Retrieval of a Fish Hook from an Indian Flap Shell Turtle

Indian flap shell turtle (Lissemys punctata) is a very common fresh water turtle found in India and it can be found fairly easily in ponds, steams, marshes, near our house during rainy season and in fish markets. They prefer quiet and stagnant waters with sand or mud as a substrate since they like to burrow. They have a soft leathery type of shell and they are called as flap shell because they have flaps on the plastron above their legs which cover their legs when they retract in the shell. Indian flap shell turtle is omnivorous, eating not only mollusks, insects, fish, amphibians, waterfowl and carrion, but aquatic plants as well (Vitt and Caldwell, 2009). The shell of L. punctata is believed to be of medicinal value in both China and India as the shell is burnt and ground with oil in China to treat certain types of skin diseases. In India, the shell is used to make a remedy believed to be a medicine for tuberculosis (Moll and Moll, 2004).