The West African mud turtle (Pelusios castaneus), also known as the West African side-necked turtle or swamp terrapin,[3] is a species of turtle in the family Pelomedusidae.
Pelusios castaneus is a freshwater species and is endemic to West and Central Africa.
Taxonomy
Pelusios seychellensis lectotype
The so-called Seychelles black terrapin, Seychelles mud turtle, or Seychelles terrapin was considered a species of turtle (Pelusios seychellensis) in the family Pelomedusidae, endemic to Seychelles.[4]
Genetic analysis of the lectotype has shown, however, that this turtle was never a separate species, and is in fact Pelusios castaneus.[4]
It is possible that specimens were confused in a private collection before being acquired by the Zoological Museum Hamburg in 1901, or else mislabeled there.[5]
The West African mud turtle is carnivorous and feeds on aquatic prey. There are five phases to feeding; preliminary head fixation on the prey, fine-tuning the head fixation, final approach by the head, grasping of the prey followed by manipulation and transportation, and suction, resulting in ingestion after which the prey is swallowed. The final phase varies according to whether the prey is fast-moving, like a fish, or slow-moving like a gastropod mollusc.[6]
^Broadley, Donald G. (1973). "Provisional List of Vernacular Names for Rhodesian Reptiles and Amphibians". The Journal of the Herpetological Association of Africa. 10 (1): 17–24. doi:10.1080/04416651.1973.9650652.
