Tennessee Aquarium Turtle Nursery Welcomes Two Critically Endangered Four-Eyed Turtle Hatchlings

In the Tennessee Aquarium Turtle Nursery, two hatchlings of the critically endangered four-eyed turtles emerged from incubated eggs.

Four-Eyed Turtle Hatchlings

These critically endangered species, which are found in forests and marshes in a crescent-shaped arc range in China, Laos, and Vietnam, are in steep decline as a result of several challenges, including habitat degradation and dam as well as the collection of individuals for the pet trade and the harvesting of their shells.

The Tennessee Aquarium is happy to announce the recent hatching of two four-eyed turtles in their Turtle Nursery, given the bleak future for these turtles in the wild.

A first for the Chattanooga institution, these eggs, which hatched on the first and second day of May, were laid by a female who was hatched and nurtured at the Aquarium.

The off-exhibit female laid these eggs early this spring.

According to the average incubation period for this species, which lasts between 70 and 75 days, they hatched after 68 and 69 days, respectively.

It took a long, arduous process for the newly hatched four-eyed turtles to emerge from their eggs.

The hatchlings made a hole in the eggshell known as "a pip" using an egg tooth, a unique, temporary spur on their beaks.

It can take hours to finally emerge from the shell after widening this initial escape point.

Four Eyes but Not Really

Most mothers would undoubtedly prefer to have eyes in the back of their skulls.

Four-eyed turtles are so named because they have two distinctive, ringed eye patches on top of their heads called ocelli.

These markings are what give them their name.

The purpose of these eye spots, however, is not to monitor the activity of their kids, but to confuse and misdirect potential predators.

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Critically Endangered

The turtles will be moved to nursery habitats after spending a few more days in the aquarium's incubation chambers and having their first few meals.

Visitors can see these newest additions as well as dozens of other newborn turtles in the aquarium's working turtle nursery located in the Turtles of the World Gallery of the River Journey building.

According to Tennessee Aquariums, young four-eyed turtles from previous years have apparently been transferred to other establishments approved by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).

The Tennessee Aquarium is the only facility in the US that is currently raising this endangered species, and it houses the majority of the population of these turtles in the US Zoo.

If the four-eyed turtle and other freshwater turtles are to survive, greater public knowledge of conservation issues and stronger legal enforcement are necessary.

Bill Hughes, the herpetology coordinator of the aquarium, is in charge of keeping the official four-eyed Turtle studbook, a document that details the parents of all offspring of a specific species.

To save this unique turtle from going extinct in the wild, the aquarium has had great success in boosting the population of this species in care.

54 four-eyed turtles have been born at the aquarium since 2007, and in 2021, the International Union for Conservation of Nature changed their status from endangered to critically endangered.

Additionally, the aquarium hatched 25 Beale's four-eyed turtles during this time, a closely related species, KOMO News reports.