Leith's softshell turtle

Leith's softshell turtle
Conservation status
	; Critically Endangered (IUCN 3.1)
	CITES Appendix I (CITES)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Family:	Trionychidae
Genus:	Nilssonia
Species:	N. leithii
Binomial name
	Nilssonia leithii; (Gray, 1872)
Synonyms
	Trionyx javanicus ; — Gray, 1831 ; (part); Testudo gotaghol ; Buchanan-Hamilton, 1831 ; (nomen nudum); Aspilus gataghol ; — Gray, 1872; Trionyx leithii ; Gray, 1872; Isola leithii ; — Gray, 1873; Aspideretes leithii ; — O.P. Hay, 1904; Trionyx sulcifrons ; Annandale, 1915; Trionyx leithi ; M.A. Smith, 1931 ; (ex errore); Amyda leithi ; — Mertens, L. Müller & Rust, 1934; Aspideretes leithi ; — Choudhury & Bhupathy, 1993; Trionys leithii ; — Obst, 1996; Trionix leithi ; — Richard, 1999;

Leith's softshell turtle (Nilssonia leithii) is a species of turtle in the family Trionychidae. The species is found in peninsular Indian rivers including the Thungabhadra, Ghataprabha, Bhavani, Godavari, Kaveri and Moyar Rivers.^[4] The type locality is Pune in India.^[5]

Etymology

The specific name, leithii, is in honor of Andrew H. Leith, a physician with the Bombay Sanitary Commission.^[6]

Description

N. leithii is intermediate between N. gangetica and N. hurum. It is like the former in the width of the interorbital space, the comparatively short mandibular symphysis, and the markings of the head. It is like the latter in the longer and more pointed snout, the absence of a strong ridge on the inner alveolar surface of the mandible, and in the presence, in the young, of four or more dorsal ocelli, which are, however, smaller than in N. hurum.^[7]

Adults may attain a straight carapace length of 64 cm (25 in).^[8]

Diet

N. leithii preys on mosquito larvae, crabs, freshwater molluscs, and fish.^[4] It also sometimes feeds on small aquatic vegetation.^[8]

Reproduction

The adult female N. leithii lays eggs in June. The eggs are spherical, and the diameter of each egg is 30 to 31 mm (1.2 in).^[8]

Threats

The species N. leithii is locally exploited throughout peninsular India.^[9] Other major threats are riverine development projects, aquatic pollution, sand mining, construction of hydroelectric projects, poaching, and exploitation of eggs.^[10]^[4]

Geographic range

Leith's softshell turtle is endemic to peninsular India^[11] in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu^[1] and Odisha^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Praschag, P.; Das, I.; Choudhury, B.C.; Singh, S. (2021). "Nilssonia leithii ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T2174A2778380. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T2174A2778380.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
^ Fritz 2007, pp. 310–311
^ ^a ^b ^c Das, I.; Sirsi, S.; Vasudevan, K.; Murthy, B.H.C.K (2014). "Nilssonia leithii (Gray 1872) – Leith’s Softshell Turtle". In: Rhodin, A.G.J.; Pritchard, P.C.H.; van Dijk, P.P.; Saumure, R.A.; Buhlmann, K.A.; Iverson, J.B.; Mittermeier, R.A. (editors) (2014). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs No. 5. pp. 075.1–5, doi:10.3854/crm.5.075.leithii.v1.2014, http://www.iucn-tftsg.org/cbftt/.
^ Gray, J.E. (1872). "Notes on the mud-turtles of India (Trionyx, Geoffroy)". Annals and Magazines of Natural History, Fourth Series 10: 326–340.
^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Nilssonia leithii, p. 155).
^ Boulenger GA (1890). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xviii + 541 pp. (Trionyx leithii, p. 12).
^ ^a ^b ^c Das I (2002). Snakes and other Reptiles of India. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 144 pp. ISBN 0-88359-056-5. (Aspideretes leithii, p. 138).
^ Biju Kumar, A. (2004). "Records of Leith’s softshell turtle, Aspideretes leithi (Gray, 1872) and Asian giant soft shell turtle, Pelochelys cantorii (Gray, 1864) in Bharathapuzha River, Kerala". Zoos’ Print Journal 19 (4): 1445.
^ Dharwadkar, Sneha (2020). "Nilssonia leithii (Gray, 1872)". India Biodiversity Portal. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
^ Palot, Muhamed Jafer (2013). "Nilssonia leithii ". In: Venkataraman, K.; Chattopadhyay, A.; Subramanian, K.A. (editors). (2013). Endemic Animals of India (Vertebrates). Kolkata: Zoological Survey of India. 235 pp., 26 plates.