SREL Reprint #2206

Diet of the turtle Deirochelys reticularia on the Savannah River Site, South Carolina

Jeffery P. Demuth1 and Kurt A. Buhlmann2

1Department of Biological Sciences, Southeastern Louisiana University, SLU 814, Hammond, Louisiana 70402, USA
2University of Georgia, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, P.O. Drawer E, Aiken, South Carolina 29802, USA

Introduction: Deirochelys reticularia inhabits wetlands of the coastal plain of the southeastern United States. An unusually long neck, a bimodal (fall and spring) nesting period, and an affinity for ephemeral wetland habitats make chicken turtles unique among North American emydids (Gibbons, 1969; Gibbons and Greene, 1978; Congdon et al., 1983; Jackson, 1988). Many emydids exhibit a pattern of carnivory as juveniles but change toward omnivory or herbivory as adults (Mahmoud and Klicka, 1979). In contrast, it has been suggested that Deirochelys is primarily carnivorous throughout life (Jackson, 1988, 1996), with the extremely long neck being the most conspicuous trophic specialization (Jackson, 1978, 1996; Pritchard, 1984). This specialization may facilitate capture of fast-moving prey as suggested by Georges et al. (1986) for some Australian chelid turtles. Supportive data were presented by Jackson (1996), who characterized the diet of a northern Florida sample of D. reticularia and provided observations of feeding behavior in captives.

Further knowledge of the diet of this relatively little-studied turtle may provide insights into other aspects of its ecology. Therefore, the objective of our study was to describe the diet of D. reticularia in South Carolina.

SREL Reprint #2206

Demuth, J.P. and K.A. Buhlmann. 1997. Diet of the turtle Deirochelys reticularia on the Savannah River Site, South Carolina. Journal of Herpetology 31:450-453.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).