Dietary ecology of the Australian freshwater turtle (Elseya sp.: Chelonia : Chelidae) in the Burnett River, Queensland
Graeme Armstrong A and David T. Booth A BA Department of Zoology and Entomology, School of Integrative Biology, The University of Queensland, Qld 4072, Australia.
B Corresponding author. Email: d.booth@uq.edu.au
Wildlife Research 32(4) 349-353 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR04088
Submitted: 30 September 2004 Accepted: 24 May 2005 Published: 5 July 2005
Abstract
The Burnett River snapping turtle (Elseya sp.) from the Burnett, Mary and Fitzroy river systems is an undescribed Australian freshwater turtle, of which very little ecological information is known. This paper describes the dietary ecology of the species in the Burnett River catchment. Stomach and faecal samples were collected from turtles and an index of relative importance was used to rank food items found in stomach samples. This index indicated that algae and aquatic ribbon weed (Vallisneria) were the dominant food items consumed. No difference in diet was found between males and females. Although the sample size was small, diet appeared to vary slightly seasonally, with Elseya sp. selectively feeding on the flower buds of the Chinese elm tree (Celtis chinensis) and the seeds of the blackbean tree (Castanospermum australe) when these food items were seasonally available. Faecal samples suggest that the most ingested foods (algae and aquatic ribbon weed) were also the most digestible. Although predominantly herbivorous, Elseya sp. was seen to eat carrion once in the wild.
Acknowledgments
This research was carried out under a volunteer permit from the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency and University of Queensland animal ethics approval No. ZOO/117/03/URG. Lyndy Marshall, Mark Hamann, Chloe Schauble, Colin Limpus, Duncan Limpus, Sam Emerick and Jessica McKenzie all contributed expert advice and field work towards the project. Some stomach and faecal samples were provided by the Freshwater Turtle Research Unit of the Queensland Government EPA. We thank Col Limpus and Mark Hamann for helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper. Funding and support for this project was provided by the Queensland Government EPA and the University of Queensland.
Allanson, M. , and Georges, A. (1999). Diet of Elseya purvisi and Elseya georgesi (Testudines: Chelidae), a sibling species pair of freshwater turtles from eastern Australia. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 3, 473–477.
Chessman, B. C. (1986). Diet of the Murray turtle, Emydura macquarii (Gray) (Testudines: Chelidae). Australian Wildlife Research 13, 65–69.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Georges, A. (1982). Diet of the Australian freshwater turtle Emydura krefftii (Chelonia: Chelidae), in an unproductive lentic environment. Copeia 1982, 331–336.
