113038, Chattahoochee River, Eufala. _Cherokee_: ANSP 24592, "near"
center of Terrapin Creek. _Conecuh_: UMMZ 70736, Murder Creek,
Castleberry. _Escambia_: TU 15823, Escambia River, 1 mi. N Sardine; UMMZ
70734, Escambia River at Flomaton. _Henry_: TU 15630, 3 mi. NW jct. Echo
Farm Rd. and Rt. 136 on Echo Farm Rd. _Lowndes_: UMMZ 67759, Pintlalla
Creek. _Mobile_: MCZ 1608 (2), 1608A, Mobile. _Sumpter_: USNM 83996, 3
mi. SE Coatopa. _Tuscaloosa_: TU 14673 (5), Black Warrior River, 17.5
mi. SSW Tuscaloosa; UA 52-1085, Cottondale. _Walker_: KU 50843, 50851,
TU 17137, Mulberry Fork, Black Warrior River, 9 mi. E Jasper.
FLORIDA: _Calhoun_: KU 50837-38, Chipola River, 4 mi. N Scott's Ferry;
TU 16689 (4), Chipola River "near" Blountstown. _Escambia_: TU 13474,
15869 (3), 16584, Escambia River, 1.2 mi. E Century. _Okaloosa_: TU
15661, Blackwater River, 4.3 mi. NW Baker on Route 4. _Santa Rosa_: AMNH
44621, Blackwater River, Milton. _Walton_: UMMZ 110421, Pond Creek, 4
mi. SW Florala, Covington County, Alabama.
GEORGIA: _Baker_: TU 15889 (3), USNM 134243-48, Flint River "near"
Newton; USNM 30822. _Baldwin_: USNM 8708, Milledgeville. _Bryan_: TU
15090, Canouche River, 2.3 mi. W Groveland. _Chatham_: USNM 51981,
92583-84, Savannah. _Chattooga_: UMMZ 113037, tributary of Chattooga
River, Lyerly. _Decatur_: KU 50839-42, Flint River, 1.5 mi. S
Bainbridge. _Fulton_: UMMZ 53037, Roswell. _Lincoln_: USNM 91282-83,
above Price Island, Savannah River. _Murray_: UMMZ 59196, 9 mi. N Spring
Place. _Pulaski_: TU 14882, Ocmulgee River, 4.3 mi. SE Hawkinsville.
_Richmond_: USNM 66859, Augusta. _Whitfield_: UMMZ 74209, Cohulla Creek,
Prater's Mill "near" Dalton. _County unknown_: MCZ 37172; UMMZ 109864,
Flint River at mouth of Dry Creek; USNM 029034.
LOUISIANA: _East Baton Rouge_: LSU 11, 1643-44, City Park Lake in Baton
Rouge; TU 17237, Amite River "near" Baton Rouge. _St. Tammany_: TU 6356,
headwater creek of Bayou Lacombe; TU 16071, USNM 66147, mouth of
Tchefuncta Creek in Lake Pontchartrain. _Tangipahoa_: TU 13623, 3.1 mi.
W Hammond; USNM 68054, Robert. _Washington_: KU 50840, 50846, TU 17117,
Pearl River at Varnado. _Parish unknown_ (East Baton Rouge or
Tangipahoa): UMMZ 95614, Manchac.
MISSISSIPPI: _Chickasaw_: USNM 115981, Chookatonkchie Creek. _Clarke_:
USNM 79350-51, 1 mi. W Melvin, Choctaw County, Alabama; USNM 100805,
Enterprise. _Forrest_: WEB 55-586, 1 mi. S Hattiesburg. _Hancock_: AMNH
46780; WEB 54-651, Hickory Creek "near" Kiln. _Lauderdale_: UMMZ 74681,
9 mi. W Meridian; UMMZ 90130, Lake Juanita, 15 mi. W Meridian.
