The coastal plain cooter (''Pseudemys floridana'') or Florida cooter is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of large herbivorous freshwater

turtle Turtles are reptiles of the order (biology), order Testudines, characterized by a special turtle shell, shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Crypt ...

in the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Pseudemys ''Pseudemys'' is a genus of large, herbivorous, freshwater turtles of the eastern United States and adjacent northeast Mexico. They are often referred to as cooters, which stems from ''kuta'', the word for turtle in the Bambara and Malinké lang ...

''.

Biology

The species is found within the southeastern coastal plain of the United States, from extreme southeastern

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

southward through all of

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

and westward to the vicinity of Mobile Bay, Alabama. The nominate race (''P. f. floridana'') occupies most of the species' geographic range but is replaced in the Florida peninsula by the

peninsula cooter The peninsula cooter (''Pseudemys peninsularis'') is a species of freshwater turtle in the genus '' Pseudemys''. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of the coastal plain cooter (''P. floridana'') when that turtle is not itself considered a s ...

(''Pseudemys peninsularis''), which is primarily distinguished by differences in head markings. Both races can be distinguished from sympatric ''Pseudemys'' species by the immaculate yellow color of their plastrons and the lack of a U-shaped cusp in the upper jaw (characteristic of the Florida redbelly turtle). The carapace length of the size ranges from typically and the normal weigh is (in the slightly larger females) . The record sized female measured in carapace length. The cooter is mainly

herbivorous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat n ...

and inhabits lakes, sloughs, ponds, slow-flowing streams, and other still bodies of water with soft bottoms and abundant

aquatic vegetation Aquatic plants, also referred to as hydrophytes, are vascular plants and Non-vascular plant, non-vascular plants that have adapted to live in aquatic ecosystem, aquatic environments (marine ecosystem, saltwater or freshwater ecosystem, freshwater ...

. However, it can be found in high densities in some Florida spring runs, usually in heavily vegetated areas with little flow. This species is active year-round and spends a large portion of the day basking on logs. Coastal cooters are frequently

exported An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is a ...

for

consumption Consumption may refer to: * Eating *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically known as consumption * Consumer (food chain), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of n ...

and the

pet A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive/ cute appearances, inte ...

trade, with about 60% wild caught individuals and 40% captive bred. Recent protection by many southeastern states has curbed this exploitation but illegal harvest for local consumption may still threaten some populations.

Gallery

image:Floridacooter2.jpg, side shot image:Floridacooter.jpg , front shot

References

*Ernst, C.H., R.W. Barbour and J.E. Lovich. 1994. ''Turtles of the United States and Canada''. Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Institution Press. *Hubbs, C. 1995. Springs and spring runs as unique aquatic systems. ''Copeia''. 1995(4): 989–991. *Reed, R.N. and J.W. Gibbons. 2004. Conservation status of live U.S. nonmarine turtles in domestic and international trade – a report to: U.S. Department of the Interior and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Aiken, SC, Savannah River Ecology Lab: 1-92. ;Bibliography * {{Taxonbar, from=Q598997 Pseudemys fr:Pseudemys floridana ja:ペニンシュラクーター ru:Полуостровная черепаха