Pseudemys concinna
Encyclopedia
The eastern river cooter (Pseudemys concinna concinna) or river cooter is a freshwater
turtle
native to the central and eastern United States, from Virginia
south to mid-Georgia
, west to eastern Texas
, Oklahoma
, and north to southern Indiana
. They are usually found in rivers with moderate current
, as well as lakes and tidal marsh
es.
includes several species of cooters and red-bellied turtles. Pseudemys concinna is the species known as the River cooter. The name "cooter" may have come from an African word "kuta" which means "turtle" in the Bambara
and Malinké languages, brought to America by African slaves
.
during the winter for up to two months, in the mud, underwater. They do not breathe during this time of low metabolism, but can utilize oxygen from the water, which they take in through the cloaca
. River cooters prefer to be well hidden under aquatic plants during the winter dormancy period or while sleeping each night.
(upper shell) is typically dark greenish-brown with pale yellow markings, often in the shape of concentric
circles. The skin is dark green with yellow stripes down the neck and legs. The plastron (bottom shell) is yellow with a dark pattern that follows the scute
seams (this fades with age). For these reasons, they are often confused with yellow-bellied slider
s, which also have yellow stripes and yellow plastrons, but the latter have green spots along the edges of their bellies. The stripe down the hind foot is also a major characteristic. As these turtles grow older, they tend to become very dark (melanistic
) obscuring much of the carapacial design. Hatchlings have a central keel which disappears with age. Wide, sometimes dark-edged, stripes under the chin form an upside-down "Y." The plastron is yellow and is marked with a large, darker pattern, at least anteriorly. The plastral pattern tends to fade with age. Males have a broader tail and may have a slightly concave plastron. Females tend to grow larger than males, and have a smaller tail and more convex plastron.
, river cooters will eat anything, plant or animal, dead or alive. Diet seems to be determined by available food items. While some writers feel that these turtles will not eat meat, predatory behavior has been observed. Although this animal cannot swallow out of water, it will leave the water to retrieve a tasty bug or worm, returning to the water to swallow. Cooters will also enthusiatically chase, kill and eat small fish. They have also been observed eating carrion found along the river's edge. River cooters have tooth-like cusps in the upper jaw, probably an adaptation to aid in eating leaves and fibrous vegetation. Their primary diet would include a wide variety of aquatic plants, and some terrestrial plants that grow near the water's edge. They will happily take fallen fruits as well. In captivity, any kind of plant will be eaten, and some "meats", too. Turtles will also take calcium in a separate form, such as a cuttlebone
, so that the turtle can self-regulate calcium intake.
. As with the other basking turtles, the males tend to be smaller than females. The male uses his long claws to flutter at the face of the much larger female. Often, the female ignores him. After detecting what may be a pheromone
signal while sniffing at a female's tail, a male river cooter will court a female by swimming above her, vibrating his long nails and stroking her face. Females have also been observed doing this to initiate courtship. If the female is receptive, she will sink to the bottom of the river and allow the male to mount for mating. If they do mate, after several weeks the female crawls upon land to seek a nesting site. They often cross highways looking for suitable nesting spots. Females will lay between 12 to 20 eggs at a time, close to water. The eggs hatch within 45 to 56 days and the hatchlings will usually stay with the nest through their first winter.
Mating takes place in early spring. Nesting usually occurs from May to June. The female chooses a site with sandy or loamy soil, within 100 ft (30 m) of the river's edge. She looks for a rather open area, with no major obstacles for the future hatchings to negotiate on their way to the river. The nest is dug with the hind feet. She lays 10–25 or more eggs in one or more clutches. Eggs are ellipsoidal, approximately 1.5 inches (4 cm) long. Incubation time is determined by temperature, but averages 90–100 days. Hatchlings generally emerge in August or September. There have been reported instances of late clutches over-wintering and hatching in the spring. A hatchling will have a round carapace, about 1.5 inches (4 cm) diameter, that is green with bright yellow markings.
. Younger ones tend to seek a more protein enriched diet such as aquatic invertebrates, crustaceans, and fish. Older turtles may occasionally seek prey as well, but mostly partake of a herbivorous diet.
These turtles can sometimes be found basking in the sun, but are very wary and will quickly retreat into the water if approached. Otherwise, they are difficult to find in the water, which may be due to their ability to breathe while fully submerged. As a result, little is known about their biology and behavior.
