vs Green Sea Turtle

Clostridium septicum compared with Chelonia mydas

Key Differences

is Not Evaluated while Green Sea Turtle is Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank		Green Sea Turtle
Kingdom	Bacteria (Bacteria)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Firmicutes_A	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Clostridia (Clostridia)	Reptilia (Reptiles)
Order	Clostridiales (Clostridiales)	Testudines (Turtles & Tortoises)
Family	Clostridiaceae	Cheloniidae (Sea Turtles)
Genus	Clostridium	Chelonia (Green Sea Turtles)
Species	Clostridium septicum	Chelonia mydas

Conservation Status

NE — Not Evaluated

Green Sea Turtle

EN — Endangered

Population: ~85.0K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Physical Characteristics

Attribute		Green Sea Turtle
Diet	—	Herbivore
Average Lifespan	—	80 years
Average Length	—	1.2 m
Average Weight	—	200.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

Habitat

Native to Asia, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Found in Taiwan.

Green Sea Turtle

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, among 8 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Distributed across Australia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Indonesia, and Mexico. Currently classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Clostridium septicum is a highly virulent, anaerobic, endospore-forming bacterium in the family Clostridiaceae and an important cause of nontraumatic clostridial myonecrosis (gas gangrene) and fatal septicemia in humans and livestock. Unlike C. perfringens, which typically requires predisposing tissue injury, C. septicum is notable for its ability to cause spontaneous gas gangrene arising from bacteremic seeding of intestinal origin, most often in patients with occult colorectal malignancy, hematological malignancies, or neutropenia. The bacterium produces several toxins including alpha-toxin, a pore-forming cytolysin, and hyaluronidase, which facilitate tissue invasion and destruction. Endospores are ubiquitous in soil and the intestinal contents of healthy animals and humans. In livestock, C. septicum causes braxy (sheep abomasitis) and malignant edema, economically significant diseases in sheep and cattle grazing on contaminated pastures. The strong clinical association between spontaneous C. septicum bacteremia and gastrointestinal malignancy means that its isolation from blood cultures warrants urgent investigation for underlying colonic pathology.