Chinese softshell turtle
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
The Chinese softshell turtle lays eggs shaped like balls.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Chinese softshell turtle
- Scientific name
- Pelodiscus sinensis
- Japanese name
- ニホンスッポン（スッポン）
- Group
- Amphibians and reptiles
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Testudines
- Family
- Trionychidae
- Genus
- Pelodiscus
This turtle is usually just called suppon. Some experts treat the native turtles of mainland Japan as a separate subspecies.
A turtle that lives almost entirely in water. It lives in the middle and lower parts of rivers, in ponds and in marshes, and does not leave the water's edge except to lay eggs.
Its shell is flat and, unlike other turtles, has no hard plates; it is covered with soft skin. Its snout sticks far out.
It mainly eats animals such as shellfish, insects, frogs and fish. Its beak is strong, and once it bites it does not easily let go.
How the Chinese softshell turtle lives
It is active during the day and basks in the sun. It usually lives alone. It mates from spring into early summer. In summer, the female digs a hole in the ground and lays eggs.
国立環境研究所 侵入生物データベース東京都建設局Basic data
- Size
- Carapace length: up to 35 cm
- Active
- By day (diurnal)
- Diet
- Shellfish, insects, frogs, fish and other animals
- Range
- Southern Vietnam, coastal mainland China, Taiwan, the Russian Far East, mainland Japan, and elsewhere
Where the Chinese softshell turtle has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
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
- 简体中文
- 中华鳖
- 繁體中文
- 中華鱉
- 한국어
- 자라
- Français
- Trionyx de Chine
- Deutsch
- Chinesische Weichschildkröte
- Italiano
- Tartaruga guscio molle cinese
- العربية
- سلحفاة لينة الدرقة الصينية
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Labi-labi Cina
- Tiếng Việt
- Ba ba trơn
- Русский
- Китайский трионикс
- ไทย
- ตะพาบไต้หวัน
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 国立環境研究所 侵入生物データベース — ニホンスッポンChecked: 2026-11-03
- 東京都建設局 — ニホンスッポンChecked: 2026-11-05
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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