Chinese Softshell Turtle

ReptileEast Asia

Sep 3

Written By Alexander Julius Jensen

Pelodiscus sinensis

The Chinese softshell turtle uses its tubelike nostrils to "snorkel" while staying submerged beneath the water. Most turtles urinate through their cloacas, but to avoid losing water, the Chinese softshell can secrete urea from its mouth — essentially peeing via its mouth.

The Snorkelling Monster

The surface of the pond ripples. The water is murky with mud and silt, the depths are clouded and unseeable. Then something pokes through the surface; an odd tube-like appendage, about the size of a pinky finger, tipped with two holes. It swivels this way and that, like a tiny periscope. It bends and flexes, the holes expand and contract. Concealed just below the turbid water lurks a monster. It is currently 'snorkelling'; sticking out its flexible tube-nose to draw in air while staying submerged.

The rest of the creature, to whom this offputting appendage belongs, is just as bizarre. It is known as the Chinese softshell turtle. Its genus name is Pelodiscus ¹ from the Greek pelos, meaning "mud/mire" and the Latin discus or disk/disc, meaning simply a "disk-shaped object". The turtle is shaped somewhat like a deformed disk, less angular than most turtles, due in large part to its 'soft shell'. The softshell turtle's carapace lacks the horny scutes that form the armour-like shell of other turtles. Instead, most of its "shell" is soft like leather and pliable — allowing it to move more nimbly through the water. Only in the centre of its back is there a hard layer of solid bone, which resembles a typical turtle shell. It's as if its shell had stopped growing, while the rest of its body didn't.

The Chinese softshell is not a massive monster; its carapace typically stops growing at about 30 centimetres (12 in) in length, with the females larger than the males. Beneath its squishy shell, the turtle hides a blobby tail and four large, webbed feet. With its neck fully erect, its cranium looks abnormally bulbous, like an overripe fruit on a skinny branch, and the turtle's soft, wrinkly skin makes its head — whether extended or withdrawn — look somewhat phallic. Perhaps, due to its abbarent appearance, it prefers to 'snorkel', concealing itself in mud and mire.

Oral Urination…

The Chinese softshell turtle isn't picky about its habitations. If there's water, it'll probably live there; rivers, lakes, ponds, creeks, marshes, even canals and drainage ditches. Brackish water is too salty for most freshwater turtles, but not for the Chinese softshell. Why? Because it can pee through its mouth. Most turtles urinate through their cloacas — an all-in-one cavity for waste and reproductive products found in birds, reptiles, amphibians, and most fish. This involves a significant amount of water loss. To make up for it, freshwater turtles just drink more water. But for a turtle in brackish water, the drinking of saltwater would mean more salt ingestion — more salt than is passed out — leading to a dangerous build-up of salt in its system. Instead of using its cloaca, the Chinese softshell turtle opens its jaws underwater, wiggles its tongue, and excretes the urea through its mouth.² Only 6% of the urea produced by this turtle comes out of its hind end. The Chinese softshell remains hydrated and doesn't need to drink much salty water.

And so, this aquatic monster lies waiting in murky waters, fresh or brackish, its mouth agape, its tongue wagging — occasionally poking its snorkel-nose above the surface to breathe. It hunts by way of surprise; an ambush predator that buries itself beneath mud or sand and shoots its head up to engulf prey. If there are fish, it will feast on fish. But it will also crunch on crustaceans, slurp up slimy molluscs, and ingest ill-fated insects. If the turtle finds itself the victim of an attack, it cannot rely on its meagre shell for protection, but certain populations can excrete a nasty-smelling substance from pores at the front of their shells.

A Peculiar Pet

An albino baby Chinese softshell turtle.

Just as with its habitat, this turtle isn't selective about its nationality. Native to China — from Liaoning in the north to Hainan in the south — Taiwan, and Japan, the turtle has since spread, and now snorkels in many a waterway around Asia; including in Korea, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, several islands in the Philippines and Indonesia, and East Timor. It has also undertaken a journey to the West and is now found in several European countries like Spain and France. It has even voyaged to the New World, to the United States and, more specifically, Hawaii. It hasn't done this of its own accord, of course — it may tolerate brackish water but such sea journeys are unachievable for this shell-less testudine (it's no migrating sea turtle ³), and a journey over land would be one of a thousand years and much flopping. No, it is humans who've acted as the turtle's wilful chauffeurs, carrying it across continents and oceans for our own ends.

