Gulf Coast Spiny Softshells

The 2 dark lines that define this subspecies are easily seen on this young example. Although softshelled turtles hadn’t figured into our stop on the Pascagoula River, Jake and I were both delighted when we saw a female Gulf Coast spiny softshell, Apalone spinifera aspera, sunning on a snag near the shore. That it was a female was obvious from the heavily pigmented carapace. Not large as females go—the record is about 17 ½”—this female was about 9 inches in shell length. The much smaller males seem to top out at about 8 ½ “ carapace length and are often 1 or 2” smaller. This subspecies ranges from eNC to seLA. It is found in extreme nFL, where I have seen it in the rivers in the Apalachicola National Forest. This subspecies differs from all other subspecies of Apalone spinifera in having 2 (rather than just one) lines paralleling the rear of the carapace. Very visible in young example and males, the lines may be difficult to see on heavily pigmented adult females.

These are newly hatched Gulf Coast spiny softshells.

The carapacial patterns of female Gulf Coast softshells are typically diffused by dark pigment.