The
specific name, leithii, is in honor of Andrew H. Leith, a physician with the Bombay Sanitary Commission.[6]
Description
Nilssonia leithii is intermediate between Nilssonia gangetica and Nilssonia hurum. It is like the former in the width of the interorbital apace, the comparatively short mandibular symphysis, and the markings of the head. It is like the latter in the longer and more pointed snout, the absence of a strong ridge on the inner alveolar surface of the mandible, and in the presence, in the young, of four or more dorsal ocelli, which are, however, smaller than in N. hurum.[7]
Adults may attain a straight
carapace length of 64 cm (25 in).[8]
Diet
Nilssonia leithiipreys on mosquito larvae, crabs, freshwater molluscs, and fish.[4] They also sometimes feed on small aquatic vegetation.[8]
Reproduction
The adult female N. leithii lays eggs in June. The eggs are spherical, and the diameter of each egg is 30 to 31 mm (1.2 in).[8]
Threats
This species is locally exploited throughout peninsular India.[9] Other major threats are riverine development projects, aquatic pollution, sand mining, construction of hydroelectric projects, poaching, exploitation of eggs,.[10][4]
^
abcDas, I., Sirsi, S., Vasudevan, K., and Murthy ,B.H.C.K (2014). Nilssonia leithii (Gray 1872) – Leith’s Softshell Turtle. In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Pritchard, P.C.H., van Dijk, P.P., Saumure, R.A., Buhlmann, K.A., Iverson, J.B., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs No. 5, pp. 075.1–5,
doi:
10.3854/crm.5.075.leithii.v1.2014, http://www.iucn-tftsg.org/cbftt/.
^Gray,J.E.1872. Notes on the mud-turtles of India (Trionyx, Geoffroy). Annals and Magazines of Natural History (4)10:326–340
^Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp.
ISBN978-1-4214-0135-5. (Nilssonia leithii, p. 155).
^Boulenger GA (1890). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xviii + 541 pp. (Trionyx leithii, p. 12).
^
abcDas I (2002). Snakes and other Reptiles of India. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 144 pp.
ISBN0-88359-056-5. (Aspideretes leithii, p. 138).
^Biju Kumar, A. 2004. Records of Leith’s softshell turtle, Aspideretes leithi (Gray, 1872) and Asian giant soft shell turtle, Pelochelys cantorii (Gray, 1864) in Bharathapuzha River, Kerala. Zoos’ Print Journal 19(4):1445
^Jafer Palot, Zoological Survey of India, Western Ghat Regional Centre; in Venkataraman, K., Chattopadhyay, A. and Subramanian, K.A. (editors). 2013. Endemic Animals of India(vertebrates): 1–235+26 Plates. (Published by the director, Zoological Survey of india, Kolkata)
Further reading
Gray JE (1872). "Notes on the Mud-Tortoises of India (Trionyx, Geoffroy)". Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Fourth Series10: 326–340. (Trionyx leithii, new species, 334–335).