River cooters live in a wide variety of freshwater and even brackish locations. Rivers, lakes, ponds and marshes with heavy vegetation provide ideal habitat. Large webbed feet make the river cooter an excellent swimmer, capable of negotiating moderately strong river currents of major river systems. They will collect in large numbers on peninsular floodplains associated with a river oxbow.
One particular distinctive feature of the Eastern River Cooter is that they have the ability to breathe underwater through a sac called the cloaca
bursae which is based in their tail. This allows them to stay underwater for extended periods of time, and makes their behavior harder to study.
, but are commonly sold among them nonetheless. They are easy to care for as pets, but harder as they reach adulthood because they cannot easily fit into aquariums. They can be quite aggressive when food is being involved, but are otherwise a mild-tempered turtle easy to take care of.
In captivity, cooters need an aquatic habitat, with a dry basking area. They need a warming light and UVB radiation (from reptile lights or direct sunshine). As juveniles, they can be kept in a 20- or 30-gallon long tank, but they will outgrow those accommodations, and need a very large tank or outdoor pond.
. Turtles and turtle eggs found to be offered for sale in violation of this provision are subject to destruction in accordance with FDA procedures. A fine of up to $1,000 and/or imprisonment for up to one year is the penalty for those who refuse to comply with a valid final demand for destruction of such turtles or their eggs.
Many stores and flea markets still sell small turtles due to an exception in the FDA regulation which allows turtles under 4 inches (101.6 mm) to be sold "for bona fide scientific, educational, or exhibitional purposes, other than use as pets."
As with many other animals and inanimate objects, the risk of Salmonella exposure can be reduced by following basic rules of cleanliness. Small children must be taught not to put the turtle in their mouth and to wash their hands immediately after they finish "playing" with the turtle, feeding it, or changing the water.
Freshwater
Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...
turtle
Turtle
Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield...
native to the central and eastern United States, from Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
south to mid-Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, west to eastern Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, and north to southern Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
. They are usually found in rivers with moderate current
Current (stream)
A current, in a river or stream, is the flow of water influenced by gravity as the water moves downhill to reduce its potential energy. The current varies spatially as well as temporally within the stream, dependent upon the flow volume of water, stream gradient, and channel geometrics...
, as well as lakes and tidal marsh
Tidal marsh
A tidal marsh is a type of marsh that is found along coasts and estuaries of which the flooding characteristics are determined by the tidal movement of the adjacent estuary, sea or ocean . According to the salinity of the flooding water, freshwater, brackish and saline tidal marshes are...
es.
Name
The genus PseudemysPseudemys
Pseudemys is a genus of large, herbivorous, freshwater turtles of the eastern United States. They are often referred to as cooters, which stems from kuta, the word for turtle in the Bambara and Malinké languages, brought to America by African slaves....
includes several species of cooters and red-bellied turtles. Pseudemys concinna is the species known as the River cooter. The name "cooter" may have come from an African word "kuta" which means "turtle" in the Bambara
Bambara language
Bambara, more correctly known as Bamanankan , its designation in the language itself , is a language spoken in Mali by as many as six million people...
and Malinké languages, brought to America by African slaves
History of slavery in the United States
Slavery in the United States was a form of slave labor which existed as a legal institution in North America for more than a century before the founding of the United States in 1776, and continued mostly in the South until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in...
.
Behavior
River cooters enjoy basking on logs or sun-warmed rocks, and are frequently found in the company of other aquatic basking turtles (sliders and painteds) sometimes piled up on top of each other. All are quick to slip into the water if disturbed. Diurnal by nature, these turtles wake with the warming sun to bask and forage. They can move with surprising speed in the water and on land. It is not unusual for them to wander from one body of fresh water to another, but many seem to develop fairly large home ranges, which they seldom or never leave. They sleep in the water, hidden under vegetation. While those that live in areas that are quite warm remain active all winter, river cooters in cooler climes can become dormantHibernation
Hibernation is a state of inactivity and metabolic depression in animals, characterized by lower body temperature, slower breathing, and lower metabolic rate. Hibernating animals conserve food, especially during winter when food supplies are limited, tapping energy reserves, body fat, at a slow rate...
during the winter for up to two months, in the mud, underwater. They do not breathe during this time of low metabolism, but can utilize oxygen from the water, which they take in through the cloaca
Cloaca
In zoological anatomy, a cloaca is the posterior opening that serves as the only such opening for the intestinal, reproductive, and urinary tracts of certain animal species...
