Eastern Long-necked Turtle

Fascinating facts about the Eastern Long-necked Turtle

• Females take 10 years to reach maturity before they can lay eggs.
• In the Murray River, the straight-line carapace can reach 28.2 cm (11.1 in) in females but only 24.9 cm (9.8 in) in males, while in the Latrobe Valley they top out at 21.6 cm (8.5 in) and 18.8 cm (7.4 in). The size gap hints at how food abundance shapes growth across regions.
• When threatened, the turtle emits an offensive-smelling fluid from its musk glands, giving it the nickname “stinker.”
• A single turtle can lay between two and ten eggs each summer, and may produce one to three clutches per year. With hatchlings falling prey to fish and birds, only a tiny fraction survive to adulthood, underscoring the importance of protecting nesting sites.
• In 2023, a long-necked turtle was found brumating beneath ice for 15 days in a frozen high-altitude pool, the first recorded case of a pleurodire turtle surviving under ice. This shows the species can endure far colder climates than its relatives, expanding our view of turtle resilience.

At a glance

About the Eastern Long-necked Turtle

The eastern long-necked turtle, Chelodina longicollis, wears a broad, flattened carapace of deep black or brown, edged with stark black scutes, while its cream-to-yellow plastron is similarly outlined. Its signature long, narrow neck, about 60 % of the shell length, sports tiny pointed tubercles and a dorsal hue of grey-black, contrasting with a cream underside. Females outsize males, reaching up to 28.2 cm in straight-line carapace length in the Murray River and 21.6 cm in the Latrobe Valley, a size gradient tied to local productivity. When threatened, it releases a pungent musk, earning the nickname “stinker.” A true opportunist, this side-necked turtle prowls a mosaic of southeastern Australian waters, from the Murray’s lowlands to the frozen pools of the New England Tablelands, feeding on insects, worms, tadpoles, frogs, small fish, crustaceans, molluscs, plankton and carrion. It bends its head sideways into its shell rather than retracting it directly, a hallmark of Pleurodira. Remarkably, in 2023 a high-altitude individual was documented brumating beneath ice for fifteen days, the first recorded case of a pleurodire overwintering under ice. Reproduction is a slow affair: females mature after ten years, lay two to ten eggs on riverbanks each early summer, and may produce one to three clutches annually, though hatchlings face heavy predation from fish and birds.

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