European Pond Turtle in its habitat, Morocco
European Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis)

European Pond Turtle

Distribution map: European Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis) in Morocco

Emys orbicularis (Linnaeus, 1758)

Conservation status
NTglobal·VUMorocco
Population trend
Decreasing

In Morocco, the European Pond Turtle is a relict of wetter times. It holds on in forest ponds of the Rif, in lakes and streams of the Middle Atlas and in what remains of the Gharb marshes. It belongs to a family of American origin, of which only two species have reached the Old World. It is the rarest and most threatened of Morocco's freshwater turtles.

Identification guideRead the full account

The European Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis) is a medium-sized freshwater turtle with a slightly domed shell, sometimes almost round but usually a little wider towards the rear20. In the Mediterranean region, adults rarely exceed 15 cm in carapace length158. In the Rif, adults measure about 12 to 13 cm8. The plastron (the underside of the shell) carries a hinge, and its connection to the carapace (the upper shell) is not bony, so the turtle can partly close its shell15. The toes are webbed18, an adaptation to life in water.

The head is dark, with a bright, contrasting yellow pattern on top12. In turtles from the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghreb, these markings form a worm-like pattern on a black background, and the forelimbs usually carry two pale bands13. The iris is yellow to yellowish white, with a black cross centred on the pupil. This cross is much more distinct in females than in males12.

In adults, the carapace is black, with short, thick yellow streaks radiating from the centre of each plate12. In subadults and young adults, the plastron is often more than 90% black. This black fades with age, and many old animals have an entirely yellow plastron12. The skin is dotted and streaked with yellow20. The shells can be eroded by green algae12, and in the Rif some shells are stained reddish by iron-rich deposits11.

European Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis): the head with its yellow markings, the plastron and carapace, and two individuals in profile showing colour variation in both the shell and the body, Morocco
European Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis): the head with its yellow markings, the plastron and carapace, and two individuals in profile showing colour variation in both the shell and the body.

Males and females differ clearly in shell shape and tail. Males have a flatter shell, often with a concave plastron, more curved claws and a thicker tail. Their vent lies further from the rear edge of the shell15. In this subspecies (Emys orbicularis occidentalis), males tend to have shorter and rounder yellow markings than females12.

Juveniles have a more or less marked keel along the midline of the carapace20. Moroccan hatchlings have a brown carapace with a yellow rim, a yellow spot in the middle of each side plate and fine black speckles all over. Their plastron is yellow with a large black patch in the centre12.

Rif turtles show the typical pattern of yellow rays on a black shell10. Some Middle Atlas turtles are much paler, with a yellow shell carrying thin black lines12. Turtles from this region also have more yellow on their forelimbs than most lowland turtles12.

The European Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis) and the Sicilian Pond Turtle (Emys trinacris) are the only Old World members of a family otherwise confined to the Americas36. Until 2014, all North African pond turtles were placed in the subspecies Emys orbicularis occidentalis and regarded as recent arrivals from Europe36. Genetic analyses of turtles sampled across North Africa then showed that only the Moroccan animals belong to that subspecies, while those of eastern Algeria and Tunisia form a distinct, still unnamed one36.

The same study placed Iberian turtles within the Moroccan group on the family tree and found them genetically less diverse. This suggests that pond turtles reached Morocco first and later recolonised the Iberian Peninsula from there36. Iberian turtles, until then described as a separate subspecies (Emys orbicularis fritzjuergenobsti), were therefore included in Emys orbicularis occidentalis36.

Within Morocco, turtles of the Rif differ genetically from those of the Middle Atlas3640. The few turtles sampled in the Kenitra province, on the Atlantic plain, belong to the Middle Atlas group36, and the Middle Atlas populations show low genetic diversity40. The Rif holds the highest genetic diversity, and the Moroccan lineage probably originated there40.

Some turtles from Cádiz and Málaga (southern Spain) carry genetic types otherwise known only from the Rif. They may descend from a second, recent crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar or from turtles carried by people, and current data cannot separate the two explanations40. Overall, Moroccan populations are genetically more diverse than Iberian ones, and both have followed largely separate evolutionary paths, shaped by the Strait of Gibraltar30.

The European Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis) can be mistaken for the Mediterranean Pond Turtle (Mauremys leprosa), which often shares the same waters, and, from a distance, for the Moorish Tortoise (Testudo graeca). The most reliable feature is the plastron, which is hinged in the European Pond Turtle.

