Eastern long-necked turtle

Chelodina longicollis is a species of freshwater turtle, commonly known as the eastern long-necked turtle, common long-necked turtle, common snake-necked turtle.{{cite journal|author1=Kennett, R |author2= Georges, A. |jstor=3892599 |title=Habitat utilization and its relationship to growth and reproduction of the eastern long-necked turtle, Chelodina longicollis (Testudinata: Chelidae), from Australia|journal= Herpetologica|volume= 46|issue= 1|year= 1990|pages= 22–33}}Kennett, R., Roe, J., Hodges, K., and Georges, A. 2009. Chelodina longicollis (Shaw 1784) – eastern long-necked turtle, common long-necked turtle, common snake-necked turtle. In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Pritchard, P.C.H., van Dijk, P.P., Saumure, R.A., Buhlmann, K.A., Iverson, J.B., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). 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. 031.1–031.8, {{doi|10.3854/crm.5.031.longicollis.v1.2009}}

The species is found throughout south eastern Australia, where it is found west of Adelaide (South Australia) eastwards throughout Victoria, the Northern Territory, and New South Wales, and northwards to the Fitzroy River of Queensland. Where these turtles come in contact with Chelodina canni they freely hybridise, exhibiting hybrid vigour in the Styx River Drainage of Queensland.

{{cite journal|author1=McCord, William P. |author2= Thomson, Scott A. |year=2002|title= A new species of Chelodina (Testudines: Pleurodira: Chelidae) from northern Australia|jstor=1565998|doi=10.1670/0022-1511(2002)036[0255:ansoct]2.0.co;2 |journal=Journal of Herpetology|volume= 36|issue=2|pages=255–267|s2cid= 84527325 }} They have been introduced to Tasmania, likely via the pet trade.{{Cite journal |last1=Dowling |first1=James |last2=Bower |first2=Deborah S. |last3=Nordberg |first3=Eric J. |date=2024 |title=Overwintering under ice: A novel observation for an Australian freshwater turtle |journal=Ecology and Evolution |language=en |volume=14 |issue=7 |page=11578 |doi=10.1002/ece3.11578 |issn=2045-7758 |pmc=11247112 |pmid=39011131|bibcode=2024EcoEv..1411578D }}

The wide distribution of the eastern long-necked turtle has allowed it to tolerate climates that are far colder than those that most other pleurodire turtles occur in, including southerly and high-altitude temperate climates. In 2023, a high-altitude long-necked turtle from the New England Tablelands was found brumating in a pool that had completely frozen for 15 days during the winter, marking the first documented case of a pleurodire turtle overwintering under ice.

The carapace is generally black in colour, though some may be brown. It is broad and flattened with a deep medial groove. The scutes are edged in black in those individuals with a lighter background colour. The plastron is also very broad and is cream to yellow in colour with sutures edged in black. The neck is long and narrow, typical of the subgenus Chelodina, and reaches a length of approximately 60% of the carapace length. The neck has numerous small pointed tubercles and is grey to black in colour dorsally, cream below, as is the narrow head. Females tend to grow to larger sizes and have deeper bodies. The maximum sizes recorded for females and males varies throughout the range; in river environments of the Murray River it is {{convert|28.2|cm|in|abbr=on}} and {{convert|24.9|cm|in|abbr=on}} respectively, whereas in the Latrobe Valley it is {{convert|21.6|cm|in|abbr=on}} and {{convert|18.8|cm|in|abbr=on}} respectively. It is thought this is linked to productivity of the local environment.

When it feels threatened, this turtle will emit an offensive-smelling fluid from its musk glands. This trait gives the turtle one of its other common names, "stinker".

{{cite journal|author1=Eisner, T.|author2= Jones, T.H.|author3= Meinwald, J.|author4= Legler, J.M. |year=1978|title= Chemical composition of the odorous secretion of the Australian turtle, Chelodina longicollis|journal=Copeia|volume=1978|issue= 4|pages= 714–715|doi=10.2307/1443705|jstor= 1443705}}

The eastern long-necked turtle is carnivorous, eating a variety of animals. This includes insects, worms, tadpoles, frogs, small fish, crustaceans, molluscs, plankton, and carrion.{{cite web | url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Chelodina_longicollis/ | title=Chelodina longicollis (Common Snake-necked Turtle) | website=Animal Diversity Web }}

Females of this species take 10 years to reach maturity.{{Cite journal |last1=Shine |first1=Richard |last2=Iverson |first2=John B. |date=1995 |title=Patterns of Survival, Growth and Maturation in Turtles |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3546119 |journal=Oikos |volume=72 |issue=3 |pages=343–348 |doi=10.2307/3546119 |jstor=3546119 |bibcode=1995Oikos..72..343S |issn=0030-1299|url-access=subscription }}

In early summer, the female will lay between two and ten eggs in the banks of her aquatic habitat. Three to five months later the hatchlings break out of their shells. These young turtles often fall prey to predators such as fish and birds. Females will lay one to three clutches of eggs per year.

Turtles are an important element of the river ecosystem owing to their feeding on dead fish after a fish kill event, returning ammonia and dissolved oxygen to the river much faster than by natural decomposition (3–6 days vs 25–27 days).

The species is not listed under listed under the Commonwealth EPBC Act nor any state conservation laws.{{cite web | title=Chelodina longicollis — Eastern Long-necked Turtle | website=Species Profile and Threats Database |publisher= Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Australian Government| date=2025 | url=https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=1776 | access-date=29 April 2025}} 50px Text may have been copied from this source, which is available under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/ Attribution 3.0 Australia (CC BY 3.0 AU)] licence.

In South Australia, foxes predate on the eggs in the turtle nests, and may eat the turtles as well. In addition, river system regulation and roadkill are also considered threats to freshwater turtles of all kinds in the Murray River. Efforts to protect the species include the use of professional shooters to kill foxes; working with local councils to build nesting islands, and improving monitoring of species. After it was found that freshwater turtle numbers had declined by up to 91 per cent some sections of the Murray, conservation efforts increased, with the Government of South Australia allocating $450,000 to help establish the state's first turtle management plan, dubbed the "Together Understanding and Restoring Turtles in our Landscapes and Ecosystems" (TURTLE) project. A management strategy is being developed in collaboration with First Nations people, for whom the turtles have great cultural significance, along with environmental experts.{{cite web | last=Schremmer | first=Jessica | title=Aboriginal rangers fight to save River Murray's native freshwater turtles | website=ABC News | date=19 April 2025 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-20/aboriginal-rangers-fight-to-restore-freshwater-turtles-murray/105148692 | access-date=28 April 2025}}

File:australsnturtle2.jpg|At the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., US

File:Common snakeneck turtle (Chelodina longicollis) 1.jpg|Neck bent back into its shell

File:Eastern long neck tortoise - chelodina longicollis03.jpg|In an aquarium

File:Eastern Long-neck-Turtle-with-algae,-Vic,-3.1.2008.jpg| Covered in algae, Victoria, Australia

File:Eastern Snake-Necked Turtle.jpg| Peering from its shell, Carnarvon National Park, Queensland, Australia

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{{Wikispecies|Chelodina longicollis}}

• [https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=1776 Chelodina longicollis] on the SPRAT database

{{Pleurodira}}

{{Taxonbar |from=Q221080}}

Category:Turtles of Australia

Category:Chelodina

Category:Reptiles described in 1794