Literaturdatenbank
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Jackson, D. R. (2006). Pseudemys concinna – river cooter. In P. A. Meylan (Ed.), Biology and Conservation of Florida Turtles Vol. 3, (pp. 325–337).
Added by: Sarina Wunderlich (06 Jul 2014 16:11:42 UTC) |
| Resource type: Book Article BibTeX citation key: anon2006v View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: General Keywords: Habitat - habitat, Nordamerika - North America, Schildkröten - turtles + tortoises, Testudinidae, Testudo graeca Creators: Jackson, Meylan Collection: Biology and Conservation of Florida Turtles |
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| Abstract |
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The river cooter, Pseudemys concinna, is a large, hard-shelled turtle widespread across the U.S., but restricted in Florida to rivers and associated lakes and impoundments that drain into the Gulf of Mexico. In Florida, two subspecies are found, one (P. c. concinna) from the western panhandle to the Apalachicola River, and the second (P. c. suwanniensis) from the Ochlockonee River east and south along the Gulf Coast to the Alafia River, which empties into Tampa Bay. This herbivore spends much of its day foraging on aquatic plants or basking on logs and stumps to raise its body temperature, presumably to increase digestive efficiency. The long nesting season in Florida extends from late March or early April into July and allows individual females to produce as many as five or more clutches of eggs at roughly 3-week intervals. Each clutch typically contains 12-25 relatively small eggs. Populations in some rivers may reach high densities which, combined with the turtle’s large size (up to 10 kg for a large female), allows this species to achieve a very high biomass (e.g., 600 kg/river km) for a riverine reptile. Thus, the species may have a profound influence on aquatic ecosystems. Protection of the river cooter is largely dependent upon maintenance of high quality riverine systems free of pollution and human disturbance, as well as limitation on the number of cooters that can be harvested for human consumption or the pet trade. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission currently lists one subspecies, P. c. suwanniensis, as a Species of Special Concern, and restricts possession of any river cooter to two individuals or eggs per person, with the bulk of the nesting season closed to any possession.
Added by: Sarina Wunderlich |