_Lawrence_: KU 47120, TU 17307.1, Pearl River, 9 mi. S Monticello; USNM
7653-54, Pearl River at Monticello. _Lee_: CM 31904, Verona; USNM
115979, Cower's Area near Guntown. _Madison_: USNM 95191, 95193-94,
Pearl River. _Marion_: MCZ 1597, Pearl River at Columbus (designated
type locality). _Pearl River_: CM 21100, Pearl River, 20 mi. W
Poplarville; TU 14362, Hobolochito Creek, 1 mi. N Picayune. _Perry_: WEB
55-580, Beaver Dam Creek, 1 mi. N Richton. _Walthall_: KU 50844, Bogue
Chitto River, Dillon.
SOUTH CAROLINA: _Abbeville_: USNM 7650, Abbeville? (reported by Pickens,
1927:113; locality considered in error by Stejneger, 1944:50; USNM 7650
having only one dark marginal line paralleling rear margin of carapace
is possibly an aberrant specimen--see page 495 of present account).
_Greenwood_: USNM 71681, 73668, Greenwood. _McCormick_: USNM 91310-12,
Savannah River, 5 mi. W Plum Branch; USNM 92521, near Parksville.
_Richland_: AMNH 70724-25, Broad River, Columbia.
NO DATA: USNM 8359 (erroneously reported from Madison, Indiana by
Yarrow, 1882:29 and Hay, 1892:145; see discussion by Cahn, 1937:200, and
Stejneger, 1944:73-75); USNM 131859.
_Records in the literature._--ALABAMA: _Coffee_: Elba (KKA). _Marengo_:
Tombigbee River near Demopolis. _Mobile_: Fig Island (Löding, 1922:47).
FLORIDA: _Jackson_: Chattahoochee River, 8 mi. SE Butler. _Leon_:
Ochlocknee River, NW of Tallahassee (Goin, 1948:304).
GEORGIA: _Bartow_: Etowah River below Allatoona Dam, _ca._ 4 mi. ESE
Cartersville (Crenshaw and Hopkins, 1955:15). _Berrien_: (Knepton,
1956:324). _Emanuel_: Ogeeche River (Schwartz, 1956:19). _Fulton_: Nancy
Creek, Atlanta (Dunston, 1960:278). _Gwinnett_: _Irwin_: (Knepton, _loc.
cit._). _Jenkins_: Ogeeche River near Buckland Creek jct., 2.5 mi. S
Millen. _Liberty_: Camp Stewart, 4 mi. N Hinesville. _Morgan_: Lake
Rutledge (Schwartz, _loc. cit._). _Muscogee_: Columbus (Stejneger,
1944:52). _Wayne_: Altamaha River, 5 mi. N Mt. Pleasant (Schwartz, _loc.
cit._). _Wilcox_: Ocmulgee River, 3-4 mi. SSE Abbeville (Crenshaw and
Hopkins, _op cit._:16, footnote; Schwartz, _loc. cit._).
MISSISSIPPI: _George_: Whiskey Creek (Cook, 1946:185). _Harrison_: near
Biloxi. _Jackson_: Pascagoula Swamp, _ca._ 40 mi. E. Biloxi (Corrington,
1927:101). _Jones_: Eastabuchie. _Lee_: Cain Creek Bottom. _Lincoln_:
Old Brook Creek. _Lowndes_: Tombigbee River, Camp Henry Pratt and
Columbus; Lake Park, Columbus. _Pearl River_: 21 mi. SW Poplarville; 10
mi. W Poplarville; 4 mi. W Poplarville. _Wayne_: Trigg Area (Cook, _loc.
cit._).
NORTH CAROLINA: _Mecklenburg_: Catawba River near Charlotte (Schwartz,
1956:20).
SOUTH CAROLINA: _Aiken_: Savannah River, 10 mi. SW Jackson. _Allendale_:
Savannah River, Fennell Hill, 2 mi. S US 301. _Anderson_: Pendleton.
_Bamberg_: South Edisto River, Cannon's Bridge, 5 mi. from Bamberg.