European Pond TurtleEmys orbicularis
Mediterranean Pond TurtleMauremys leprosa
Moorish TortoiseTestudo graeca
Habitat
Aquatic
Aquatic
Terrestrial
Plastron
Hinged15
Rigid
Rigid
Carapace
Slightly domed, dark, often dotted with yellow
Low, tan to olive, sometimes with large blotches
High and domed, yellowish to brown
Head and neck
Dark, with yellow dots
Olive, with stripes that fade with age
Dark head, spotted with yellow
Legs
Webbed
Webbed
Column-like
European Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis), two Mediterranean Pond Turtles (Mauremys leprosa) and a Moorish Tortoise (Testudo graeca), Morocco

European Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis) range map in Morocco
Distribution of Emys orbicularis in Morocco.About this map

These distribution maps are produced by Fauna Morocco. Ranges are shown as estimates based on published records and our own field observations. They are updated when new data become available. Check out the references used for this map.

From north-west Africa, the range of the European Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis) extends across much of Europe to western Asia36, as far east as the former Aral Sea14. Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia hold its southernmost populations, in a narrow northern strip, and the Moroccan populations lie more than 700 km from those of eastern Algeria and Tunisia16. Moroccan localities range from sea level to about 1 700 m in the Middle Atlas31416.

In Morocco, the species occurs in three main regions: the western Rif, the Middle Atlas and the Gharb plain, where only scattered individuals remain39. The northern limit lies about 30 km south of Tangier25. To the west, turtles were numerous in the Gharb plain in the 1950s29, and the range once extended along the Atlantic coast to Mohammedia3. Today, only a few isolated turtles are known near Larache and in the southern Gharb39. The southern limit lies in the Middle Atlas, where populations are known in ponds near Ifrane and Sidi Mimoune39. The eastern limit is the Oued Kert in the eastern Rif, where a single turtle was seen in 199010. The observers suspected an escaped captive, given the dry climate and the distance from the Rif populations10. Later surveys did not find the species there39.

In the western Rif, the species was still frequently found in ponds and streams in the early 2010s839. The central Rif has been little surveyed, partly because the cannabis trade makes fieldwork difficult there, and the species is probably more widespread in this region than records show39. In the Middle Atlas, several older records could not be confirmed, and it remains unclear whether the patchy distribution there is natural or caused by habitat degradation11.

Some of the gaps may reflect low detectability. The European Pond Turtle is much harder to find than the Mediterranean Pond Turtle (Mauremys leprosa), which often shares its waters1124, and the two species are easily confused39. In Rif ponds, Mediterranean Pond Turtles usually outnumber it by about fifteen to one24.

In Morocco, the European Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis) inhabits humid and subhumid bioclimatic zones, in small ponds and streams with abundant vegetation3. It favours ponds and lagoons rich in aquatic plants and uses streams less often20. Across north-west Africa, its presence is linked to forest cover, and it commonly occurs in mountain areas with oak forest, in headwaters and medium-sized streams. It is sometimes found in more open farmland as well9. In the south of its range, the species even lives in flowing, stony and rather cool streams, a habitat it avoids further north15. In northern Morocco, most records fall in mosaics of natural vegetation, grazing land and farmland264.

The mountain populations of the Rif are confined to a few small, highly specific relict habitats which, like the turtle itself, date from wetter past climates1011. These turtles inhabit small mountain lagoons at 1 240 to 1 400 m, with dense water-milfoil (Myriophyllum sp.). The lagoons lie in flat clearings of well-preserved oak forest, on siliceous soil10. In the Rif, the species has been found in forest ponds and in streams8. Some of these waters are tiny. Four adults and three juveniles were found in a pool of about 1 m²11. The largest known Rif population, about 50 turtles, lives in a wetland surrounded by intact forest of Algerian oak (Quercus canariensis) and Pyrenean oak (Quercus pyrenaica)11. Further west, the species has been recorded at 450 m in a peat bog, with dense rushes and other wetland plants, surrounded by cork oak woodland25.

European Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis) in its environment: a forest pond in the middle of an oak forest in northern Morocco
European Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis) in its environment: a forest pond in the middle of an oak forest in northern Morocco.

In the Middle Atlas, European Pond Turtles inhabit streams running through Algerian oak forest and lakes among hills covered with holm oak (Quercus rotundifolia), small cereal fields and scrub11. Near Ifrane, the species also lives along watercourses24 and in artificial ponds (pers. obs.).

Unlike the Mediterranean Pond Turtle (Mauremys leprosa), the European Pond Turtle appears unable to persist in waters degraded by human activity11.

