Chinese Stripe-necked Turtle Mauremys/Ocadia sinensis

The Chinese Stripe-necked Turtle is a terrapin inhabiting shallow, slow-moving freshwater in parts of China, Taiwan, Laos and Vietnam.

The head, neck and legs have narrow stripes of greeny-yellow. The top of the head has a plain crown. The carapace (upper shell) of the young is green-grey with pronounced dorsal ridges; the ridges flatten with age and the carapace becomes brown. The plastron (under shell) is off-white or pale yellow with black spots. Females are larger than males and have shorter tails.

Hybridisation with feral Red-eared Sliders and other pond terrapins and box turtles, many released from the pet trade as pure or hybrid species, is diluting genetic purity. Some supposed new species have been proved to be hybrids of the Stripeneck.