Cuora amboinensis Riche

Figueroa, Alex, Low, Martyn E. Y. & Lim, Kelvin K. P., 2023, Singapore’s herpetofauna: updated and annotated checklist, history, conservation, and distribution, Zootaxa 5287 (1), pp. 1-378 : 75-76

Cuora amboinensis Riche in Daudin, 1801— Native.

Testudo amboinensis Riche in Daudin, 1801b: 309–313.Type material: None designated; holotype deposited in MNHN, according to Bourret (1941: 149), but Bour (in Rummler & Fritz 1991: 36) reported it was lost at sea en route to MNHN before Daudin ever saw it. Type locality: “à Amboine” (= Kota Ambon ), Moluccas, Indonesia.

Malayan Box Terrapin

( Figure 9B )

Singapore records.

Cistudo Amboinensis — Gray, 1844: 30–31.— Gray, 1855: 42.

Cistudo amboinensis — Cantor, 1847a: 611.— Cantor, 1847c: 1067.

Cuora amboinensis — Ģnther, 1864: 12–13.— Gray, 1873: 21.—D.S. Johnson, 1964: 25.—F.L.K. Lim, 1984: 18.—K. Lim, 1988a: 5 (Mandai Road).—K. Lim & F. Lim, 1988a: 28 (MacRitchie).—K. Lim & F. Lim, 1988c: 77 (Bukit Kalang Service Reservoir [SRF]).—K. Lim, 1989b: 21 (Upper Peirce Reservoir).—K. Lim, 1990a: 11 (Nee Soon Swamp Forest).—K.K.P Lim & L.M. Chou, 1990: 56.—K.P. Lim & Subharaj, 1991b: 5 (Sentosa).—K.P. Lim & Subharaj, 1991c: 3 (Lower Peirce Reservoir).—D.S. Johnson, 1992: 34.—K.K.P. Lim & F.L.K. Lim, 1992: 129, 151.— K.K. P. Lim & Subharaj, 1992: 9 (East Coast Park; Jalan Bahar; Lower Peirce Forest ; MacRitchie Reservoir; Mandai Road; Serangoon Sludge Works [LH]; Sime Road Forest).—P.K.L. Ng, 1992a: 142.—P.K.L. Ng, 1992b: 142.—Wee, 1992: 74 (Lower Peirce Reservoir).—K.K.P. Lim, 1993b: 3 (Neo Tiew Lane [LKC]).—L.M. Chou et al., 1994: 105.—K.K.P. Lim & Subaraj, 1994: 5 (Venus Drive [WNP]).—R. Subaraj, 1994: 14 (Lornie Track; MacRitchie Golf Trail [MNF]; MacRitchie Reservoir Park; Seletar North Forest [USNF]; Thomson Ridge Trail [TRF]).—R. Subaraj et al., 1995: 5 (Kent Ridge Park; MacRitchie Reservoir; Mandai Track 15).— K. Lim , 1995: 19 (MacRitchie Nature Trail [TRF]; Nee Soon Swamp Forest; Serapong Golf Course [Sentosa]).—R.C.H. Teo & Rajathurai, 1997: 387, 392.— Manthey & Grossmann, 1997: 443.— Chan-ard et al., 1999: 39.—B.L. Lim & Das, 1999: 63.—van Dijk, 2000: 20.—Touch et al., 2000: 56.— Anonymous, 2003: 92 (Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve).—T.Y. Goh & O’Riordan, 2007: 98.—Ramsay et al., 2007: 166.—N. Baker & K.P. Lim, 2008: 122, 159 (Botanic Gardens; Pulau Ubin).—P.K.A. Ng, 2009: 19, 21, 25, 53, 54, 64, 115, 143, 160, 165, 167, 193, 203.—E.K. Chua, 2010: 102 (Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve).— Das, 2010: 168.—T.H. Ng & K.K.P. Lim, 2010: 119, 122 (Pulau Tekong).—M.A.H. Chua, 2011: 281 (Semakau Landfill [PS]).—P.K.L. Ng et al., 2011: 479.—H.T.W. & K.K.P. Lim, 2011: 196.—N. Baker & K.P. Lim, 2012: 122, 159.— M.F.C. Ng, 2012: 68, 146.— Duong et al., 2014: 739.—R. Subaraj, 2015: 13, 38 (Night Safari; Stephen Lee Woods [= RPN]).—S. Subaraj, 2015: 3, 4, 7 (Night Safari; Stephen Lee Woods [= RPN]; Upper Seletar Peninsula [= USNF]).—H.H. Tan, 2015: 99 (Botanic Gardens).—Wijedasa, 2015: 180.—K.K.P. Lim et al., 2016: 176 (Pulau Tekong).—Vogrinc & McCleary, 2016: 121–122 (Pulau Ubin).— Aini et al., 2019: 399.—H.C. Ho et al., 2019: 124 (Clementi Forest).—Riyanto & Mumpuni, 2019: 18.—H.T.W. Tan et al., 2019: 135 (Kent Ridge Park; National University of Singapore Kent Ridge Campus).— Leo et al., 2020: 257.— Andersen et al., 2021: 3.

