Pelusios gabonensis (Duméril, 1856)

Pauwels, Olivier S. G., Morelle, Stephan, Albert, Jean-Louis, Carlino, Piero, Rahola, Nil & Trape, Jean-François, 2019, New reptile records from Lékédi Park and Haut-Ogooué Province, southeastern Gabon, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 174) 13 (1), pp. 143-161 : 144

Pelusios gabonensis (Duméril, 1856)

On 4 October 2016 SM photographed a subadult individual in a forest stream in Lékédi Park. It showed the typical brown carapace with a black vertebral line, a poorly marked median keel on the carapace, a brown head without vermiculations but with a black dorsal triangle. This constitutes the first record for the park. Within the same Dept., the species had already been recorded from Bakoumba by Maran and Pauwels (2005). On 22 January 2017 at 17h25 Nil Rahola (~ NR) photographed a subadult individual in the northwestern suburbs (1°36’58.3”S, 13°34’48.7”E) of Franceville in Passa Dept. ( Fig. 1 ). This represents a new locality record (see the compilation on the distribution of this species in Gabon by Maran and Pauwels 2005). Widely distributed in Gabon, this terrapin is heavily hunted for food, and is so far known from only three protected areas in the country (Pauwels 2016).

Figures

Fig. 1. Subadult Pelusios gabonensis in Franceville, Haut-Ogooué Prov., southeastern Gabon. Photograph by N. Rahola.