Japanese Pond Turtle

Japanese Pond Turtle (Mauremys japonica) is a freshwater geoemydid endemic to Japan, also called the Japanese Pond Terrapin or Japanese Stone Turtle. Its shell is brown and moderately domed, and the head and limbs carry subdued markings suited to comparison with other Mauremys. Identification should combine the documented shell or scale characters with locality, because related reptiles can be similar. All claims are limited to the species accounts opened for this batch (Wikipedia, general species account; Reptile Database).

It occupies rivers, lakes, ponds, swamps, marshes and irrigated rice paddies, occurring on flatlands and mountain slopes but thriving particularly in lowland settings. It can hybridise with several related Asian pond turtles, including Chinese Pond Turtle, which complicates identification where non-native turtles occur (Wikipedia, general species account). Details not supported at species level are omitted rather than supplied from related reptiles. Japanese occurrence follows the site's catalogue and the cited distribution information, without using any IUCN conservation material (Wikipedia, general species account; Reptile Database).