South Carolina Turtles
South Carolina Turtle Species
• Emydidae (hard-shell pond
turtles)
– Chrysemys picta
– Clemys guttata
– C. muhlenbergii
– Deirochelys reticularia
– Malaclemys terrapin
– Pseudemys concinna
– P. floridana
– Terrapene carolina
– Trachemys scripta
• Testudinidae (tortoises)
– Gopherus polyphemus
• Chelydridae (snappers)
– Chelydra serpentina
• Trionychidae (softshells)
– Trionyx ferox
– T. spiniferus
• Kinosternidae (mud and musk
turtles)
– Kinosternon baurii
– K. subrubrum
– Sternotherus odoratus
• Cheloniidae (sea turtles)
– Caretta caretta
– Chelonia mydas
• Dermochelyidae (leatherback
sea turtle)
– Dermochelys coriacea
Chrysemys picta
(painted turtle)
(Young: Plate 4*;
adult:
Plate 7; Text pp. 185186)
• Despite maps, this turtle is found only
along and to the NW of the Sandhills.
• This is an old species, dating from Late
Miocene.
• C. picta prefers still water, soft bottom,
basking sites, & aquatic vegetation.
• Operating temperature is low, perhaps
22oC, and at low temps, non-pulmonary
gas exchange is significant:
– 25oC: lactate high in 2 days under water
– 5oC: lactate high in 2 weeks under water
Ernst et al. (1994) review painted
turtle physiology in excruciating
detail.
*Plate-references are to Conant & Collins.
• Migration is known in some
populations.
• Late summer follicular & sperm
development; spring courtship, summer
nesting, c. 6 eggs, fall hatching.
• Minimum size at maturity = f(latitude).
Clemys guttata (spotted turtle)
(Young: Plate 3; Adult: Plate 5; Text:
p. 158)
• Coastal Plain, into sandhills.
• Swamps, ponds, braided streams
(shallow water).
• Short activity cycle concentrated in
spring!!!
• Typical summer sperm & egg
production; courtship in early
spring, egg-laying (average 4-5
eggs) in late spring, hatching in late
summer.
• Wild survival documented to > 30
years.
• Omnivorous.
• State protected species.
• Very rare, Oconee-Pickens bog
Clemys muhlenbergii
distribution. Ephemeral habitat
(bog turtle; endangered
formerly shifted because of plantspecies)
succession in mountain bogs.
(Adult: Plate 5; Text: p. • Smallest turtle in USA; adult
159)
length often < 10cm.
• Most surface activity occurs in
spring; may aestivate in summer.
• Typical patterns of egg and sperm
development; mating in early
spring, laying (c. 3 eggs) in late
spring. Incubation c. 40-80 days;
young emerge in late summer.
• Omnivorous, but mostly insects.
Deirochelys
reticularia
(chicken turtle)
(Young: Plate 4; Adult:
Plate 7; Text: p. 187)
• Sandhills and Coastal Plain.
• Adults about 10-15cm.
• Still water (ponds, ditches, etc.); often
moves on land. (Adapted to movement
across ephemeral wetlands.)
• Females begin laying at c. 3 years of age.
Spring or fall oviposition (winter in warm
climates—what does this suggest?—in
South Carolina occasional retention of
shelled eggs). Fall embryos can enter
diapause. Early summer hatch.
• Egg size increases with female size, up to
point; then clutch size increases. This is
not the typical emydid pattern.
• An implosion feeder with ontogenetic
changes in food habits typical of emydids.
Seen from above, shell has characteristic pear-like shape.
Malaclemys terrapin (diamondback
terrapin) (Young: Plate 4; Adult: Plate 5;
Text: p. 165)
• Restricted to coastal margins (salt
marshes, tidal creeks, etc., where salinity
is11.3-31.8 ppt; rainwater is important,
and drinking =f[salinity]).
• Hunts & basks by day; probably digs in
at night.
• Males mature by 4 yrs, females (larger)
by about 8; adults about 15-20cm.
• Females can store sperm. Nest in
summer on landward dune faces.
Southern females produce fewer, larger,
faster-hatching eggs (lottery theory?
depredation?).
• DBT’s (especially females) are good at
crunching snails & clams.
Pseudemys concinna (river cooter) (Adult: Plate 8; Text: p. 178)
Juvenile
• Statewide except mountains, but
much less common in Coastal
Plain (follows streams…).
• About 25-30cm.
• Prefers rivers with slow current,
abundant vegetation, rocky
bottoms, and basking logs (little
aquatic basking).
• Clutches of about 20 eggs are laid
in early summer (rarely multiple
clutches); hatch in late summer.
• This highly aquatic, common turtle
is not well known.
• Most look darker than pictures.
• Long dives (2-3hrs) are possible.
Pseudemys floridana
(cooter)
(Adult: Plate 8;
Text: p. 181)
Juvenile
ID: Spots on bridge are hollow.
• Restricted to the Coastal Plain,
this cooter likes wide rivers, slow
current, soft bottom, and abundant
vegetation.
• About 25-35cm.
• Cooters are gregarious snagbaskers in cool weather and
aquatic baskers in warm weather.
• Usually nests in spring (winter in
Florida). Multiple clutches (of
about 20 eggs) are common.
• Hatching at c. 80-150 days; Aiken
County hatchlings often
overwinter in nest.
• For this species costs and benefits
of thermoregulation are
apparently high!
Terrapene carolina
(box turtle) (Young: Plate
3; Adult: Plate 5; Text: p. 160)
• With good conditions, “boxies”
mature at 5-10 yrs; long-lived.
