A biological study of the European Pond Turtle, Emys orbicularis persica, and the Caspian Pond Turtle, Mauremys caspica caspica, in the Golestan and Mazandaran provinces of Iran

Abstract

The morphology, morphometry, parasitology, diet, reproduction and behaviour of Mauremys caspica caspica and Emys orbicularis persica were compared in northern Iran. In E. orbicularis, the colour of the carapace is dark olive with yellow spots, the bridges between carapace and plastron are cartilaginous and the interabdominal suture is shorter than the interanal suture. Females lay on average 7 eggs per year, which is much less than European populations. In M. caspica, the colour of the carapace is dark olive with yellow stripes, the bridges are bony and the interabdominal suture is longer than the interanal suture. Females lay on average 4–5 eggs per year. The position of the cloacal opening is statistically different between males and females. 91.0% of the morphological characters studied show sexual differences in E. orbicularis, whereas this value is 77.5% in M. caspica .