Carettochelys insculpta , also known as the pig-nosed turtle, pitted-shelled turtle or Fly River turtle, is a species of turtle native to northern Australia and southern New Guinea. It is the only living member of the Carettochelys genus, the subfamily Carettochelyinae, and the family Carettochelyudae.

The pig-nosed turtle is unlike any other species of freshwater turtle. The feet are flippers, resembling those of marine turtles. The nose looks like that of a pig, having the nostrils at the end of a fleshy snout, hence the common name. The carapace is typically grey or olive, with a leathery texture, while the plastron is cream-coloured. Pig-nosed turtles can grow to about 70 cm carapace length, with a weight of over 20 kg.

Unlike the soft-shelled turtles of the family Trionychidae, pig-nosed turtles retain a domed bony carapace beneath their leathery skin, rather than a flat plate.

Pig-nosed turtles are not completely aquatic. Little is known about their general behaviour, as there have been few studies in the wild. Their known extreme aggression in captivity suggests the species is markedly more territorial than most other turtles and tortoises. They seem to display a degree of social structure during the cooler dry season around the hydrothermal vents that line some river systems they inhabit.

This species has become available through the exotic pet trade, with a few instances of captive breeding. While juveniles are small and grow slowly, their high cost and large potential size makes them suitable only for experienced aquatic turtle keepers. They tend to be shy and prone to stress. They get sick easily, which can cause problems with their feeding, but they are known to eat commercially available processed turtle pellets or trout chow, as well as various fruits and vegetables. Breeding is rarely an option to the hobbyist, as adults are highly aggressive and will attack each other in all but the largest enclosures. Wild populations of this turtle are declining rapidly because of illegal capture for the pet trade.

The genome of Carettochelys has been recently sequenced so we wanted to help in its anotation and in this project, we focused on its selenoproteome, which is formed by all its selenoproteins.

In molecular biology a selenoprotein is any protein that includes a selenocysteine (Sec, U) amino acid residue. These proteins exists in all major domains of life, eukaryotes, bacteria and archaea.

Furthermore, we has completed the catalan Carettochelys insculpta’s Wikipedia page. If you want to know more about this turtle, you can also check it!