Is a soft-shelled turtle a fish? Let's get to know the true identity of the soft-shelled turtle

The soft-shelled turtle is not a fish, but an aquatic and terrestrial amphibious reptile, and is the general term for soft-shelled aquatic turtles of the family Trionychidae in the order Testudines. Soft-shelled turtle is the common name for the soft-shelled turtle, also called tuanyu or shuiyu, and in some southern places it is called tanyu or jiayu. Its head resembles that of a turtle, but its carapace lacks the stripes of a turtle, its shell is softer than a turtle's, and its body is flatter than a turtle's.

The soft-shelled turtle mainly lives in lakes, ponds, reservoirs, river deltas and slow-flowing rivers. Its living habits can be summed up as “three likes and three fears”, namely it likes quiet and fears disturbance, likes sun and fears wind, and likes cleanliness and fears dirt.

The soft-shelled turtle is an aquatic omnivore and likes to eat animal-based bait. Young soft-shelled turtles feed on aquatic insects, aquatic earthworms, tadpoles, small shrimp and so on, while adult soft-shelled turtles eat mollusks such as field snails and clams, fish, shrimp and animal carcasses (because they cannot catch fish), and also eat plant-based feed such as vegetables, fruits and miscellaneous grains.