<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="1" > preface</h1>
Introduction: Often mistaken for "centennial turtle", many places have appeared, but it is an invasive species, will it flood
Turtle, in our country folk called it turtle, tuan fish, water fish, foot fish, etc., it is amphibious reptiles, in our country there are more species, and the distribution is also very wide, the most common of which is the Chinese turtle.
In the past, there were many wild turtles, and wild turtles were often found in rivers, reservoirs and ponds. And since ancient times, turtles have been a delicacy on the table of our country, and the nutrition is also very rich, so it has always been regarded as a top dish on the goose feast. In addition, it can be used in medicine and has a lot of tonic effects, so many people pick up turtles, which is a very fortunate thing, especially some old turtles that are older than winning the jackpot.
In recent years, there are often some oversized turtles in many areas, because they are too large, so they are also considered by many people to be "centennial giant turtles". But it is not actually a turtle native to China, but an invasive species, it is a pearl turtle from Florida, USA. At present, it has appeared in many provinces in the country, so will it flood?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > many provinces found "centennial giant turtle"</h1>
At the beginning of May this year, a villager in Henan found a huge "turtle" on the edge of the reservoir, grabbed it back and measured it, the body length was 75cm, and the weight was nearly 50 kilograms, and the people in the village said that they had never seen such a large turtle, and they said that it was not easy to grow so big, at least a hundred years old. Although someone bid a high price of five thousand yuan, the villagers released it. When the video was exposed, many netizens pointed out that it was not a turtle in China, but an invasive species.
In fact, in the early years, many places in China have found giant turtles, as early as 2013, Wenzhou citizens in the river fishing found a body length of more than 40cm, about 30cm wide giant turtle, weighing nearly 10 kilograms. And it was later confirmed that it was the Florida turtle.
After that, it has appeared in some rivers and reservoirs in Guangzhou Pearl River, Jiangsu, Xi'an, Shanghai, Guangxi and other provinces, and it can be said that this invasive species has appeared in most provinces south of the Yangtze River.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" Data-track="10" what is the Florida turtle >? </h1>
Florida turtle, also known as pearl turtle, American mountain turtle, is a medium and large turtle native to Florida, it is also a turtle family, soft turtle amphibian reptiles.
Florida turtles have symmetrical point-like warts on the front edge of the dorsal nail, and the posterior edge of the dorsal nail is also a bit of wart grain distribution, which looks like pearls, so it is also called "pearl turtle" in China.
As a larger turtle , pearl turtles are large and thick-bodied. The males are larger, with a thick and slender tail that exposes the outside of the skirt. Females, on the other hand, are smaller and have short tails that generally do not show the outside of the skirt.
They are mainly active in freshwater areas such as lakes, rivers and reservoirs, and are basically inactive during the day, only coming out to bask in the sun when the weather is good, and coming out to forage at night.
Pearl turtles are omnivorous turtles that feed mainly on small fish, shrimp, earthworms and various aquatic insects, and sometimes on young aquatic plants.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="16" > the hazards of pearl</h1> turtles
Because of its fast growth, large size and delicious meat, pearl turtle has been introduced and cultivated in the early 90s of the last century, when it was mainly cultivated in small quantities in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces. Later, with the maturity of breeding technology, and its acceptance in the market is also very high, the price is also good, so many farmers began to expand the scale of breeding, and often mistakenly recognized as China's native wild turtle sales.
After years of breeding, some of the pearl turtles in the farm have fled to the wild, of course, it is not excluded that some are artificially released into the wild. Because in recent years, many people like to release, and turtles and turtles are popular release objects, so many people will release pearl turtles into the wild.
The pearl turtle has been cultivated in China for many years and has long adapted to the growth environment of our country. They have no natural enemies in the wild. Coupled with the abundance of food and a suitable living environment, some of them can survive and reproduce in large quantities, which is why many provinces have found oversized turtles, which are basically pearl turtles.
Pearl turtles grow very rapidly, with a growth period of up to 7 months a year in Guangxi, when the water temperature is below 18 °C, the feeding stops, and when it is below 14 °C, it enters hibernation, and does not start eating until March and April of the following year. A newly hatched young turtle can have about half a catty in May of the following year, and then it begins to grow wildly.
By August of the third year, the largest can reach more than 4 kg, and the smallest is 1.5 kg, with an average weight of 2.0 kg. By the fifth year, female turtles can weigh more than 10 kilograms and male turtles can weigh about 4 kilograms. And the growth cycle of pearl turtles is long, so it is not difficult to understand why you will find forty or fifty pounds of pearl turtles.
Although the pearl turtle is not as harmful to the environment as invasive species as crayfish and bullfrogs, if its number reaches a certain scale, there is no restriction of natural enemies in the wild, it will still occupy a large number of local wildlife resources, such as snatching food, or preying on other animals in large quantities, which will cause harm to the ecological environment and affect the local ecological balance.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="23" will > flood in China? </h1>
This is estimated to be unlikely, first, the reproductive rate of the pearl turtle is not too high, it takes 4-5 years to reach sexual maturity, and the amount of eggs laid at a time is 4-22, and the incubator is up to 70 days, which also dooms it not to reproduce as much as crayfish and bullfrogs.
Another point is that the pearl turtle meat is delicious, although it is an invasive species, but this does not affect its consumption, and China's native turtles taste similar to each other, even in terms of nutrition is comparable. Moreover, china's population is large, as long as it is found, it is basically difficult to escape the fate of being eaten.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="26" > concluding remarks</h1>
However, it still needs to be noted that although the possibility of pearl turtle flooding in China is unlikely, it should also be vigilant, that is, it is an invasive species after all, or do not release it into the wild, so as not to cause imbalance in the local ecological environment. If you find a pearl turtle in the wild, don't release it, it's best to eat it!
It is actually very different from China's Native Turtle and other native turtles, that is, to see if there are pearl-like particles on its dorsal carapace, because china's turtle dorsal nails are smooth.