_Berkeley_: 2.5 mi. W Pinopolis. _Charleston_: Charleston. _Clarendon_:
Upper Lake Marion at US 301; Lake Marion, 13 mi. SW Manning; 3.3 mi. S
Jordan; 6.3 mi. S Jordan; Wyboo Creek, 8.5 mi. from Manning. _Colleton_:
Edisto River (Schwartz, 1956:19-20). _Darlington_: Pee Dee River,
Society Hill (Stejneger, 1944:72). _Dorchester_: Edisto River, 17 mi.
from Summerville; Edisto River, 14 mi. W Summerville; Edisto River, 2.5
mi. S Hart's Bluff. _Fairfield_: 1 mi. N Peak, Newberry County.
_Georgetown_: North Santee River, 1 mi. above US 17. _McCormick_: Little
River near McCormick; Little River, 3 mi. NE Mt. Carmel. _Laurens_:
Enoree River, 3 mi. S Cashville, Spartanburg County; Enoree River, 9.4
mi. N Clinton. _Orangeburg_: Edisto River, Orangeburg. _Saluda_:
Batesburg; Lake Murray; Little Saluda River; 5 mi. from Saluda. _County
unknown_: Upper Lake Santee (Schwartz, _loc. cit._).
=Trionyx spinifer emoryi= (Agassiz)
Texas Spiny Softshell
Plates 43, 44
_Aspidonectes emoryi_ Agassiz (in part), Contr. Nat. Hist. United
States, Vol. 1, Pt. 2, p. 407; Vol. 2, Pt. 3, pl. 6, figs. 4-5,
1857.
_T[rionyx] s[pinifer] emoryi_ Schwartz, Charleston Mus. Leaflet,
No. 26, p. 11, 1956.
_Type._--Lectotype, USNM 7855; alcoholic (sex undetermined); obtained
from the Río Grande near Brownsville, Texas, in the course of the
Mexican Boundary Survey under the command of Colonel Wm. H. Emory.
_Range._--Southwestern United States and northern México; the Río
Grande drainage in Texas, New Mexico and northern México; the Río San
Fernando and Río Purificación drainages in northeastern México; the
Colorado River drainage in Arizona, New Mexico, and southern Nevada
(see map, Fig. 19).
_Diagnosis._--Juvenal pattern of white dots, not encircled with dusky
or blackish ocelli, confined to posterior third of carapace; pale rim
of carapace conspicuously widened, four to five times wider
posteriorly than laterally; a dark triangle in front of eyes, base
line connecting anterior margins of orbits; pale postocular stripe
interrupted leaving conspicuous pale, usually dark-bordered, blotch
just behind eye.
_Description._--Plastral length of smallest hatchling, 2.5 centimeters
(USNM 7632); of largest male, 13.0 centimeters (KU 2914, 3125, 3150);
of largest female, 22.0 centimeters (TNHC 8023, 8104).
Carapace pale brownish or tan, lacking whitish dots on anterior half;
whitish dots confined to posterior third of carapace, sometimes
lacking posteriorly, especially on juveniles; small, blackish dots
rarely occurring on surface of carapace, usually confined to margins
when present; pale rim of carapace four to five times wider
posteriorly than laterally.
Pattern on snout rarely variable, consisting of pale stripes extending
forward from eyes that have only their outer borders darkened and a
straight or slightly curved, dark line that connects anterior margins
of orbits; few, if any, dark markings in subocular and postlabial
region; pattern on side of head having few contrasting marks, often of
nearly uniform coloration; postocular stripe usually interrupted;
anterior segment of postocular stripe just behind eye usually
dark-bordered; posterior segment usually not dark-bordered or sharply
distinguished from background; pattern on dorsal parts of soft parts
of body contrasting, of relatively small dark marks; dark streaks
often coincident with digits.
Underparts whitish, occasionally having blackish dots or smudges on
posterior part of carapace, in region of bridge, or on lateral parts
of chin and throat; few dark marks often on webbing of limbs and on
palms and soles.