. River cooters prefer to be well hidden under aquatic plants during the winter dormancy period or while sleeping each night.
Description
Eastern River Cooters are capable of growing up to 16 inches (41 cm). The carapaceCarapace
A carapace is a dorsal section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the underside is called the plastron.-Crustaceans:In crustaceans, the...
(upper shell) is typically dark greenish-brown with pale yellow markings, often in the shape of concentric
Concentric
Concentric objects share the same center, axis or origin with one inside the other. Circles, tubes, cylindrical shafts, disks, and spheres may be concentric to one another...
circles. The skin is dark green with yellow stripes down the neck and legs. The plastron (bottom shell) is yellow with a dark pattern that follows the scute
Scute
A scute or scutum is a bony external plate or scale, as on the shell of a turtle, the skin of crocodilians, the feet of some birds or the anterior portion of the mesonotum in insects.-Properties:...
seams (this fades with age). For these reasons, they are often confused with yellow-bellied slider
Yellow-bellied slider
The yellow-bellied slider is a land and water turtle belonging to the family Emydidae. This subspecies of pond slider is native to the southeastern United States, specifically from Florida to southeastern Virginia, and is the most common turtle species in its range...
s, which also have yellow stripes and yellow plastrons, but the latter have green spots along the edges of their bellies. The stripe down the hind foot is also a major characteristic. As these turtles grow older, they tend to become very dark (melanistic
Melanism
Melanism is an undue development of dark-colored pigment in the skin or its appendages, and the opposite of albinism. It is also the medical term for black jaundice.The word is deduced from the , meaning black pigment....
) obscuring much of the carapacial design. Hatchlings have a central keel which disappears with age. Wide, sometimes dark-edged, stripes under the chin form an upside-down "Y." The plastron is yellow and is marked with a large, darker pattern, at least anteriorly. The plastral pattern tends to fade with age. Males have a broader tail and may have a slightly concave plastron. Females tend to grow larger than males, and have a smaller tail and more convex plastron.
Diet
While the species is highly omnivorousOmnivore
Omnivores are species that eat both plants and animals as their primary food source...
, river cooters will eat anything, plant or animal, dead or alive. Diet seems to be determined by available food items. While some writers feel that these turtles will not eat meat, predatory behavior has been observed. Although this animal cannot swallow out of water, it will leave the water to retrieve a tasty bug or worm, returning to the water to swallow. Cooters will also enthusiatically chase, kill and eat small fish. They have also been observed eating carrion found along the river's edge. River cooters have tooth-like cusps in the upper jaw, probably an adaptation to aid in eating leaves and fibrous vegetation. Their primary diet would include a wide variety of aquatic plants, and some terrestrial plants that grow near the water's edge. They will happily take fallen fruits as well. In captivity, any kind of plant will be eaten, and some "meats", too. Turtles will also take calcium in a separate form, such as a cuttlebone
Cuttlebone
Cuttlebone, also known as cuttlefish bone, is a hard, brittle internal structure found in all members of the family Sepiidae, commonly known as cuttlefish....
, so that the turtle can self-regulate calcium intake.
Longevity
River cooters are faced with loss of habitat, predation by animals, slaughter on the highways and use as a food source by some people. Hatchlings are particularly vulnerable. During their overland scramble to the river, many will be taken by avian and mammal predators. Alligators and muskrats await them in the water. Some will be taken and sold to pet stores. Populations are down in some areas, and there have been increasing reports of injured turtles, but this species as a whole is hardy, and continues to thrive. These turtles can live 40 years or more.Reproduction
Eastern River cooters mating habits are very similar to a red-eared sliderRed-eared slider
The red-eared slider is a semiaquatic turtle belonging to the family Emydidae. It is a subspecies of pond slider. It is the most popular pet turtle in the United States and also popular in the rest of the world...
. As with the other basking turtles, the males tend to be smaller than females. The male uses his long claws to flutter at the face of the much larger female. Often, the female ignores him. After detecting what may be a pheromone
Pheromone
A pheromone is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting outside the body of the secreting individual to impact the behavior of the receiving individual...
signal while sniffing at a female's tail, a male river cooter will court a female by swimming above her, vibrating his long nails and stroking her face. Females have also been observed doing this to initiate courtship. If the female is receptive, she will sink to the bottom of the river and allow the male to mount for mating. If they do mate, after several weeks the female crawls upon land to seek a nesting site. They often cross highways looking for suitable nesting spots. Females will lay between 12 to 20 eggs at a time, close to water. The eggs hatch within 45 to 56 days and the hatchlings will usually stay with the nest through their first winter.
