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Reptilia    Testudines    Trionychidae  
Chinese Softshell
Pelodiscus sinensis (Wiegmann, 1835)
PEL-oh-DIS-kus — sih-NEN-sis
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SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Native to eastern Asia. It was introduced to Maryland (Kraus, 2009, Alien Reptiles and Amphibians: A Scientific Compendium and Analysis. SpringerVerlag, Heidelberg, Germany) and is established on O'ahu and Kaua'i, Hawai'i (Brock, 1947, Copeia 1947: 142; McKeown and Webb, 1982, Journal of Herpetology 16: 107–111; McKeown,1996, Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians in the Hawaiian Islands. Diamond Head Publishing, Incorporated, Los Osos, California; Dong et al., 2016, Conservation Genetics 17: 207–220). (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.)
Errata/Changes: Page 87: The (Kraus, 2009) reference should be "Kraus, 2009, Alien Reptiles and Amphibians: A Scientific Compendium and Analysis. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands".  — (06/11/2025)

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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:; 159 Total; 93 Museum; 66 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: 2023.09.05.07.54.56)
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Province/State Distribution:
United States: Hawaii

Taxonomic Etymology:
A softshell turtle native to China.
Pelodiscus — From Greek pelos (πηλός), “mud,” and Latin discus, “disc.” Refers to the flattened, disc-like shape and mud-dwelling habits of the turtle—“mud disc.”
sinensis — Latinized form of Sina, “China.” Means “from China” or “Chinese.”

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


Selected References:
1834 Wiegmann, Arend Friedrich August. Beiträge zur Zoologie, gesammelt auf einer Reise um die Erde, von Dr. F. J. F. Meyen, M. d. A. d. N.. Siebente Abhandlung. Amphibien. [Contributions to zoology, collected on a trip around the world, by Dr. F. J. F. Meyen, M. d. A. d. N.. Seventh treatise. Amphibians.]. Nova Acta Physico-Medica Academiae Caesareae Leopoldino-Carolinae Naturae Curiosorum [New Proceedings of the Physico-Medical Academy of the Caesarea Leopoldino-Carolina Naturae Curiosorum] 17(1):183-268
1947 Brock, Vernon E. The establishment of Trionyx sinensis in Hawaii. Copeia 1947(2):142
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.
2009 Kraus, Fred. Alien Reptiles and Amphibians: A Scientific Compendium and Analysis. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands. 563pp.
2016 Dong, Caroline M., Tag N. Engstrom, and Robert C. Thomson. Origins of softshell turtles in Hawaii with implications for conservation. Conservation Genetics 17:207-220

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