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  Profile

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  In flight

Turtles

Mata Mata

Chelus fimbriatus

• rare
• 1 km/h
• Least Concern

Looks like a pile of dead leaves. Vacuum-gulps fish whole by snapping its throat open so fast prey has no time to react.

Population

No formal global population count published; IUCN lists the population trend as stable, with the species described as widespread in the Amazon basin but locally declining from habitat loss and collection for the pet/food trade

Habitat

Strictly aquatic; prefers shallow, slow-moving, turbid blackwater rivers, streams, swamps, and marshes with soft muddy bottoms

Fun fact

The mata mata's bark-like, ridged shell and flat, leaf-shaped head with skin flaps give it near-perfect camouflage as forest debris, letting it ambush fish by suddenly snapping open its mouth to create a vacuum that sucks in prey whole.

Range

Amazon basin and associated river systems in Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, and Trinidad; small introduced population in southeast Florida, USA

Diet

Carnivorous ambush predator; feeds mainly on fish and aquatic invertebrates (worms, crustaceans, mollusks, insects), captured via rapid suction feeding

Size

0.45 m

Lifespan

15 years