Matamata (Chelus fimbriata)

Waiting Is the Whole Plan

The matamata (Chelus fimbriata) is a big South American river turtle, with a shell that can reach about 45 cm (18 in). The shell is rough and ridged like a piece of bark. The head is flat and triangular, covered in bumps and flaps of skin, and it reads as a clump of fallen leaves. Fimbriata is Latin for fringed.

It lives in slow streams, still pools, marshes and swamps, and it is strictly aquatic. It prefers water shallow enough that it can stand on the bottom and reach the surface with the tip of its long, tubular snout to breathe. A snorkel, basically, attached to a turtle that would rather not move.

It hunts by holding still until a fish comes close. Then it thrusts its head forward, opens its mouth as wide as it goes and expands its throat, and the inrush of water carries the fish in. The mouth shuts, the water is pushed back out, and the fish is swallowed whole, because the matamata can't chew. High-speed film in 2002 showed that the speed of the strike is unique among turtles, closer to aquatic salamanders and some fish.

For a long time every matamata counted as one species. In 2020 a genetic study found two lineages that split about 12.7 million years ago, and the matamatas of the Orinoco and Río Negro basins and the Essequibo became a new species, Chelus orinocensis. The one in this drawing, Chelus fimbriata, is the Amazon matamata, found across the Amazon Basin and in the Mahury drainage of French Guiana. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

Key Moments

• 1783: Johann Gottlob Schneider describes the matamata as Testudo fimbriata, the fringed turtle
• 1806: André Duméril gives it a genus of its own, Chelus
• 1989: A study in the Journal of Herpetology reports that matamatas ambush their prey and do not herd it
• 2002: High-speed video and X-ray film show how it feeds: a fast strike, a big hyoid and a throat that stretches to pull fish in
• 2023: The matamata is added to CITES Appendix II, so international trade in it needs permits

Fun Facts

• Bark and Leaves: Its shell looks like a piece of bark and its head like fallen leaves, so it can wait in plain sight for a fish to come close
• Built-In Snorkel: It stands in shallow water and breathes through the tip of its long, tubular snout
• Suction Feeder: It opens its mouth and expands its throat so fast that the fish gets pulled in with the water
• Fast for a Turtle: The speed of its strike is unique among turtles, closer to aquatic salamanders and some fish
• No Chewing: Its mouth can't chew, so every fish goes down whole
• In It for the Long Haul: One male in captivity lived to at least 53 years old

Conservation Notes

• The IUCN Red List lists the Amazon matamata, Chelus fimbriata, as Least Concern, in an assessment by Portelinha and colleagues published in the Red List's 2026 update.
• It has been on CITES Appendix II since February 2023, so international trade needs permits. It is readily available in the exotic pet trade.

Mini FAQ

Why does it look like that?

Camouflage. The shell looks like a piece of bark, the head and neck are fringed with flaps of skin that look like leaves, and it holds still. In the water it blends into the plants around it until a fish comes close enough to eat.

How does it eat without chewing?

By suction. It thrusts its head forward, opens its mouth wide and expands its throat, and the rushing water carries the fish in. Then it closes its mouth, pushes the water back out and swallows the fish whole.

How long do matamatas live?

Its life in the wild is still largely unstudied, so there is no good number from the wild yet. In captivity, one male lived to at least 53.