Eastern long-necked turtle

The eastern long-necked turtle (Chelodina longicollis), also known as the common long-necked turtle and common snake-necked turtle, is an east Australian species of snake-necked turtle that inhabits a wide variety of water bodies and is an opportunistic feeder. It is a side-necked turtle (Pleurodira), meaning that it bends its head sideways into its shell rather than pulling it directly back.

Eastern long-necked turtle
Ventral view of female
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Pleurodira
Family:	Chelidae
Genus:	Chelodina
Subgenus:	Chelodina
Species:	C. longicollis
Binomial name
Chelodina longicollis Shaw, 1794[1]
Synonyms[2]
Testudo longicollis Shaw, 1794[1] Chelodina novaehollandiae Duméril & Bibron, 1835[3] Chelodina sulcata Gray, 1856[4] Chelodina sulcifera Gray, 1856[5]

Naming

Chelodina longicollis is a species of freshwater turtle, commonly known as the eastern long-necked turtle, common long-necked turtle, common snake-necked turtle.^[6][7]

Distribution

The species is found throughout south eastern Australia, where it is found west of Adelaide (South Australia) eastwards throughout Victoria, the Northern Territory, and New South Wales, and northwards to the Fitzroy River of Queensland. Where these turtles come in contact with Chelodina canni they freely hybridise, exhibiting hybrid vigour in the Styx River Drainage of Queensland.^[7][8] They have been introduced to Tasmania, likely via the pet trade.^[9]

The wide distribution of the eastern long-necked turtle has allowed it to tolerate climates that are far colder than those that most other pleurodire turtles occur in, including southerly and high-altitude temperate climates. In 2023, a high-altitude long-necked turtle from the New England Tablelands was found brumating in a pool that had completely frozen for 15 days during the winter, marking the first documented case of a pleurodire turtle overwintering under ice.^[9]

Description

The carapace is generally black in colour, though some may be brown. It is broad and flattened with a deep medial groove. The scutes are edged in black in those individuals with a lighter background colour.^[7] The plastron is also very broad and is cream to yellow in colour with sutures edged in black.^[7] The neck is long and narrow, typical of the subgenus Chelodina, and reaches a length of approximately 60% of the carapace length. The neck has numerous small pointed tubercles and is grey to black in colour dorsally, cream below, as is the narrow head.^[7] Females tend to grow to larger sizes and have deeper bodies. The maximum sizes recorded for females and males varies throughout the range; in river environments of the Murray River it is 28.2 cm (11.1 in) and 24.9 cm (9.8 in) respectively, whereas in the Latrobe Valley it is 21.6 cm (8.5 in) and 18.8 cm (7.4 in) respectively.^[7] It is thought this is linked to productivity of the local environment.^[7]

When it feels threatened, this turtle will emit an offensive-smelling fluid from its musk glands. This trait gives the turtle one of its other common names, "stinker".^[10]

Diet

The eastern long-necked turtle is carnivorous, eating a variety of animals. This includes insects, worms, tadpoles, frogs, small fish, crustaceans, molluscs, plankton, and carrion.^[11]

Life cycle

Females of this species take 10 years to reach maturity.^[12]

In early summer, the female will lay between two and ten eggs in the banks of her aquatic habitat. Three to five months later the hatchlings break out of their shells. These young turtles often fall prey to predators such as fish and birds. Females will lay one to three clutches of eggs per year.

Importance

Turtles are an important element of the river ecosystem owing to their feeding on dead fish after a fish kill event, returning ammonia and dissolved oxygen to the river much faster than by natural decomposition (3–6 days vs 25–27 days).^[13]

Conservation

The species is not listed under listed under the Commonwealth EPBC Act nor any state conservation laws.^[14]

In South Australia, foxes predate on the eggs in the turtle nests, and may eat the turtles as well. In addition, river system regulation and roadkill are also considered threats to freshwater turtles of all kinds in the Murray River. Efforts to protect the species include the use of professional shooters to kill foxes; working with local councils to build nesting islands, and improving monitoring of species. After it was found that freshwater turtle numbers had declined by up to 91 per cent some sections of the Murray, conservation efforts increased, with the Government of South Australia allocating $450,000 to help establish the state's first turtle management plan, dubbed the "Together Understanding and Restoring Turtles in our Landscapes and Ecosystems" (TURTLE) project. A management strategy is being developed in collaboration with First Nations people, for whom the turtles have great cultural significance, along with environmental experts.^[13]

Gallery

• 
  At the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., US
• 
  Neck bent back into its shell
• 
  In an aquarium
• 
  Covered in algae, Victoria, Australia
• 
  Peering from its shell, Carnarvon National Park, Queensland, Australia