Habitat of Emys orbicularis in the Tingitana Peninsula, in an isolated pond in the middle of a dense forest, Morocco
Habitat of Emys orbicularis in the Tingitana Peninsula, in an isolated pond in the middle of a dense forest.

In Morocco, turtles of the Tingitana Peninsula are active for most of the year and stop only in the coldest winter months. Animals can be seen basking on mild winter days, so that dormancy may last only a few weeks, at least in the lowland populations1220. Dormancy lasts longer in the Middle Atlas and the high Rif20. The largest known Rif population lives in a wetland that dries out every summer11. Its turtles probably spend the dry season in shelters or move to other waters, as reported elsewhere13. In the south of the range, pond turtles slow down in winter without always stopping, and may enter a summer dormancy when their waters dry out15.

Activity has two peaks, one after winter dormancy and another with the autumn rains2. In north-eastern Spain, activity starts once water temperature exceeds 9 °C33. The species is active by day. Turtles bask for long periods around midday in spring and autumn, but only in mid-morning and late afternoon in summer. They also warm up by floating just below the surface15.

No published study has examined the diet of the European Pond Turtle in Morocco. Elsewhere in the range, it is mainly carnivorous but also eats plants, especially at higher temperatures15. It feeds on whatever is abundant, including aquatic insects, water snails, worms, fish, tadpoles, crayfish and carrion1531. Juveniles are more carnivorous than adults23. In the Camargue (southern France), invertebrates dominate the diet in spring and plant matter increases in summer28. In captivity, European Pond Turtles eat more tadpoles than Mediterranean Pond Turtles (Mauremys leprosa) and take tadpoles of even the smallest frog species17.

The European Pond Turtle cannot swallow out of water. Food taken on land is carried back to the water, where the turtle thrusts its head forward and widens its throat to draw the item in with the inflowing water15.

In the Camargue (southern France), annual adult survival reached 97% in females and 86% in males27, which points to a very low predation rate. Predation mostly affects clutches, which are often raided, and juveniles. The main predators are wild boar, foxes, badgers, martens, herons, storks, crows and, in the south, mongooses15. Most of these predators also occur in northern Morocco. Adults have few natural enemies apart from wild boar and, in Central Europe, introduced raccoons15.

European Pond Turtles usually bask on logs or rocks, but also on banks215. When alarmed, they quickly dive to the bottom8 and may bury themselves in mud until the threat has passed2. The hinged plastron also lets the turtle partly close its shell when threatened15. Handled animals often release a jet of urine, which may lead a predator to drop them2.

In Morocco, the reproduction of the species remains very poorly known. Most available data come from European populations and may not reflect the particularities of Moroccan populations, which live under a very different climate and in very different habitats. Studies carried out in Morocco will be needed to clarify the timing and strategies of reproduction in the country.

The mating season generally runs from March to May20 but can continue into autumn15. Males chase females in the water, cling to the edge of the female's shell with all four limbs and bite her head. Mating takes place under water15. In the south of the range, females lay 4 to 8 eggs per clutch and up to three clutches a year, about four weeks apart15. In south-western Spain, only about 17% of females bred in a given year21. This share varied from about 6% in poor years to 37% in good years13.

Nests are usually dug at night with the hind limbs, about 10 to 12 cm deep35. The sex of the embryo depends on incubation temperature: eggs below about 28 °C produce males and eggs above 29 °C produce females35. Hatchlings either leave the nest in September or overwinter in it and emerge the following spring15. At emergence, they average 29.4 mm in carapace length and 6.7 g in weight21. In the south of the range, males can mature from their fourth year and females from their fifth15.

No longevity data have been published for Moroccan turtles. In Spain, the oldest wild animals recorded were 28 years old for males and 29 for females22. A captive individual reportedly lived 120 years in a botanical garden in southern France, but this record remains unverified5. A better-documented case is a turtle kept for 60 years by the French herpetologist Raymond Rollinat. It was already adult when caught, so it probably reached 70 years or more15.

Globally, the European Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis) is classed as Lower Risk/Near Threatened, in an assessment dating from 1996 and flagged by the IUCN as needing updating37. In Europe, it was reassessed as Near Threatened in 202423.

In 2010, the Moroccan national red list classed it as Vulnerable32. It is the rarest turtle in Morocco, and its populations are highly fragmented39. North African populations show no loss of genetic diversity, so protecting the remaining relicts could still preserve viable populations36. Two units should be managed separately, the Rif on one side and the Middle Atlas with the Kenitra province on the other36.

