soft shell also allows them to move much faster on land than most
turtles.[3] Their feet are webbed and three-clawed, hence the family Trionychinae[1]
name "Trionychidae," which means "three-clawed". The carapace
color of each type of softshell turtle tends to match the sand and/or mud color of its geographical region,
assisting in their "lie in wait" feeding methodology.

These turtles have many characteristics pertaining to their aquatic lifestyle. Many must be submerged in order
to swallow their food.[4] They have elongated, soft, snorkel-like nostrils. Their necks are disproportionately
long in comparison to their body sizes, enabling them to breathe surface air while their bodies remain
submerged in the substrate (mud or sand) a foot or more below the surface.

Females can grow up to several feet in carapace diameter, while males stay much smaller; this is their main
form of sexual dimorphism. Pelochelys cantorii, found in southeastern Asia, is the largest softshell turtle.

Most are strict carnivores, with diets consisting mainly of fish, aquatic
crustaceans, snails, amphibians,[3] and sometimes birds and small
mammals.

Softshells are able to "breathe" underwater with rhythmic movements

of their mouth cavity that contains numerous processes that are
copiously supplied with blood, acting similarly to gill filaments in
fish.[5] This enables them to stay underwater for prolonged periods.
Moreover, the Chinese softshell turtle has been shown to excrete urea
while "breathing" underwater; this is an efficient solution when the
Head and neck of Pelodiscus
sinensis
animal does not have access to fresh water, e.g., in brackish-water
environments.[6]

According to Ditmars (1910): "The mandibles of many species form

the outer border of powerful crushing processes—the alveolar surfaces of the jaws", which aids the ingestion
of tough prey such as molluscs. These jaws make large turtles dangerous, as they are capable of amputating a
person's finger, or possibly their hand.[7]

As food
Softshell turtles are eaten as a delicacy in most parts of their range,
particularly in East Asia. A Chinese dish stews them with chicken.
According to a 1930 report by Soame Jenyns, Guangdong restaurants
had them imported from Guangxi in large numbers; "eaten stewed
with almonds, roast with chili sauce or fried with bamboo shoots, they
[were] considered a great delicacy."[8]

Worldwide, the most commonly consumed softshell species is the

Chinese softshell Pelodiscus sinensis. As a noted Japanese biologist
pointed out in 1904, the Japanese variety of this turtle, which at time Japanese suppon-nabe made from
softshell turtle
was classified as Trionyx japonicus, occupied a place in Japanese
cuisine as esteemed as the diamondback terrapin in the United States
or the green turtle in England. The farming of this "luscious reptile",
known in Japan as suppon, was already developed on an industrial scale in that country by the late 19th
century.[9]

Due to rising demand and overhunting, the price of Pelodiscus sinensis in China skyrocketed by the mid-
1990s; large-scale turtle farming in China and neighboring countries; raising this species by hundreds of
millions was the response, with prices soon returning to a more affordable level.[10][11][12] Another species,
Palea steindachneri, is farmed in China, as well, but on a much smaller scale (with farm herds measured in
hundreds of thousands, rather than hundreds of millions).[12]

In the United States, harvesting softshells (e.g. Apalone ferox) was, until recently, legal in Florida.
Environmental groups have been advocating the authorities' banning or restricting the practice. The Florida
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission responded by introducing the daily limit of 20 turtles for licensed
harvesters—a level which the turtle advocates consider unsustainable, as there may be between 100 and 500
hunters statewide. While some catch was consumed locally, most was exported; the Commission estimated
(2008) around 3,000 pounds of softshell turtles were exported each week via Tampa International Airport.[13]

New rules, in effect as of July 20, 2009, restrict collecting any wild turtles to one turtle per person per day,
completely prohibit collection of softshells (Apalone) in May through July, and prohibit trade in turtles caught
from the wild. An exemption is provided for licensed turtle farms that need to catch turtles in the wild to serve
as their breeding stock.[14]

