Alabama Red-bellied Turtle

Pseudemys alabamensis

Description

The Alabama red-bellied turtle, Pseudemys alabamensis, is a large, freshwater turtle with a carapace (upper shell) length of 8-10 in (20-25 cm). The elongated, arched carapace is brown to olive, with yellow, orange, or reddish streaks and mottling. The plastron (undershell) grades from orange to red. The skin is olive to black with yellow to light orange facial stripes. There is a prominent notch at the tip of the upper jaw, bordered on either side by a tooth-like cusp.

The Alabama red-bellied turtle has more head stripes than the Florida red-bellied turtle, and the arched shell and jaw notch and cusp distinguish it from the cooter (Pseudemys floridana ) and the river cooter (Pseudemys concinna ).

Behavior

Members of the genus Pseudemys breed in late spring and early summer. The female selects a nesting site in sandy soil usually within 300 ft (90 m) of a pond and deposits 10-17 eggs. Incubation takes from 73 to 80 days at 77°F (25°C). The hatchlings are about 1 in (2.5 cm) long. Females may take up to 15 years to reach sexual maturity, although males mature more quickly. The Alabama red-bellied turtle is strictly herbivorous, feeding on aquatic vegetation.

Habitat

This turtle inhabits rivers, ponds, and freshwater wetlands. It is found most often in backwater bays with a water depth of 3.3-6.6 ft (1-2 m), where there is extensive submerged and emergent vegetation, such as bulrushes. The turtle nests along the banks and uses the dense beds of aquatic vegetation for basking.

Distribution

The Alabama red-bellied turtle was once found throughout the lower part of the flood plain of the Mobile River system in Baldwin and Mobile Counties, Alabama, and as far north as the Little River State Park in southern Monroe County.

Although it was once found as far north as the lake in Little River State Park (as recently as 1975), the turtle is now found only in scattered areas in the lower Mobile River system below David Lake in Mobile County. It appears to be most abundant in a 13-mile stretch of the Tensaw River south of Hurricane Landing. It is occasionally reported from Dauphin Island, in Mobile County, but is not thought to breed there. The only known major nesting site is on Gravine Island, which, in the 1960s and 1970s, was overrun with domestic-turned-wild pigs, dangerous predators for this species. Later predators have included crows, known for raiding the turtle nests. Data on population status and trend remains inconclusive, and total population size is unknown.

Threats

The last known nesting site is heavily used by campers during times when turtles are nesting. Camp lights, trampling, and noise disturb nesting turtles and have been observed to cause reproductive failure. Off-road vehicles have destroyed turtle nests and eggs.

Predation is a likely factor in turtle decline. The fish crow is probably the main predator of Alabama red-bellied turtle eggs. Egg-eating domestic pigs, which were released on the nesting island during the late 1960s, constitute another menace.

Trapping and trawling of the turtles for use as pets and food, and incidental harvesting by commercial fishermen (using gill, hoop and trammel nets), crabbers (using crab traps) and shrimpers (using shrimp trawls), also remain serious threats to the species.

Conservation and Recovery

The main nesting island is privately owned and divided into four different parcels. The owner of the largest parcel has agreed to cooperate with U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service efforts to protect the turtle.

The 1990 Fish and Wildlife Service Recovery Plan for the Alabama red-bellied turtle states that the species can be considered for reclassifying to threatened when long-term protection has been established for three nesting habitats; basking, feeding and overwintering habitats have been protected; and 15 years of data demonstrate that the population trend is increasing.

To achieve these goals, the plan calls for the determination of basic population biology and ecology parameters; reduction in disturbance and predation of eggs, young, and adults; and the protection of primary habitats.

Contact

Regional Office of Endangered Species
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Regional Office, Division of Endangered Species
1875 Century Blvd., Suite 200
Atlanta, Georgia 30345
http://southeast.fws.gov/

References

Carr, A. F., Jr., and J. W. Crenshaw, Jr. 1957. "A Taxonomic Reappraisal of the Turtle Pseudemys alabamensis Baur." Bulletin of the Florida State Museum 2: 25-42.

Ernst, C. H., and R. W. Barbour. 1972. Turtles of the United States. University Presses of Kentucky, Lexington.

Meany, D. B. 1979. "Nesting Habits of the Alabama Red-Bellied Turtle, Pseudemys alabamensis." Journal of the Alabama Academy of Science 50: 113.

Pritchard, P. C. H. 1979. Encyclopedia of Turtles. T. F.H. Publications, Neptune, New Jersey.