Mating takes place in early spring. Nesting usually occurs from May to June. The female chooses a site with sandy or loamy soil, within 100 ft (30 m) of the river's edge. She looks for a rather open area, with no major obstacles for the future hatchings to negotiate on their way to the river. The nest is dug with the hind feet. She lays 10–25 or more eggs in one or more clutches. Eggs are ellipsoidal, approximately 1.5 inches (4 cm) long. Incubation time is determined by temperature, but averages 90–100 days. Hatchlings generally emerge in August or September. There have been reported instances of late clutches over-wintering and hatching in the spring. A hatchling will have a round carapace, about 1.5 inches (4 cm) diameter, that is green with bright yellow markings.
In the wild
In the wild they feed on aquatic plants, grasses, and algaeAlgae
Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...
. Younger ones tend to seek a more protein enriched diet such as aquatic invertebrates, crustaceans, and fish. Older turtles may occasionally seek prey as well, but mostly partake of a herbivorous diet.
These turtles can sometimes be found basking in the sun, but are very wary and will quickly retreat into the water if approached. Otherwise, they are difficult to find in the water, which may be due to their ability to breathe while fully submerged. As a result, little is known about their biology and behavior.
River cooters live in a wide variety of freshwater and even brackish locations. Rivers, lakes, ponds and marshes with heavy vegetation provide ideal habitat. Large webbed feet make the river cooter an excellent swimmer, capable of negotiating moderately strong river currents of major river systems. They will collect in large numbers on peninsular floodplains associated with a river oxbow.
One particular distinctive feature of the Eastern River Cooter is that they have the ability to breathe underwater through a sac called the cloaca
Cloaca
In zoological anatomy, a cloaca is the posterior opening that serves as the only such opening for the intestinal, reproductive, and urinary tracts of certain animal species...
bursae which is based in their tail. This allows them to stay underwater for extended periods of time, and makes their behavior harder to study.
As pets
Eastern River Cooters make good pets for their behavior. They are not as widely sold as the Red-eared SliderRed-eared slider
The red-eared slider is a semiaquatic turtle belonging to the family Emydidae. It is a subspecies of pond slider. It is the most popular pet turtle in the United States and also popular in the rest of the world...
, but are commonly sold among them nonetheless. They are easy to care for as pets, but harder as they reach adulthood because they cannot easily fit into aquariums. They can be quite aggressive when food is being involved, but are otherwise a mild-tempered turtle easy to take care of.
In captivity, cooters need an aquatic habitat, with a dry basking area. They need a warming light and UVB radiation (from reptile lights or direct sunshine). As juveniles, they can be kept in a 20- or 30-gallon long tank, but they will outgrow those accommodations, and need a very large tank or outdoor pond.
United States federal regulations on commercial distribution
A 1975 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation bans the sale (for general commercial and public use) of turtle eggs and turtles with a carapace length of less than 4 inches (101.6 mm). This regulation comes under the Public Health Service Act and is enforced by the FDA in cooperation with State and local health jurisdictions. The ban has been effective in the U.S. since 1975 because of the public health impact of turtle-associated SalmonellaSalmonella
Salmonella is a genus of rod-shaped, Gram-negative, non-spore-forming, predominantly motile enterobacteria with diameters around 0.7 to 1.5 µm, lengths from 2 to 5 µm, and flagella which grade in all directions . They are chemoorganotrophs, obtaining their energy from oxidation and reduction...
. Turtles and turtle eggs found to be offered for sale in violation of this provision are subject to destruction in accordance with FDA procedures. A fine of up to $1,000 and/or imprisonment for up to one year is the penalty for those who refuse to comply with a valid final demand for destruction of such turtles or their eggs.
Many stores and flea markets still sell small turtles due to an exception in the FDA regulation which allows turtles under 4 inches (101.6 mm) to be sold "for bona fide scientific, educational, or exhibitional purposes, other than use as pets."
As with many other animals and inanimate objects, the risk of Salmonella exposure can be reduced by following basic rules of cleanliness. Small children must be taught not to put the turtle in their mouth and to wash their hands immediately after they finish "playing" with the turtle, feeding it, or changing the water.