Some other US states, too, have already adopted strict limitations on wild turtle trade. In 2009, South Carolina
passed the law (Bill H.3121) restricting interstate and international export of wild-caught turtles (both soft-shell
and some other species) to 10 turtles per person at one time, or 20 turtles per person per year.[15]

Taxonomy
Family Trionychidae

†Palaeotrionyx (fossil) Paleotrionyx jimenezfuentesi[16]

Subfamily Plastomeninae[17] (fossil)

Genus †Gilmoremys[18][16]
Genus †Hutchemys
Genus †Plastomenus[16]
Subfamily Cyclanorbinae
Genus Cyclanorbis
Genus Cycloderma
Genus Lissemys
Subfamily Trionychinae

Genus Amyda, Amyda menneri[16]

Fossil of Plastomenus sp. in the
Genus Apalone [16] Field Museum of Natural History,
Genus Chitra,[16] Chitra minor[16] Chicago
Genus Dogania
Genus Nilssonia[16]
Genus Palea[16]
Genus Pelochelys
Genus Pelodiscus
Genus Rafetus[16]
Genus Trionyx[16]

Past classification
Genus Aspideretes

Phylogeny
Cladogram after Walter G. Joyce, Ariel Revan, Tyler R. Lyson and Igor G. Danilov (2009).[17]
 Cyclanorbis

Cyclanorbinae Cycloderma

Lissemys

Hutchemys
†Plastomeninae

Plastomenus

Trionyx

Chitra

Pelochelys

Trionychidae
Apalone

Rafetus

Trionychinae Amyda

Aspideretes

Nilssonia

Dogania

Palea

Pelodiscus

Gallery
Amyda cartilaginea Apalone ferox Apalone spinifera Chitra indica
(juvenile)

