Chelus fimbriata

Amazing fact

Algae grow on the mata mata’s rough shell, making it look like an old rock.

Buffalo Zoo

Chelus fimbriata in its habitat (illustration)

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An illustration based on the real animal.

A little discovery to share.

Algae grow on the mata mata’s rough shell, making it look like an old rock.

SourceBuffalo Zoo — Mata Mata turtle

THE REAL WORLD

The real Chelus fimbriata

Scientific name: Chelus fimbriata
Japanese name: マタマタ
Group: Amphibians and reptiles

Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Family: Chelidae
Genus: Chelus

Facts about the real animal.

Where the name “Chelus fimbriata” comes from

The name mata mata is thought to come from a Tupi Guarani word for these turtles.

Buffalo Zoo

A turtle that lives in central and northern South America.

鳥羽水族館 — マタマタ

It is known for looking like a leaf.

鳥羽水族館 — マタマタ

It lies in wait, and when a fish comes close, it opens its mouth wide and gulps the fish down, sucking it in along with the water.

鳥羽水族館 — マタマタ

How the Chelus fimbriata lives

These turtles are active at night. They spend nearly all their time underwater in places such as slow-moving rivers and wetlands. They often move by walking slowly along the river bottom. They generally live alone and mainly come together to breed.

Buffalo Zoo Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo

Basic data

Diet: Fish
Range: Central and northern South America

鳥羽水族館

Where the Chelus fimbriata has been recorded

Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF

Where it livesCentral and South America Rivers and wetlands

Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.

Names around the world

日本語: マタマタ

Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.

Sources and how we check

鳥羽水族館 — マタマタChecked: 2026-11-04
Buffalo Zoo — Mata Mata turtleChecked: 2026-11-07
Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo — Mata Mata TurtleChecked: 2026-11-07

We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.

The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.

The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.

This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.

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