Small, flattened or wartlike, tubercles that occasionally have sharp
tips along anterior edge of carapace on adult males; tubercles
flattened, scarcely elevated, never conical along anterior edge of
carapace on large females; whitish, knoblike tubercles often present
posteriorly in middle of carapace and in nuchal region on large
females; mottled and blotched pattern sometimes contrasting on
carapace of large females; whitish dots of juvenal pattern often
visible through overlying blotched pattern of large females.
Ontogenetic variation in PL/HW, mean PL/HW of specimens having
plastral lengths 7.0 centimeters or less, 3.68, and exceeding 7.0
centimeters, 5.19; ontogenetic variation in CL/CW, mean CL/CW of
specimens having plastral lengths 8.5 centimeters or less, 1.17, and
exceeding 8.5 centimeters, 1.27; mean CL/PCW, 2.18; mean HW/SL, 1.43;
mean CL/PL, 1.37.
_Variation._--Ten topotypes (six males, three females, one juvenile)
from Brownsville, Texas (BCB 7465-73, 7564), have the following
characteristics: pale rim widened posteriorly as described above;
females (plastral lengths 9.8, 10.2 and 11.7 cm.) having blackish
marks in pale rim, which are absent in males of corresponding size;
interrupted postocular stripe with pale blotch behind eye; postocular
pale blotch having blackish borders or not; dark triangular mark on
snout in front of eyes; white dots present only on posterior third of
carapace; carapace of females grayish, blotched pattern not
contrasting; carapace of males paler, greenish-gray; undersurface
immaculate except 7468 and 7472 that have blackish flecks at bridge
and, on 7472, blackish marks that extend posteriorly onto ventral
surface of carapace; tubercles along anterior edge of carapace
flattened and rounded in adult males, more knoblike in females;
largest specimen, BCB 7472, female, plastron 11.7 centimeters long.
_T. s. emoryi_ varies more than any other subspecies of _Trionyx
spinifer_. A large series of males and females (KU) from the Salt
River (Colorado River drainage), near Phoenix, Arizona, is
characterized by many adult males having indistinct white dots on
posterior half of carapace; blotching on carapace of females of
contrasting lichenlike figures, but usually non-contrasting and pale
brownish or tan; pale rim of carapace distinct from ground color of
carapace in largest female (KU 2905, plastron 21.5 cm. in length), but
having dark or dusky markings: dark interorbital stripe often lacking.
AMNH 58370 (Nevada) and UMMZ 92006 (Arizona) also have the dark line
connecting the anterior margins of the orbits interrupted; seemingly
the dark interorbital line is most often interrupted in those
softshells inhabiting the Colorado River system of Nevada and Arizona.
Other variant individuals are: TU 14453.2, 14462 and 3696 having the
plastron extending slightly farther forward than the carapace, thus
resembling _T. ferox_; UMMZ 54021 and CNHM 39999, hatchlings, lacking
distinct whitish dots on posterior half of carapace; UI 43509 and KU
39991 having stained (brown or blackish) claws; and, CNHM 6810, an
adult male, lacking a spinose (sandpapery) carapace. I am unable to
discern geographic variation in these or other characters.
The ground color of the carapace on some individuals from the Pecos
River (TU, Terrell County, Texas) is grayish and in contrast with the
pale rim (Pl. 44). UI 43509 from the Río Florida, La Cruz, Chihuahua,
a female, has a dark brownish carapace with little evidence of a
blotched pattern except on the pale rim of the carapace. A female and
adult male from the Río Sabinas, Coahuila (MSU 905-06), also show
considerable darkening on the dorsal surfaces; the pale rim is evident
but not in sharp contrast to the coloration of the carapace. Notes
taken on the freshly-killed Sabinas individuals are: male--carapace
olive-gray; dorsal surface of soft parts of body olive-green to
grayish, a bright yellow suffusion on limbs and neck; female--carapace
and soft parts of body dark olive, laterally pale yellow; the plastron
extends slightly farther forward than the carapace in both sexes.