Cyclemys amboinensis — Boulenger, 1889a: 133–134.— Flower, 1896: 859.— Hanitsch, 1898: 8.— Flower, 1899: 614.—Ridley, 1899: 186, 205 (“ground on which is now the Tanglin Market”).—Hanitsch, 1908: 39.— Boulenger, 1912: 21–22.— Hanitsch, 1912b: 14.— de Rooij, 1915: 302–304.

Cuora amboinensis kamaroma — Auliya, 2007: 44–45.—Ernest et al., 2016: 144–156.—TTWG, 2021: 208.

Remarks. Singapore’s population of C. amboinensis consists of wild and released individuals (Teo & Rajathurai 1997). This species is a prime example of a traded species perennially released into the wild in observance of Vesak Day as it was commonly sold in pet shops during the 1990s (Ng & Lim 2010) and placed back on the list of legal pets (Ng 2009). Gray (1844) first reported C. amboinensis for Singapore from a stuffed specimen in the NHMUK collections. Until Hanitsch (1898) listed it in the Raffles Museum’s catalogue, C. amboinensis was known only from this one specimen. Ridley (1899) noted that C. amboinensis was previously considered common in Singapore, but that its numbers were declining. Yet, Hanitsch (1908) described it as common in swamps and paddy fields, a supposition echoed decades later by Johnson (1964). Besides the previous accounts depicting how common C. amboinensis was, the first reported field observation of it was made 24 years after Johnson’s (1964) account ( Table 2 ), on 13 February 1988 when a released individual, signified by red paint on its shell, was spotted at Mandai Road ( Lim 1988a). The first field observation of a wild individual was of one seen behind a house around MacRitchie in April 1988 ( Lim & Lim 1988a). Certainly, research is needed to verify the extent of wild and released individuals of C. amboinensis .

Occurrence. Wide-ranging. Common.

Singapore conservation status. Near-Threatened.

Conservation priority. Moderate. Population is a mixture of native and released individuals.

IUCN conservation status. Endangered [2020].

LKCNHM & NHMUK Museum specimens. Singapore (no locality) : BMNH 1902.3.26.3–5 (no date), ZRC.2.128 (no date); Nee Soon Swamp Forest : ZRC.2.2585 (30-Mar-1990); Semakau Landfill [ PS] : ZRC.2.7025 (19-Feb-2011) .

Additional Singapore museum specimens. Singapore (no locality): CAS, SMNS.

Singapore localities. Clementi Forest—East Coast Park—Jalan Bahar—Kent Ridge Park—Lim Chu Kang—Lornie Forest—Lorong Halus—Lower Peirce Forest—Lower Peirce Reservoir—MacRitchie—MacRitchie North Forest—MacRitchie Reservoir Park—Mandai Road—Mandai Track 15—National University of Singapore Kent Ridge Campus—Nee Soon Swamp Forest—Night Safari—Pulau Semakau—Pulau Tekong—Pulau Ubin—Rainforest Park North—Sentosa—Sime Road Forest—Singapore Botanic Gardens—Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve—Tanglin—Thomson Ridge Forest—Upper Peirce Reservoir—Upper Seletar North Forest—Windsor Nature Park.

Figures

FIGURE 9. A) Batagur borneoensis, B) Cuora amboinensis, C) Cyclemys dentata, D) Heosemys grandis, E) Heosemys spinosa, F) Notochelys platynota, G) Siebenrockiella crassicollis, and H) Amyda cartilaginea. Photographs by: Marjorie Chong [A], Law Ing Sind [B], Nick Baker [C, F], Joys Tan [D], Kelvin K.P. Lim [E], Marcus A.H. Chua [G], and Alex Figueroa [H].