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

Abstract

The 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 surrounded by White Mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa) and Buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus) habitat with a scattering of Cordgrass (Spartina sp.) and Smooth Sawgrass (Cladium mariscoides). A digital image was deposited in the Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida (UF-Herpetology 174814)

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 IRCFREPTILES&AMPHIBIANS•22(1):38–39•MAR2015
The Snapping Turtle, Chelydra serpentina
(Linnaeus 1758) (Testudines: Chelydridae),
in the Florida Keys
Michael V. Cove and Andrew S. Maurer
DepartmentofAppliedEcology,NorthCarolinaStateUniversity,Raleigh,NorthCarolina27695,USA(mvcove@ncsu.edu)
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IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • VOL15, NO 4 • DEC 2008 189TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FEATURE ARTICLES
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 198
RESEARCH ARTICLES
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 212
CONSERVATION ALERT
World’s Mammals in Crisis ............................................................................................................................................................. 220
More Than Mammals ...................................................................................................................................................................... 223
The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity ........................................................................................................................................... 225
HUSBANDRY
Captive Care of the Central Netted Dragon ....................................................................................................... Shannon Plummer 226
PROFILE
Kraig Adler: A Lifetime Promoting Herpetology ................................................................................................ Michael L. Treglia 234
COMMENTARY
The Turtles Have Been Watching Me ........................................................................................................................ Eric Gangloff 238
BOOK REVIEW
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 ............................................................................................... 252
Front Cover. Shannon Plummer.
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Back Cover. Michael Kern
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REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS
CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY
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The 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 another C. serpentina that was
completely covered in filamentous green algae on the shell,
head, and tail, and appeared to be slightly larger than the first
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.
Acknowledgments
We 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.

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 IRCFREPTILES&AMPHIBIANS•22(1):38–39•MAR2015COVE AND MAUER