Pelodiscus

Pelodiscus
Pelodiscus sinensis, Chinese softshell turtle
Conservation status
CITES Appendix II
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Family:	Trionychidae
Subfamily:	Trionychinae
Genus:	Pelodiscus Fitzinger, 1835
Species
See text

Pelodiscus is a genus of turtles in the family Trionychidae, the softshells. Based on genetic and morphological analysis there are seven valid species. They are native to Eastern Asia, ranging from the Amur region, south through China and Korea, as far south as Vietnam. Populations in Japan are thought to likely originate from historic human introductions.

Phylogenetic studies have recovered a high diversity of Pelodiscus genotypes in China, some of which may correspond to distinct species. However, the millennia-old practice of farming Pelodiscus for consumption, especially in large-scale turtle farms since the late 20th century, is thought to threaten these lineages due to hybridization with farmed individuals.

Species

The following species are recognized by the Turtle Taxonomy Working Group:

• Pelodiscus axenaria (Zhou, Zhang & Fang, 1991) — Hunan softshell turtle
• Pelodiscus huangshanensis Y. Gong, Peng, S. Huang, Lin, R. Huang, Xu, Yang & Nie, 2021 — Huangshan softshell turtle, horse-hoof softshell turtle (potentially synonymous with P. axenaria)
• Pelodiscus maackii (Brandt, 1857) — Amur softshell turtle, northern Chinese softshell turtle
• Pelodiscus parviformis Tang, 1997 — lesser Chinese softshell turtle
• Pelodiscus shipian S. Gong, Fritz, Vamberger, Gao & Farkas, 2022 — Chinese stone slab softshell turtle (potentially synonymous with P. axenaria)
• Pelodiscus sinensis (Wiegmann, 1835) — Chinese softshell turtle
• Pelodiscus variegatus Farkas, Ziegler, Pham, Ong & Fritz, 2019 — spotted softshell turtle

Nota bene: In the above list, a binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Pelodiscus.

Further reading

• (Pelodiscus, new genus, p. 120). (in German and Latin).