Why would we want this strange, floppy-shelled reptile? Well, some people have an odd taste in pets. Apparently, you can buy a Chinese softshell turtle for between $50 and $150, and it makes for a very lively pet (compared to other turtles). It will zoom around its tank (it needs a sizable one) and munch on fresh fish, raw meat, and canned dog food — as well as any tank mates, or human fingers, if it can get ahold of them. Europe's wild population likely descends from house pet escapees; a bunch of chelonian fugitives on the "run". But the primary reason humans keep these turtles around is not for companionship.

Turtle Farming

A moral quandary; is the mass killing of softshell turtles on farms worth it to conserve the species in the wild?

In 2007, a study attempted to survey turtle farms throughout all of China. Out of the 1,499 registered farms, it received responses from 684 of them. Those 684 farms were found to hold over 300 million animals and sold 128 million turtles every year (amounting to a total weight of about 93,000 tons). The Chinese softshell turtle accounted for 97% of reported sales. And this is data from less than half the farms in the country, so the figure is likely to be twice as high.⁴ Those farmed turtles typically end up in someone's soup bowl — Chinese softshell turtles are the most common species used for turtle soup. But it's not only China. The species is considered a delicacy in many parts of Asia. In Japan, which is thought to have pioneered the world's first industrial-scale turtle farm, the Chinese softshell turtle is stewed with hōtō noodles to create a traditional winter dish. Turtles are also farmed in the millions throughout Southeast Asia, in Thailand and Vietnam.

Industrial-scale turtle farms operate outside of Asia as well, although they mostly supply the pet trade. In 2018, the largest illegal turtle farm in Europe (on the Balearic Islands, off the eastern coast of Spain) was busted and dismantled by Europol’s operation Naultinus — seizing some 1,100 adults and hatchlings and over 750 eggs, and finding 14 of the 50 most endangered species in the world. In the United States, a 2018 census reported 45 farms, spread throughout 9 states ⁵, producing turtles and/or turtle eggs, with a combined total of $4,678,000 in sales. Many of these are shipped overseas to markets in Europe and Asia.

The Chinese softshell turtle is considered a 'vulnerable' species by the IUCN (as of 2000, so an update is needed). Its main threat, despite intensive breeding and farming, is overharvesting and exploitation of its wild populations. In terms of public perception, this turtle certainly has a lot going against it. It's ugly, and somewhat phallic-looking, with a seemingly malformed shell. It pees through its mouth and emits a foul smell through its shell. Its overly aggressive attitude supposedly inspired the design of the villainous Bowser. None of that, however, is an excuse to treat a living creature, or an entire species of living creatures, poorly. The Chinese softshell may not have the grace of a sea turtle or the charm of a box turtle, but we should try to put our biases aside and provide some love and sympathy to this oft-maltreated turtle.

A critically endangered Yangtze giant softshell turtle (*Rafetus swinhoei*).

¹ There are some 25 to 30 species of soft-shell turtles (in the family Trionychidae) found throughout eastern North America, Africa, Asia, and the Indo-Australian archipelago. They are unified by their soft and pliable shells, as opposed to the hard-armoured shells of your typical turtle. The most exceptional is the Yangtze giant softshell turtle; the largest freshwater turtle in the world, which can measure over a metre (3.3 ft) in length and weigh up to 200 kilograms (440 lbs) — it is critically endangered. (The world's largest turtle, the leatherback, also has a leathery carapace, but it isn't closely related — it's the only member of its family Dermochelyidae). The softshells' closest relative is the pig-nosed turtle (alone in the family Carettochelyidae), which looks how you'd expect given its name.

