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Pelodiscus axenaria (ZHOU, ZHANG & FANG, 1991)

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Higher TaxaTrionychidae (Trionychinae), Trionychoidea, Testudines (turtles)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Sand softshell turtle, Hunan Softshell Turtle
Chinese: 砂鳖
E: Chinese stone slab soft-shelled turtle [shipian]
Chinese: 石片鳖 (shi pian bie) [shipian] 
SynonymTrionyx axenaria ZHOU et al. 1991
Pelodiscus axenaria — ZHOU & LI 2007
Pelodiscus axenaria — FRITZ & HAVAS 2007
Pelodiscus axenaria — TTWG 2021
Pelodiscus axenaria — GONG et al. 2022
Pelodiscus shipian GONG, FRITZ, VAMBERGER, GAO & FARKAS 2022
Pelodiscus axenaria — LIU et al. 2024
Pelodiscus axenaria — TTWG 2025 
DistributionChina (Hunan, Guizhou)

Type locality: Taoyuan, Pingjiang, Rucheng, Lingling, Shaoyang counties, Hunan Province, China. Neotype locality: Yudai River, Tongdao County, Hunan Province, China (26°09’N, 109°46’E).

shipian: China (Jiangxi); Type locality: Liaohe River, Fengxin County, Jiangxi Province, China (28°43’N, 115°25’E).  
Reproductionoviparous. 
Types

Holotype. Jinan University, Guangzhou: JNU 20190011, adult female preserved in alcohol, leg. Shiping Gong, 18 June 2019, European Nucleotide Archive (ENA) accession numbers for DNA sequences: cyt b—OW235712, P26S4—OW235765, R35—OW237755. Paratypes. Jinan University, Guangzhou: JNU 20190001–20190010, ten adult males preserved in alcohol, same data as the holotype; JNU 20190012–20190017, six adult females preserved in alcohol, same data as the holotype; JNU 20190019–20190022, four adult females preserved in alcohol, same data as the holotype; JNU 20190023, adult male preserved in alcohol, same data as the holotype; JNU 20190024, adult female preserved in alcohol, same data as the holotype; JNU 20210002, 20210003, two adult females preserved in alcohol, Shaoyang County, Hunan Province, China, leg. Shiping Gong, 7 May 2021; JNU 20210004, adult male preserved in alcohol, Taoyuan County, Hunan Province, China, leg. Shiping Gong, 7 May 2021; JNU 20210005, adult male preserved in alcohol, Yongzhou City, Hunan Province, China, leg. Shiping Gong, 7 May 2021; JNU 20210006 adult female preserved in alcohol, Yongzhou City, Hunan Province, China, leg. Shiping Gong, 7 May 2021. ENA accession numbers of the paratypes are for cyt b sequences: OW235702–OW235711, OW235713–OW235724, OW235726–OW235730; for P26S4 sequences: OW235762–OW235764, OW235766–OW235772, OW235774, OW235775; for R35 sequences: OW237747–OW237754, OW237756, OW237757, OW237760–OW237762; and for TB01 sequences: OW235731–OW235753, OW235756–OW235761. [shipian] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: The diagnostic morphological features of adults of all five Pelodiscus species are summarized in Table 4 in FARKAS et al. 2019: 78.


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CommentSynonymy: ZHAO (1997) believes that Pelodiscus (= Trionyx) axenaria ZHOU et al. (1991) is a juvenile form of P. sinensis (see also FRITZ & OBST 1999).

Habitat: freshwater (rivers and tributaries, swamps)

Distribution: see map in Farkas et al. 2019: 82 (Fig. 6), Gong et al. 2022: 141 (Fig. 7). 
EtymologyNamed after arenaria (= sandy), and hence misspelled (fide Liu et al. 2024).

