Home/Species/ Florida Softshell Turtle

Apalone ferox

(Schneider, 1783)

Florida Softshell Turtle

G5Secure Found in 2 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

G5SecureGlobal Rank

Least concernIUCN

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102052

Element CodeARAAG01010

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVertebrate Animal

IUCNLeast concern

CITESAppendix III

Endemicendemic to a single nation

KingdomAnimalia

PhylumCraniata

ClassChelonia

OrderTestudines

FamilyTrionychidae

GenusApalone

Synonyms

Testudo bartramiDaudin, 1801Testudo feroxSchneider, 1783Testudo mollisLacépède, 1788Trionyx brongniartiSchweigger, 1812Trionyx carinatusGeoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1809Trionyx ferox(Schneider, 1783)

Other Common Names

Florida softshell (EN)

Concept Reference

King, F. W., and R. L. Burke, editors. 1989. Crocodilian, tuatara, and turtle species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Association of Systematics Collections, Washington, D.C. 216 pp.

Taxonomic Comments

Removed from genus Trionyx and placed in genus Apalone by Meylan (1987). North American softshell turtles were retained in Trionyx by Webb (1990) and Ernst et al. (1994). This species exhibits relatively low levels of genetic variability across its range (Weisrock and Janzen 2000).

Conservation Status

Review Date1996-10-23

Change Date1996-10-23

Range Extent Comments

Southern South Carolina to southern Florida, west to southern Alabama.

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Rivers, ponds, lakes, canals, large springs with overhanging foliage, marshes; all types of freshwater habitats in Florida. Sometimes in brackish water at stream mouths. Basks on sand bars and fallen logs. Often burrows into sand-mud bottom, leaving only head out. Eggs are laid in sandy, sunny areas near water. In Florida, a nest was in the sand apron of a recently abandoned gopher tortoise burrow, 103 m from the nearest body of water (Heinrich and Richardson, 1993, Herpetol. Rev. 24:31).

Reproduction

Lays up to 5-6 clutches of up to about 38 eggs (mean 21), late March to early August in southern Florida (Iverson and Moler 1997), June-July in north (Ernst and Barbour 1972). Eggs hatch in about 9 weeks. Females mature at 24-30 cm plastron length (Iverson and Moler 1997). Some females may not reproduce every year (Iverson and Moler 1997).

Terrestrial Habitats

Sand/dune

Palustrine Habitats

HERBACEOUS WETLANDRiparian

Other Nations (1)

United StatesN5

Province	Rank	Native
Alabama	S2	Yes
South Carolina	S4	Yes
Georgia	S5	Yes
Florida	S5	Yes

Roadless Areas (2)

Florida (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Alexander Springs Creek	Ocala National Forest	2,954
Farles Prairie	Ocala National Forest	1,901

References (17)

Ashton, R. E., Jr., and P. S. Ashton. 1985. Handbook of reptiles and amphibians of Florida. Part two. Lizards, turtles & crocodilians. Windward Pub., Inc., Miami. 191 pp.
Conant, R. and J. T. Collins. 1991. A field guide to reptiles and amphibians: eastern and central North America. Third edition. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Massachusetts. 450 pp.
Crother, B. I. (editor). 2008. Scientific and standard English names of amphibians and reptiles of North America north of Mexico, with comments regarding confidence in our understanding. Sixth edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles Herpetological Circular 37:1-84. Online with updates at: http://www.ssarherps.org/pages/comm_names/Index.php
Crother, B. I. (editor). 2017. Scientific and standard English names of amphibians and reptiles of North America north of Mexico, with comments regarding confidence in our understanding. 8th edition. SSAR Herpetological Circular 43:1-104. [Updates in SSAR North American Species Names Database at: https://ssarherps.org/cndb]
Ernst, C. H., and R. W. Barbour. 1972. Turtles of the United States. Univ. Press of Kentucky, Lexington. x + 347 pp.
Ernst, C. H., R. W. Barbour, and J. E. Lovich. 1994. Turtles of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. xxxviii + 578 pp.
Iverson, J. B., and P. E. Moler. 1997. The female reproductive cycle of the Florida softshell turtle (APALONE FEROX). Journal of Herpetology 31:399-409.
Jackson, D. R. 1991. Life history notes: TRIONYX FEROX. SSAR Herpetol. Rev. 22:56.
King, F. W., and R. L. Burke, editors. 1989. Crocodilian, tuatara, and turtle species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Association of Systematics Collections, Washington, D.C. 216 pp.
Meylan, P. A. 1987. The phylogenetic relationships of soft-shelled turtles (Family Trionychidae). Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 186:1-101.
Mount, R. H. 1975. The reptiles and amphibians of Alabama. Auburn University Agricultural Experiment Station, Auburn, Alabama. vii + 347 pp.
Turtle Taxonomy Working Group (TTWG) [Rhodin, A. G. J., J. B. Iverson, R. Bour, U. Fritz, A. Georges, H. B. Shaffer, and P. P. van Dijk]. 2021. Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (9th Ed.). In: Rhodin, A. G. J., J. B. Iverson , P. P. van Dijk, C. B. Stanford, E. V. Goode, K. A. Buhlmann, and 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 8:1–472. doi: 10.3854/crm.8.checklist.atlas.v9.2021.
Turtle Taxonomy Working Group [van Dijk, P.P., Iverson, J.B., Rhodin, A.G.J., Shaffer, H.B., and Bour, R.]. 2014. Turtles of the world, 7th edition: annotated checklist of taxonomy, synonymy, distribution with maps, and conservation status. In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Pritchard, P.C.H., van Dijk, P.P., Saumure, R.A., Buhlmann, K.A., Iverson, J.B., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs 5(7):000.329–479, doi:10.3854/crm.5.000.checklist.v7.2014.
Turtle Taxonomy Working Group [van Dijk, P.P., Iverson, J.B., Shaffer, H.B., Bour, R., and Rhodin, A.G.J.]. 2012. Turtles of the world, 2012 update: annotated checklist of taxonomy, synonymy, distribution, and conservation status. In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Pritchard, P.C.H., van Dijk, P.P., Saumure, R.A., Buhlmann, K.A., Iverson, J.B., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs No. 5:000.243-000.328. Online. Available: www.iucn-tftsg.org/cbftt/.
Webb, R. G. 1973. Trionyx ferox. Cat. Am. Amph. Rep. 138.1-138.3.
Webb, R. G. 1990. <i>Trionyx</i>. Cat. Am. Amph. Rep. 487.1-487.7.
Weisrock, D. W., and F. J. Janzen. 2000. Comparative molecular phylogeography of North American softshell turtles (<i>Apalone</i>): implications for regional and wide-scale historical evolutionary forces. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 14:152-164.