Family: Chelydridae, Snapping Turtles view all from this family
Description 13 3/8-26+" (34-66+ cm). Largest freshwater turtle in the world. Record weight is 219 lbs. (99.5 kg). Massive head with strongly hooked beak; very long tail. Carapace brown or gray, serrated, with 3 prominent keels and an extra row of small scutes between marginal and costal scutes. Plastron comparatively small and gray.
Warning Snappers have massive heads with powerful, hooked jaws. They strike viciously when lifted from water or teased and can inflict a serious bite.
Breeding Mates underwater, February to April. Lays one clutch, April to June, of 10-52 spherical, 1 1/2" (38 mm) eggs, in a flask-shaped, earthen cavity a short distance from water's edge. Incubation takes 11 1/2-16+ weeks.
Habitat Deepwater rivers, lakes, oxbows, sloughs; occasionally enters brackish water.
Range Coastal plain from se. Georgia and Florida panhandle to e. Texas, north to Iowa and Indiana.
Discussion Only nesting females are known to leave the water. The Alligator Snapper has a unique pink wormlike structure on its tongue. Resting quietly on the bottom, with mouth agape, it moves this "fishing lure" to attract prey. It also stalks anything it can capture and swallow, including other turtles. One in captivity has lived for more than 60 years.
