Chelydra serpentina (Linnaeus, 1758)

Jones, Dillon, Foshee, Bethany & Fitzgerald, Lee, 2021, A herpetological survey of Edith L. Moore Nature Sanctuary, Check List 17 (1), pp. 27-38 : 33

Chelydra serpentina (Linnaeus, 1758)

Examined material. UNITED STATES • 2 via sur- vey, 4 via iNaturalist; Texas, Harris County, Houston ; 29.7711°N, 095.5701°W; first encounter on 17 Feb. 2018; capture via transect survey .

Identification. This species possesses a large head and a rough carapace with 3 well-defined longitudinal keels. The tail is as long as the carapace or longer with a sawtoothed appearance. This species can be distinguished from Macrochelys temminckii (Troost, 1835) by the absence of extra scute rows between the marginals and pleurals. Additionally, this species differs from mud and musk turtles ( Kinosternidae ) by the rougher carapace and a its cross shaped plastron ( Powell et al. 2016).