Notes on coloration (judged to be the most common or "normal" type)
of living _emoryi_ from the Río Mesquites, central Coahuila, are:
Adult male (KU 53753)--pale rim butterscotch yellow; marginal line
blackish; whitish dots on pale brown or tan carapace; soft parts of
body olive or olive-green, slightly darker on head and paler
(yellowish) on hind limbs; pale areas on side of head pale yellow,
having tint of orange on neck; ventral surface white, yellow laterally
on neck. Adult female (KU 53754)--carapace having contrasting blotched
and mottled pattern of pale browns and tans; soft parts of body olive
brown, darker brown blotching on head; dorsal surface of limbs
olive-green having pale areas lemon yellow and webbing butterscotch
yellow; side of neck and head, chin and throat pale lemon yellow;
ventral surface white having slight red tinge to groin and soft parts
posteriorly; underside of carapace near edge pale yellow.
Softshells from the Río Grande in the Big Bend region of Texas, and
the Río Conchos in Chihuahua differ from other specimens of _emoryi_.
Fifteen adult males, KU 51187-201 (no females in sample), were taken
from the mouth of the Río San Pedro at Meoquí, Chihuahua (see KU
51194, Pl. 44). They are noteworthy because of a conspicuous orange or
orange-yellow on the side of the head. Another relatively consistent
character is the blackish tip of snout (excepting 51199), although the
degree (palest on 51190) and extent of pigmentation posteriorly on the
snout is variable. Eleven males, KU 51175-85, from approximately 100
miles northeastward in the Río Conchos near Ojinaga, Chihuahua, also
have the bright orange on the side of the head; the tip of the snout
is not blackish, although in some it is slightly darkened. Three
females, KU 51174, 51186 (from Ojinaga) and 51173 (from 8 mi. S, 16
mi. W Ojinaga), lack the orange on the side of the head; KU 51186 has
a plastral length of 8.0 centimeters, whereas the other two females
have the same plastral length of 16.5 centimeters (larger than any
male). Nineteen adult males, KU 51965-72, 51980-90, from the Río
Grande near Lajitas also have the orangish coloration on the side of
the head, whereas twenty females, KU 51954-64, 51973-79, 51991-92
(three smaller than largest male) lack the coloration. The tip of the
snout is not blackish on any turtle in the series from Lajitas. The
smallest female, from Lajitas, having a plastral length of 6.9
centimeters, has a mottled carapace.
The orange of males is most conspicuous in the pale postocular and
postlabial areas; the stripes of the snout (distally) and the color of
the neck at its juncture with the immaculate ventral surface are
orange-yellow. The orange coloration is confined to males (all
examined were sexually mature) and is probably not of seasonal
occurrence (see comments under secondary sexual variation). I have not
noticed this coloration in other males of the subspecies _emoryi_;
however, long-preserved males might be expected to lack the orange
color; the specimens mentioned above were initially preserved in
alcohol. KU 51179 (plastral length 8.2 cm., from Ojinaga) is the
smallest sexually mature male of the species _spinifer_ that I have
seen. Another character of note is the generally greater development
of the plastral callosities (resembling _muticus_) than in other
subspecies of _spinifer_ or specimens of _emoryi_; three small adult
males (KU 51177, 51990, 51987, plastral length 9.3, 9.9 and 9.1 cm.,
respectively) have large hyoplastral and hypoplastral callosities that
appear to touch medially, and callosities on the epiplastron and both
preplastra.