Dogania subplana Lissemys punctata Nilssonia nigricans Pelochelys cantorii

Pelodiscus sinensis Rafetus euphraticus Rafetus swinhoei Trionyx triunguis

in a Seoul market

Notes
1. Chelonia.org (http://www.chelonia.org/Turtle_Taxonomy.htm)
2. Meylan, P.A. 1987. The phylogenetic relationships of soft-shelled turtles (Family Trionychidae).
Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 186: 1-101.
3. Obst Fritz Jurgen (1998). Cogger, H.G.; Zweifel, R.G. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Reptiles and
Amphibians. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 117–118. ISBN 978-0-12-178560-4.
4. About Turtles and Tortoises, Chelonians (http://animal-world.com/encyclo/reptiles/turtles/inform
ation/SelectingYourTurtle.php)
5. Gage, Simon H.; Gage, Susanna Phelps (1886). "Aquatic respiration in soft-shelled turtles: A
contribution to the physiology of respiration in vertebrates" (https://doi.org/10.1086/274187).
American Naturalist. 20 (3): 233–236. doi:10.1086/274187
(https://doi.org/10.1086%2F274187). JSTOR 2449924 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2449924).
 6. Ip, Y. K.; Loong, A. M.; Lee, S. M. L.; Ong, J. L. Y.; Wong, W. P.; Chew, S. F. (2012). "The
Chinese soft-shelled turtle, Pelodiscus sinensis, excretes urea mainly through the mouth
instead of the kidney" (https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.068916). Journal of Experimental Biology.
215 (21): 3723–33. doi:10.1242/jeb.068916 (https://doi.org/10.1242%2Fjeb.068916).
PMID 23053366 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23053366).
7. Raymond Lee Ditmars (1910). Reptiles of the World: Tortoises and Turtles, Crocodilians,
Lizards and Snakes of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres (https://archive.org/details/cu319
24003099953). New York: Sturgis & Walton. pp. 55 (https://archive.org/details/cu31924003099
953/page/n98). ISBN 978-1112357510.
8. Jenyns, Soame (1930), "The tortoise and the turtle in Kwongtung" (http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkjo/vi
ew/27/2700050.pdf) (PDF), The Hong Kong Naturalist, 1: 161–163
9. Mitsukuri, Kakichi (1906), "The cultivation of marine and fresh-water animals in Japan", in
Rogers, Howard Jason (ed.), Congress of arts and science: Universal exposition, St. Louis,
1904 (https://books.google.com/books?id=n-wMAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA694), Houghton, Mifflin and
company, pp. 694–732. The Japanese variety of Pelodiscus sinensis is referred to in
Mitsukuri's article under its older name, Trionyx japonicus.
10. Zhao Huanxin, "Low price hurts turtle breeding (http://www.people.com.cn/english/199906/30/c
hnmedia.html)". China Daily 1999-06-30 (scroll to the end of the file to find that article)
11. Zhang Jian ( 章剑 ), Chinese soft-shelled turtle value return (http://www.cnturtle.com/sdp/70503/
4/main-996823/0/Turtle_News.html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20110526020201/ht
tp://www.cnturtle.com/sdp/70503/4/main-996823/0/Turtle_News.html) 2011-05-26 at the
Wayback Machine, Turtle news ( 中国⻳鳖⽹ ), 13 August 2009 (appears to be a machine
中华鳖价值回归
translation of the more comprehensible " ", at "Archived copy" (https://web.archi
ve.org/web/20101118061244/http://www.cnturtle.com/sdp/70503/2/main-996823/0.html).
Archived from the original (http://www.cnturtle.com/sdp/70503/2/main-996823/0.html) on 2010-
11-18. Retrieved 2009-12-28. )
12. Shi, Haitao; Parham, James F; Fan, Zhiyong; Hong, Meiling; Yin, Feng (2008-01-01),
"Evidence for the massive scale of turtle farming in China", Oryx, Cambridge University Press,
42, pp. 147–150, doi:10.1017/S0030605308000562 (https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0030605308
000562) Also at http://sites.google.com/site/jfparham/2008Shi.pdf
13. "China Gobbling Up Florida Turtles" (http://www.theledger.com/article/20081009/NEWS/81009
0272?Title=China_Gobbling_Up_Florida_Turtles), By CRAIG PITTMAN, St. Petersburg Times.
Published: Thursday, October 9, 2008
14. Freshwater Fish and Wildlife, Rule No. 68A-25.002: General Provisions for Taking Possession
and Sale of Reptiles (https://www.flrules.org/Gateway/View_notice.asp?id=7379195)
15. (South Carolina) Legislative Update, June 5, 2009, Vol. 26, No. 16 (http://www.scstatehouse.go
v/reports/hupdate/lu2616.htm) (see Bill H.3121)
16. "Trionychidae" (http://fossilworks.org/bridge.pl?a=taxonInfo&taxon_no=37674). Fossilworks.
Retrieved October 18, 2019.
17. Walter G. Joyce; Ariel Revan; Tyler R. Lyson; Igor G. Danilov (2009). "Two New Plastomenine
Softshell Turtles from the Paleocene of Montana and Wyoming" (http://www.mrfdigs.com/public
ations/200910_joyce-et-al.pdf) (PDF). Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History. 50
(2): 307–325. doi:10.3374/014.050.0202 (https://doi.org/10.3374%2F014.050.0202).
18. Joyce, Walter G.; Lyson, Tyler R.; Williams, Scott (2016). "New cranial material of Gilmoremys
lancensis (Testudines, Trionychidae) from the Hell Creek Formation of southeastern Montana,
U.S.A". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 36 (6): e1225748.
doi:10.1080/02724634.2016.1225748 (https://doi.org/10.1080%2F02724634.2016.1225748).

References
 Trionychidae (http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/search.php?taxon=Chelydridae&submit=Sea
rch) (all species) at The Reptile Database (http://www.reptile-database.org/)
Parade of the Animal Kingdom. Hegner, Robert. 1935. the Macmillan Company.

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