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  Scott Thomson,
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Steindachner's Snake-necked Turtle -- Chelodina steindachneri

[4]

 

The carapace of living specimens is of dark brown colour. Siebenrock wrote the carapace was of olive colour mixed with yellow, which can also be seen on the pictures of the holotype, so either the species has a great colour variation or the holotype changed its natural colours due to the conservation process. The plastron is flat, yellow, with black or brown seams between the plastron scutes. The plastron of males can be concave, but it is not always the rule. (Cann, 1998)

The table 1 shows the recorded measurements of Chelodina steindachneri specimens:
Table 1 >
Carapace length Carapace width Depth Male/Female Location Source
184 159 41 ? Marloo Station, Murchison River* Siebenrock, 1914
89 80 21 ? Marloo Station, Murchison River* Siebenrock, 1914
212 184 ? ? Milly Milly Station, Murchison R. Glauert, 1922
172 145 39 F Wooramel River, WA Cann, 1998
152

 128

 36 F Wooramel River, WA Cann, 1998
150

 133

 35 M Wooramel River, WA Cann, 1998
150

 125

 30 M Wooramel River, WA Cann, 1998
145 123 41 M Wooramel River, WA Cann, 1998
182 145 46 F Gascoyne River, WA Cann, 1998
182 155 52 F Gascoyne River, WA Cann, 1998
181 147 47 F Gascoyne River, WA Cann, 1998
175 150 48 F Gascoyne River, WA Cann, 1998
162 128 39 M Gascoyne River, WA Cann, 1998
163 136 44 M Gascoyne River, WA Cann, 1998
150 128 39 M Gascoyne River, WA Cann, 1998
155 132 39 M Gascoyne River, WA Cann, 1998

* The Siebenrock's (1914) description states the type locality being Marloo station, De Grey River in Western Australia, however Cann (1998) points out there is no such place on the De Grey River; instead there is a place called Marloo station on the Murchison River.

The head is flat with a protruding nose. The pupil of the eye is black and the iris is bright yellow around the pupil and orange outwards. Neck is relatively thin but very long.
Digits are broadly webbed and there is a series of transverse lamellae on the dorsal surface of the fore limb (Siebenrock, 1914; Glauert, 1922) as well as on the ventral surface of the rear limb. (Glauert, 1922)
The dorsal skin parts are dark olive brown while the ventral skin parts are yellow or creamy colour.

 

Chelodina steindachneri, distribution map

Distribution

The species occurs in the rivers of the Pilbara Drainage Division in Western Australia between the De Grey River in the north and the Irwin River in the south (30 km north of Perth). (Cann, 1998) Other rivers inhabited by Chelodina steindachneri include Murchison, Wooramel, Gascoyne, Ashburton and Fortescue. The drainages of these rivers are marked in red on the distribution map. The pink areas are most likely also inhabited by the species but there is no evidence to it.
While the geographic distribution of Australian chelids is generally limited by the presence of permanent water or its seasonal yet predictable occurrence in natural drainage systems (Anon. 1967; Leeper 1970), Chelodina steindachneri is an exception as it also occurs in water courses that fill unpredictably and which may be dry for well over one year.

Right photo: Distribution map of Chelodina steindachneri

 

 

 

 

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