• About 12-15cm.
• Courtship spring to fall; males
usually mate with females that
share overlapping ranges. (The
mating position is weird…)
• Females can store sperm for > 1
year.
• 4-5 eggs/clutch, usually 2 (up to
4) clutches/year.
• 70-80-day incubation; females
produced at above 28.5oC.
• Boxies like it hot and humid but
can survive freezing for 72hr.
• Like many other turtles, boxies
fight infection by means of
“behavioral fever” of up to 4oC.
• Omnivorous; like mushrooms.
Trachemys scripta (yellowbelly slider)
•
•
•
•
•
(Young: Plate 4; Adult: Plate 7; Text: p. 176)
Statewide (except mountains); prefers quiet waters with soft bottoms,
abundant vegetation, and basking snags. May move substantial
distances overland.
12.5-20cm.
Probably like many other turtles, T. scripta heats faster than it cools.
Time to maturity varies among and within populations.
Summer gametogenesis, spring breeding; about 6 eggs are laid in late
spring– and more clutches may follow. Clutch size (but not egg
width) is a function of female size. Hatching is often in late summer,
but young may over-winter in the nest.
Gopherus polyphemus (gopher tortoise) (Adult: Plate 2; Text: p. 188)
• Found in Jasper & Hampton
Counties, plus newly discovered
population in Aiken County.
• About 15-35cm.
• This basically tropical animal
can live in Temperate Zone
adult
because it digs burrows (up to
2m deep, 6m long), in which
temperature is constant.
• Many other animals
(invertebrates & vertebrates)
share this micro-habitat.
• Very slow to mature, very low
repro rate; adults very longlived: conservation problems….
yearling
Chelydra serpentina (snapper)
•
•
•
•
(Young: Plate 3; Adult: Plate 9; Text: p. 146)
Found in any fresh water; prefers still water with soft bottom.
About 20-25cm.
A highly-aquatic, seldom-basking bottom-walker– that can move
overland.
Mating occurs April-November; females may store sperm; laying
typically occurs in late spring. Typical clutch size is 20-40 eggs.
• This species is confined
to the southern tip of the
Trionyx (Apalone) ferox
South Carolina “pie.”
(Florida softshell)
• Males about 15-30cm;
(Note: Adult animals lose the
females about 30-70cm.
distinctive, blotched carapace-pattern.)
•
It
prefers
sandy
bottoms
(Young: Plate 4; Adult: Plate 10; Text:
of still waters but will
p. 199)
live almost anywhere.
• It can exchange gases
through pharynx, cloaca,
and skin.
• Multiple clutches;
number of eggs depends
on female size; c. 2
months’ development;
Juvenile
chromosomal gender
determination.
Trionyx (Apalone) spiniferus (spiny softshell)
(Young: Plate 4; Adult: Plate 10; Text: p. 195)
• Found statewide, mostly in well-oxygenated rivers with soft bottoms,
sandbars, and aquatic vegetation.
• Males 12-25cm; females 20-45cm.
• Good at through-the-skin gas exchange (skin and shell are so porous
that the animal can dehydrate); also good at regulating heating and
cooling rates behaviorally.
• Can store sperm; usually double-clutch. Thought to be very longlived.
• Former has weird disjunct
Kinosternon baurii &
range in Coastal Plain; latter
subrubrum (mud turtles)
occurs everywhere except
(Adult: Plate 2; Text: pp. 153 &
mountains.
155)
• About 7-10cm.
• Both like quiet waters;
former prefers slow-moving
& deeper.
• Predators on small stuff.
K. subrubrum
K. bauri
Sternotherus odoratus (musk turtle)
(Adult: Plate 2; Text: p. 150)
• Found statewide, typically in
slow water with soft bottom.
• About 5-12cm.
• Moves on land but dehydrates
rapidly.
• Time to maturity depends on
food and latitude.
• Mating often occurs in fall, and
sperm may be stored. Multiple
small clutches are the rule.
• Eat any animal that’s small– but
mostly invertebrates.
Caretta caretta (loggerhead)
(Adult: Plate 9; Text: p. 192)
• Omnivorous but prefers mollusks.
• About 80-120cm; 100-200kg
females spend most of year at sea.
• Migration to nesting beaches can
be > 2500km (often less; left).
• Night landfall on natal beach;
selects nest site.
• Lays c. 100 4.5cm eggs in nest;
probably nests 3-4 times in year–
and then skips 1-3 years.
• After 2 months eggs hatch; young
head to sea.
• Depredation on nests and
hatchlings is very heavy.
• Young probably float in Sargasso.
Chelonia mydas
(green turtle)
(Adult: Plate 9; Text: p. 191)
• Economically this is the
most valuable sea turtle.
• At about 90-130cm, it’s
often a bit larger than
loggerheads (though head of
green turtle is smaller).
• This is the only sea turtle
that feeds largely on plant
material.
• Nesting on South Carolina
beaches is very rare.
• Cross open ocean but usually
feed in shallow water.
• Female age at maturity may
be very old (>35 years).
• Shell is composed of many tiny
bones embedded in the thick
Dermochelys
skin. (The biggest such bones
coriacea
form 7 longitudinal ridges.)
(leatherback) • About 135-180cm (largest turtle;
to 500kg).
(Adult: Plate 9; Text: p. 193)
• Mating probably takes place
during migration from temperate
to tropical waters.
• Multiple clutches (often 6 or
more) of about 50-150 eggs are
produced.
• “Graze” on jellyfish.
• Thermal biology is convergent
with that of mammals.