The name ‘shipian’ is the romanisation of 石片 (shi pian, Chinese for “slab”), derived from the local (Fengxin, Jiangxi) name of the species 石片鳖 (shi pian bie = stone slab soft-shelled turtle) that alludes to its resemblance to a flat stone. The suggested English common name refers to the same feature. The scientific species name is used as a noun in the nominative singular in apposition to the generic name (ICZN 1999: Article 11.9.1.2). 
References
  • Anonymous 2016. Testudinate China [in both English and Chinese] Testudinate Industry Branch of the China Fishery Association, published on occasion of WCH8; author not explicitly stated, 54 pp.
  • Bour, R. 2008. Global diversity of turtles (Chelonii; Reptilia) in freshwater. Hydrobiologia 595:593–598 - get paper here
  • Chen, C., Ji, L., Huang, G., Liu, X., Chen, H., Wang, Y., ... & Li, W. 2025. Comparative analysis of the mitochondrial genomes of the soft-shelled turtles Palea steindachneri and Pelodiscus axenaria and phylogenetic implications for Trionychia. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 7138
  • Farkas B, Ziegler T, Pham CT, Ong AV, Fritz U 2019. A new species of Pelodiscus from northeastern Indochina (Testudines, Trionychidae). ZooKeys 824: 71–86 - get paper here
  • Fritz U; Obst F J 1999. Neue Schildkröten aus Südostasien Teil II. Bataguridae (Cyclemys, Heosemys, Mauremys, Ocadia, Pyxidea, Sacalia) und Trionychidae. Sauria 21 (1): 11–26. - get paper here
  • GAO, ZHIWEI; TIANYU QIAN, JIANPING JIANG, DEJIA HOU, XUEJIAN DENG & DAODE YANG. 2022. Species diversity and distribution of amphibians and reptiles in Hunan Province, China. Biodiversity Science 30 (2): 21290, 1–15 - get paper here
  • Gong, Shiping; Melita Vamberger, Markus Auer, Peter Praschag, Uwe Fritz 2018. Millennium-old farm breeding of Chinese softshell turtles (Pelodiscus spp.) results in massive erosion of biodiversity. The Science of Nature 105: 34 - get paper here
  • GONG, SHIPING; UWE FRITZ, MELITA VAMBERGER, YANGCHUN GAO, & BALÁZS FARKAS 2022. Disentangling the Pelodiscus axenaria complex, with the description of a new Chinese species and neotype designation for P. axenaria (Zhou, Zhang & Fang, 1991) Zootaxa 5125 (2): 131–143 - get paper here
  • Kwet, A. 2023. Liste der im Jahr 2022 neu beschriebenen Reptilien. Elaphe 2023 (3): 48-73
  • Liu, J. Y., Fu, W., Ma, Y. H., Zhou, T., Blanck, T., Zhou, G. J., ... & Mo, X. Y. 2024. Shedding Light into the Confusing History of Pelodiscus axenaria (Zhou, Zhang et Fang, 1991), Clarifying and Correcting Its Taxonomic Position within the P. axenaria Complex with the Description of Yet Another Pelodiscus Species. Russian Journal of Herpetology, 31(6), 337-350 - get paper here
  • TTWG [TURTLE TAXONOMY WORKING GROUP: RHODIN, A.G.J., IVERSON, J.B., FRITZ, U., GALLEGO-GARCÍA, N., GEORGES, A., SHAFFER, H.B., AND VAN DuK, P.P.]. 2025. Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (10th Ed.). In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., van Dijk, P.P., Stanford, C.B., Goode, E.V., Buhlmann, K.A., 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 10:1-575 - get paper here
  • TTWG; Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., Bour, R., Fritz, U., Georges, A., Shaffer, H.B., and van Dijk, P.P. 2021. Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (9th Ed.). In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., van Dijk, P.P., Stanford, C.B., Goode, E.V., Buhlmann, K.A., 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 8:1–472. doi:10.3854/crm.8.checklist.atlas.v9.2021. - get paper here
  • Wang, Kai; Jinlong Ren, Hongman Chen, Zhitong Lyu, Xianguang Guo Ke Jiang, Jinmin Chen, Jiatang Li, Peng Guo, Yingyong Wang, Jing Che 2020. The updated checklists of amphibians and reptiles of China. Biodiversity Science 28 (2): 189-218 - get paper here
  • Yuhao, X., Mengci, C., Zhang, T., Yan’an, G., Huang, S., & Lifang, P. 2025. Pelodiscus axenaria Discovered in Tongren City, Guizhou Province. Ye Sheng Dong Wu Xue Bao= Chinese Journal of Wildlife, 46(1), 220 - get paper here
  • Zhao, K. 1997. Studies on the classification of Chinese soft-shelled turtles (Trionychidae). [in Chinese]. Sichuan Journal of Zoology 15 (Suppl.): 55-64 - get paper here
  • ZHOU, T; P-P Li. 2007. Chelonian species diversity and current status in China. (in Chinese). Sichuan Journal of Zoology 26 (2):463-467 - get paper here
  • Zhou,G.; Zhang,X. & Fang,Z. 1991. Bulletin of a new species of Trionyx (in Chinese with English summary). Acta Sci. nat. Univ. norm. Hunan 14 (4): 379-382 - get paper here
 
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