THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY
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Reptilia    Testudines    Trionychidae  
Wattle-necked Softshell
Palea steindachneri (Siebenrock, 1906)
PAY-lee-ah — STINE-dahk-ner-eye
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SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Native to southeastern China and northern Vietnam. It was introduced in California (Bury and Luckenbach, 1976, Biological Conservation 10: 1–14) and is established in marshes and canals in Kaua'i and Oah'u, Hawai'i (McKeown and Webb, 1982, Journal of Herpetology 16: 107–111; McKeown, 1996, A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians in the Hawaiian Islands. Diamond Head Publishing, Incorporated, Los Osos, California). (Krysko, Kenneth and Travis W. Taggart. 2025. Established Exotic Species. Pages 64-87 in Kirsten E. Nicholson (Editor), Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, 9th Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Lawrence, Kansas. 87 pp.)

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Open icons indicate questionable records, including those with coordinate uncertainty greater than 10,000 m (approximately 6 miles). Click a marker to view metadata.
Occurrences:; 22 Total; 19 Museum; 3 Other

The locality database contains 8,094,832 records, and geographic and taxonomic errors exist. Logged-in, registered users may report a potential issue directly from the marker popup.
Shaded range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH. (Version: 2023.09.06.08.59.22)
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Province/State Distribution:
United States: Hawaii

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for its wrinkled appearance and an Austrian herpetologist.
Palea — From Latin palea, meaning “chaff” or “husk,” possibly referring to the turtle’s rough, wrinkled, or fringed skin around the neck and limbs.
steindachneri — A patronym honoring Franz Steindachner (1834–1919), an Austrian ichthyologist and herpetologist who described numerous reptiles and fishes.

First instance(s) of published English names:
No historic English names have been assigned to this taxon yet.


Selected References:
1906 Siebenrock, Friedrich. Zur Kenntnis der Schildkröten Fauna der Insel Hainan. [On the knowledge of the turtle fauna of Hainan Island.]. Zoologischer Anzeiger [Zoological Gazette] 30(17/18):578-586
1976 Bury, R. Bruce and Roger A. Luckenbach. Introduced amphibians and reptiles in California. Biological Conservation 10(1):1-14
1982 McKeown, Sean, and Robert G. Webb. Softshell turtles in Hawaii. Journal of Herpetology 16(2):107-111
1996 McKeown, Sean. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians in the Hawaiian Islands. Diamond Head Publishing, Inc., Los Osos, California. 172pp.

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