² Not technically urination since the urea — the main waste substance in urine — travels through the turtle's bloodstream straight to its mouth and doesn't pass through its kidneys. Apparently, this is assisted by a special gene. This gene creates a protein which assists in expelling urea, but the gene is expressed not in the kidneys, but in the turtle's mouth.

From top to bottom; a green sea turtle (*Chelonia mydas*), hawksbill turtle (*Eretmochelys imbricata*), and leatherback sea turtle (*Dermochelys coriacea*).

³ Many species of sea turtles are great travellers. Green sea turtles can travel hundreds to thousands of kilometres each way between their foraging grounds and the beaches where they nest. The critically endangered hawksbill sea turtles from the Solomon Islands can travel 800 to 1,650 kilometres (500 - 1000 miles) between Arnavon nesting beaches and foraging areas off Australia. But the greatest turtle travellers of all are the leatherbacks. One was recorded swimming from Indonesia to Oregon, some 20,558 kilometres (12,774 miles) — "one of the longest recorded migrations of any vertebrate animal".

⁴ A 2008 Chinese statistic places the annual production of Chinese softshell turtles as 204,000 tons. If we take a body weight of 5 kg (on the high side of average), then that's 40.8 million turtles produced a year in China. This is likely quite a lowball estimate, given the statistics from 2007.

⁵ Louisiana and Florida had the highest number of turtle farms. The other states included Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri and New Jersey.

**Where Does It Live?**

⛰️ Any fresh or brackish body of water; including rivers, lakes, ponds, creeks, marshes, canals and drainage ditches.
📍 Native to China, Taiwan, and Japan, but widespread as an introduced species.

Size // Medium
Length // 30+ cm (12+ in) carapace
Weight // Up to 6 kg (13 lbs) but usually less
Activity: Nocturnal 🌙
Lifestyle: Solitary 👤
Lifespan: Up to 25 years
Diet: Carnivore
Favorite Food: It's not picky
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Family: Trionychidae
Genus: Pelodiscus
Species: P. sinensis

Urinating through the cloaca involves a significant amount of water loss. To replenish this loss, a turtle must drink more water — this poses a problem for a turtle living in brackish (somewhat salty) water, since it would intake too much salt with the water it drinks.
The Chinese softshell gets around this by opening its jaws, wiggling its tongue, and excreting the urea through its mouth — which involves much less water loss. Only 6% of the urea produced by this turtle comes out of its hind end. As a result, it can live in brackish water.
Sea turtles are adapted to tolerate even saltier water. Instead of "mouth peeing", they have specialised salt glands in the corner of each eye. When they drink salty water, the salt enters their bloodstream and is transported to these glands, where it is excreted as a very concentrated salty solution.
The softshell turtle's carapace lacks the horny scutes that form the armour-like shell of other turtles. Instead, most of its "shell" is soft like leather and pliable. Only in the centre of its back is there a hard layer of solid bone, which resembles a typical turtle shell.
The carapace of this turtle only reaches around 30 centimetres (12 inches) in length and females are usually the larger sex.
This turtle's genus name is Pelodiscus; from the Greek pelos, meaning "mud/mire" and the Latin discus or disk/disc, meaning simply a "disk-shaped object".
It is an ambush predator that buries itself beneath mud or sand and shoots its head up to engulf prey. Eating fish, crustaceans, molluscs, and insects.
Some populations can excrete a nasty-smelling substance from pores at the front of their shells to deter predators.
The Chinese softshell turtle is actually a somewhat popular pet. It makes for a very active companion, often zooming around its tank. However, it is also known to be aggressive to tank mates and human fingers. One can apparently be bought for between $50 and $150.
A 2007 study on turtle farms in China received survey results from 684 out of the 1,449 registered farms in the country. These farms sold 128 million turtles every year (amounting to a total weight of about 93,000 tons). The Chinese softshell turtle accounted for 97% of reported sales. This is data from less than half the farms in the country, so the figure is likely to be twice as high.
The Chinese softshell turtle is considered a 'vulnerable' species by the IUCN (as of the year 2000, so an update is needed). Its main threat, despite intensive breeding and farming, is overharvesting and exploitation of its wild populations.