In Morocco, these turtles face the following threats:

  • Wetland loss on the Atlantic plains. Since the 1950s, most small wetlands of the Gharb have dried out, been drained, been turned into cereal, vegetable and sugar-cane fields or been built over1139. The Atlantic coastal populations are now extinct or close to extinction36.
    The same area of the Gharb plain in 2024, now farmland
    Wetlands of the Gharb plain as mapped in 1931, drawn in blue on the 2024 satellite image
    19312024
    Wetlands in 1931 in the Gharb plain, now mostly farmland, where the European Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis) was widespread last century.Wetlands drawn from the 1931 map (U.S. Army Map Service, 1942) · Image: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2024 by EOX (Copernicus data), CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
  • Cannabis plantations, expanding across the central and western Rif, dry out ponds and streams39. Irrigating these crops diverts water from natural sources and brings agrochemicals into the water4. The expansion of cannabis farms has also brought forest fires and clearing. In Talassemtane National Park alone, about 3 000 ha of forest were lost between 1995 and 20206.
  • Water contamination by livestock and urban wastewater in the mountain rivers of the western Rif439.
  • Collection of turtles as pets39.
  • Possible competition with the Mediterranean Pond Turtle (Mauremys leprosa). In a small pond surveyed from 2009 to 2012, European Pond Turtles fell from several dozen to fewer than 10 as Mediterranean Pond Turtles arrived39. Other surveys in the early 1990s found only Mediterranean Pond Turtles at a former European Pond Turtle site10.

The European Pond Turtle appears in Appendix II of the Bern Convention, among strictly protected animal species7. Morocco joined this convention in 200138. Part of its range lies within protected areas, such as Bouhachem Natural Park in the Rif394 and Ifrane National Park in the Middle Atlas, where it is recorded in a Ramsar wetland34. No conservation measures targeting the species in Morocco have been published.

Maps

  • Bons, J., & Geniez, P. (1996). Amphibiens et reptiles du Maroc (Sahara Occidental compris). Atlas biogéographique. Asociación Herpetológica Española.
  • Velo-Antón, G., El Marnisi, B., Fritz, U., & Fahd, S. (2015a). Distribution and conservation status of Emys orbicularis in Morocco. Vertebrate Zoology, 65(1), 131-134. https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.65.e31514
  • Martínez del Mármol, G., Harris, D. J., Geniez, P., de Pous, P., & Salvi, D. (2019). Amphibians and Reptiles of Morocco. Frankfurt Contributions to Natural History, 74. Edition Chimaira.
  • Turtle Taxonomy Working Group [Rhodin, A. G. J., Iverson, J. B., Fritz, U., Gallego-García, N., Georges, A., Shaffer, H. B., & van Dijk, P. P.]. (2025). Turtles of the World: Annotated checklist and atlas of taxonomy, synonymy, distribution, and conservation status (10th ed.). In A. G. J. Rhodin, J. B. Iverson, P. P. van Dijk, C. B. Stanford, E. V. Goode, K. A. Buhlmann, & R. A. Mittermeier (Eds.), Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs, 10, 1–575. https://doi.org/10.3854/crm.10.checklist.atlas.v10.2025
  • GBIF.org. (2026, September 29). GBIF Occurrence Download. https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.4cxqwh
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  40. Velo-Antón, G., Pereira, P., Fahd, S., Teixeira, J., & Fritz, U. (2015b). Out of Africa: did Emys orbicularis occidentalis cross the Strait of Gibraltar twice? Amphibia-Reptilia, 36, 133-140. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685381-00002989

How to cite

Ruffieux, C., Vuillemin, R., & Laghzaoui, E.-M. (2026). European Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis). In: Castella, C., Iallaten, H., Ruffieux, C., & Vuillemin, R. (Eds.), Fauna Morocco. The Free Encyclopedia: Reptiles & Amphibians of Morocco. Available from https://fauna-morocco.org/encyclopedia/testudines/emys-orbicularis.html (accessed 31 October 2026).

Published

31 October 2026

Last updated

9 November 2026

Authors

Colin Ruffieux
Rayane Vuillemin
El-Mustapha Laghzaoui

Reviewers

Haytam Iallaten
Mohamed Taha Aissaoui

Photography

Rayane Vuillemin

Methodology

Each account is a scientific synthesis: we compile the literature, read each paper in full, verify facts against their original sources when possible, and flag uncertainties for expert review. It is written first in English, reviewed by the team, then translated into French and Arabic. Every claim is referenced, and accounts are updated as knowledge advances. If you spot a mistake or an omission, please get in touch so we can fix it.