NEWS105
20
back in1876by Krefft.The species is quite
obviously rather variable andother names
have also been assigned to it; the most
recent scientific review of the turtles of
Australia (G
EORGES
& T
HOMSON
, 2010)
distinguishes the typical red-bellied form
from southern New Guinea (where it
occurs from the Vogelkop and Bomberi
peninsulas in thewest to the KempWelsh
drainage in theeast) and the JardineRiver
on the CapeYork Peninsula inAustralia as
Emydura subglobosa subglobosa
, and
another, yellow-bellied subspecies, which
in addition develops a broader headwith
age,
E.s.worrelli,
from theuplanddrainages
of the Arnhem Land plateau in the
Northern Territory and the rivers that
empty into the Gulf of Carpentaria. The
scientific description of the latter was
severely criticized by the authors, but that
doesn’t alter its validity.On theother hand
it cannot be ruled out that the two
subspecies actually represent separate
species.
Mainly aquatic
The Redbellied Shortneck Turtle is a
fluviatileturtlethatonlyoccasionallycomes
considerably in their preferences in this
respect,andon theother thepresenceof a
dry (!) land area helps prevent disease as,
being an inhabitant of running water,
E.
subglobosa
has high requirements as
regards water quality. If the latter is poor
then these turtles tend towards infectious
diseases of the skin and shell. But even
when the water is in good order these
turtles, likeall creatures, can sometimes fall
ill, and they then like to seek out the land
area and sun themselves, and in this way
slight infections often clear up by
Young
Emydura subglobosa
aredelightful.
Photo:Chris Lukhaup
Portrait of anadult RedbelliedShortneckTurtle. Photo:C.Fritz,www.reptilia24.com
Be that as it may, wild-caught Redbellied
Shortneck Turtles are so rare in the trade
thatonecansafelysaythattheydon’toccur
at all, and that all the strains found in the
hobby correspond to the nominate form,
while
E. s. worelli
, is maintained only by a
small numberof specialists, if atall.
ashore. There are reports onmaintenance
that state that they can be kept in an
aquarium that iscompletelywithout a land
area,but I don’t recommend that.Although
the species suns itself appreciably less
frequently thanmany other turtles, on the
one hand individual specimens differ
