What species of turtle is this?

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Juxtaroberto

Juxtaroberto

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Jan 1, 2009
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Los Angeles, CA, USA
What kind of turtle is that in the picture? I saw it on one of the ads here on MFK and it looks exactly like mine (even the few shell markings you can see). I've never been able to identify the species (I bought it even before I had begun to keep fish). I once tried to find it online and the closest thing I saw was something called a "Florida cooter," although it looked like a blog-style website so I don't know how accurate it was.

Thanks.
 

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Richie_ELP;4646716; said:
;) Mata mata


Peninsula Cooter
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Definitely not a Mata mata, but it does resemble the Peninsula Cooter.

coura;4646956; said:
Could also be Pseudemys nelsoni
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It also resembles Pseudemys nelsoni, although apparently the Peninsula Cooter is Pseudemys floridana peninsularis, so same genus. Is there any definite way to tell the difference amongst them? Or should I just be content in saying, "It's a Pseudemys... reaches the generic 12" in length, etc etc"?
 
Okay, it's definitely not P. nelsoni. Apparently P. nelsoni has a red tinge on its belly, which mine does not have, and two cusps on its upper jaw, which mine also does not have. It's looking like P. floridana or P. floridana peninsularis. But since peninsularis is a subspecies of floridana, I think it's safe to say I have a Florida cooter.

Unless someone out there know any better.

I can't upload any pictures of my own because my computer's USB ports don't work, so there's no way to transfer from my camera to my computer.

Chrisplosion;4647579; said:
Either way don't buy from that ad, they have sickly turtles.
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LOL! Yeah don't worry I won't.
 
The angle of the picture supplied is not sufficient to determine for sure if it is P. f. peninsularis or P. nelsoni. Also, on top of the poor condition which can be seen in the picture, this turtle is likely not a pure specimen anyway, as Turtleshack and Turtlesale are well known for unintentionally cross-breeding.

As for your turtle, we would absolutely need pictures to confirm the species. Cooters are especially hard to ID. The plastron color is not always indicative of species, as Redbellies don't always have red coloring of any kind, whereas River Cooters (P. c. concinna) sometimes do.

Josh
 
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