Cove, Michael V.

Maurer, Andrew S.

English

The University of Kansas: Journals@KU

The Snapping Turtle, Chelydra serpentina (Linnaeus 1758) (Testudines: Chelydridae), in the Florida Keys

Biodiversity Informatics

	 IRCF	REPTILES	&	AMPHIBIANS		•		22(1):38–39	•		MAR	2015The Snapping Turtle, Chelydra serpentina (Linnaeus 1758) (Testudines: Chelydridae),  in the Florida KeysMichael V. Cove and Andrew S. MaurerDepartment	of	Applied	Ecology,	North	Carolina	State	University,	Raleigh,	North	Carolina	27695,	USA	(mvcove@ncsu.edu)38IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS  •  VOL15, NO 4  •  DEC 2008 189TABLE OF CONTENTST A B L E  O F  C O N T E N T SF E A T U R E  A R T I C L E S Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in Wisconsin: On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...................... Joshua M. Kapfer 190 The Shared History of Treeboas (Corallus grenadensis) and Humans on Grenada: A Hypothetical Excursion ............................................................................................................................Robert W. Henderson 198R E S E A R C H  A R T I C L E S The Texas Horned Lizard in Central and Western Texas .......................  Emily Henry, Jason Brewer, Krista Mougey, and Gad Perry 204 The Knight Anole (Anolis equestris) in Florida  .............................................Brian J. Camposano, Kenneth L. Krysko, Kevin M. Enge, Ellen M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky 212C O N S E R V A T I O N  A L E R T World’s Mammals in Crisis  .............................................................................................................................................................   220 More Than Mammals  ......................................................................................................................................................................   223 The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity  ...........................................................................................................................................   225H U S B A N D R Y Captive Care of the Central Netted Dragon  ....................................................................................................... Shannon Plummer 226P R O F I L E Kraig Adler: A Lifetime Promoting Herpetology  ................................................................................................ Michael L. Treglia 234C O M M E N T A R Y The Turtles Have Been Watching Me  ........................................................................................................................ Eric Gangloff 238B O O K  R E V I E W Threatened Amphibians of the World edited by S.N. Stuart, M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox, R. Berridge, P. Ramani, and B.E. Young  ..............................................................................................................  Robert Powell 243 CONSERVATION RESEARCH REPORTS:   Summaries of Published Conservation Research Reports  .................................  245 NATURAL HISTORY RESEARCH REPORTS:   Summaries of Published Reports on Natural History .................................  247 NEWBRIEFS  ......................................................................................................................................................................................  248 EDITORIAL INFORMATION  .....................................................................................................................................................  251 FOCUS ON CONSERVATION:   A Project You Can Support  ...............................................................................................  252Front Cover. Shannon Plummer.Totat et velleseque audant mo estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque moditia erere nonsedis ma sectiatur ma derrovitae voluptam, as quos accullabo.Back Cover. Michael KernTotat et velleseque audant mo estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque moditia erere nonsedis ma sectia-tur ma derrovitae voluptam, asIRCFREPTILES & AMPHIBIANSC O N S E R V AT I O N  A N D  N AT U R A L  H I S T O R YCopyright	©	2015.	Michael	V.	Cove.	All	rights	reserved.	WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTI SANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNALThe Snapping Turtle, Chelydra serpentina	 (Linnaeus	1758),	is	native	to	North	America,	from	southeastern	Canada, along the southwestern edge of the Rocky Mountains and	throughout	the	eastern	United	States	(Ernst	and	Lovich	2009).	Although	C. serpentina has been observed and studied throughout peninsular Florida, it has never been recorded in the	Florida	Keys	(Krysko	et	al.	2011).	 On	4	February	2013	at	1520	h,	we	observed	an	adult	Chelydra serpentina	(Fig.	1)	on	Big	Pine	Key,	Monroe	County,	Florida	(24.71912oN,	81.39296oW,	datum	WGS84,	elev.	<	1	m).	This	individual	was	observed	in	a	mosquito	ditch	sur-rounded	by	White	Mangrove	(Laguncularia racemosa)	and	Buttonwood	(Conocarpus erectus)	habitat	with	a	scattering	of	Cordgrass	(Spartina	sp.)	and	Smooth	Sawgrass	(Cladium mar-iscoides).	A	digital	image	was	deposited	in	the	Florida	Museum	of	Natural	History,	University	of	Florida	(UF-Herpetology	174814).	The	identity	of	the	species	was	confirmed	by	Dr.	Kenneth L. Krysko.	 One	week	later	(11	February	2013)	in	the	same	rela-tive location, we observed anothe  C. serpentina that was completely covered in filamentous green algae on the shell, head, and tail, and appeared to be sligh ly larger than the fi st individual, indicating the presence of multiple individuals in the	area.	Mosquito	ditches	might	represent	the	Big	Pine	Key	equivalent	of	the	habitat	type	best	suited	for	the	species,	small	wetlands	with	a	soft	muck	bottom	and	abundant	aquatic	vegetation	 (Aresco	and	Gunzburger	2007).	Furthermore,	Snapping	Turtles	frequently	travel	across	dry	land	and	mos-quito	ditches	of	the	Lower	Keys	might	serve	as	refugia	for	this species and its prey during the drier months of the year (Aresco	and	Gunzburger	2007). Given the extensive amount of sampling in the Florida Keys over the past century with no prior reports of Chelydra serpentina	 (Duellman	 and	 Schwartz	 1958;	 Lazell	 1989;	Krysko	et	al.	2011),	we	suspect	that	this	species	was	intro-duced.	Many	of	the	introduced	turtles	(e.g.,	Apalone ferox [Schneider	1783],	Pseudemys nelsoni	[Carr	1938],	Trachemys scripta	[Wied-Neuwied	1839])	and	fishes	(e.g.,	Colossoma sp., Oreochromis	sp.)	of	the	Keys	have	been	found	in	the	Blue	Hole on Big Pine Key, where they presumably were released (Lazell	1989;	Powell	2012);	however,	we	detected	C. serpen-tina in a much less accessible location. Genetic analyses might further aid in identifying the origin of the individuals in the Keys. The multiple observations suggest the need for further surveys for C. serpentina to determine if the species is estab-lished in the Lower Keys. AcknowledgmentsWe thank the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and specifically the biologists and managers of the Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuges Complex for their continued support and access to the National Key Deer Refuge. Kenneth L. Krysko commented on a previous version of the manuscript.Fig. 1. Snapping Turtle, Chelydra serpentina	(UF-Herpetology	photo-graphic	voucher	174814),	at	the	capture	site	on	Big	Pine	Key,	Monroe	County,	Florida,	on	4	February	2013.	Photograph	by	Andrew	S.	Maurer.39Literature Cited Aresco,	M.J.	and	M.S.	Gunzburger.	2007.	Ecology	and	morphology	of	Chelydra serpentina in northwestern Florida. Southeastern Naturalist	6:435–448.Duellman,	W.E.	and	A.	Schwartz.	1958.	Amphibians	and	reptiles	of	southern	Florida. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum Biological Sciences	3:182–326.Ernst,	C.H.	and	J.E.	Lovich.	2009.	Turtles of the United States and Canada. Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore, Maryland.Krysko,	K.L.,	K.M.	Enge,	and	P.E.	Moler.	2011.	Atlas of Amphibians and Reptiles in Florida.	Final	Report,	Project	Agreement	08013,	Florida	Fish	and	Wildlife	Conservation Commission, Tallahassee.Lazell,	Jr.,	J.D.	1989.	Wildlife of the Florida Keys, A Natural History. Island Press, Washington, D.C.Powell,	R.	2012.	Geographic	Distribution:	Apalone ferox. Herpetological Review 43:302.		 IRCF	REPTILES	&	AMPHIBIANS		•		22(1):38–39	•		MAR	2015COVE AND MAUER

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The Snapping Turtle, Chelydra serpentina (Linnaeus 1758) (Testudines: Chelydridae), in the Florida Keys

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