On July 8, 1953, an adult male of _T. spinifer_ was removed from a
hoop-net set in the Río Purificación at Padilla, Tamaulipas, México. I
was particularly impressed by the lack of whitish dots on the dark
carapace; the following notes were taken from the freshly-killed
specimen: carapace a uniform dark olive, lacking white dots and having
a yellowish rim widest posteriorly; tubercles on anterior edge of
carapace only slightly raised, inconspicuous; top of head olive with
few dots and streaks; a well-defined yellowish postocular stripe not
conspicuously interrupted; sharp contrast between dark olive on side
of head and pale ventral coloration; yellowish-orange ventrolaterally
on head; an uninterrupted slightly-curved line connecting the anterior
margins of the orbits; carapace pear-shaped; underparts whitish,
lacking markings. This specimen has since been destroyed. The only
other specimen I have seen from this locality is a hatchling (UMMZ
69412, Pl. 43), which has a pale brownish or tan carapace that lacks
whitish dots; it resembles _emoryi_ in other characters. Although the
absence of whitish dots is not distinctive, its combination with the
uniform dark olive carapace in adult males and the fact that the Río
Purificación is an isolated drainage system, suggests that
soft-shelled turtles from that river system may warrant further
taxonomic study.
_Comparisons._--From all other subspecies of _spinifer_, _T. s.
emoryi_ can be distinguished by having a pale rim on the carapace that
is four to five times wider posteriorly than it is laterally. This
character, unique for _emoryi_, combined with patterns on the snout,
side of head and carapace that are subject to little variation, permit
ready identification of the subspecies _emoryi_. _T. s. emoryi_
resembles _pallidus_, and _guadalupensis_ and differs from _spinifer_,
_hartwegi_ and _asper_ in having whitish tubercles or dots on the
carapace. _T. s. emoryi_ resembles _guadalupensis_ but differs from
_pallidus_, _spinifer_, _hartwegi_ and _asper_ in lacking conical
tubercles along the anterior edge of the carapace on large females.
For additional differences see accounts of other subspecies.
Some populations of _T. s. emoryi_ resemble _T. muticus_ in the size
at which sexual maturity is attained and in the development of the
plastral callosities. _T. s. emoryi_ has a wide head that resembles
that of _T. ferox_, _T. ater_, _T. s. asper_ and _T. s.
guadalupensis_; _T. s. emoryi_ also resembles _T. ferox_ and _T. ater_
but differs from the other subspecies of _T. spinifer_ and _T.
muticus_ in having a narrower carapace. _T. s. emoryi_ resembles _T.
s. guadalupensis_, _T. s. pallidus_ and _T. ater_, and differs from
the other subspecies of _spinifer_ and _T. muticus_, in having the
carapace widest farther posteriorly than one-half way back on the
carapace. _T. s. emoryi_ resembles _T. ferox_ in having the shortest
length of snout of the subspecies of _spinifer_. The plastron is
shorter than in _T. ferox_, longer than in _T. s. asper_, and about
the same length as in _T. muticus_ and the other subspecies of _T.
spinifer_.
_Remarks._--Agassiz (1857, 1:407-08) did not designate a holotype in
the original description of _Aspidonectes emoryi_; specimens are
mentioned from the lower Río Grande of Texas, near Brownsville, and a
stream of the Río Brazos drainage in Williamson County, Texas. The
description is applicable to _T. s. emoryi_ as herein restricted,
except for the statement that the white tubercles of young specimens
are "encircled by faint black lines"; that statement is presumably
based on the juveniles from Williamson County. _T. s. emoryi_ does not
occur in Williamson County, Texas. Barbour and Loveridge (1929:225)
listed MCZ 1909-10 and 1627 as cotypes. Stejneger (1944:65) mentioned
MCZ 1909, 1913 and USNM 7855 as cotypes; the legend for Plate 20 (_op.
cit._) refers to a drawing that "corresponds fairly closely with the
type (MCZ 1910) collected at Brownsville, Texas, by Col. Emory."
The syntypic series consists of seven specimens--MCZ 1627 (two
specimens) from Williamson County, Texas; MCZ 1909 (three specimens)
and 1910 from Brownsville, Texas; and USNM 7855 from Brownsville,
Texas. The listing of number 1913 by Stejneger is considered a
_lapsus_ for 1910 as MCZ 1913 is catalogued as a _Graptemys
geographica_ (in letter dated November 17, 1959 from Dr. Ernest E.
Williams). Stejneger's reference to MCZ 1910 as the type is considered
unintentional and an inadequate designation of a lectotype.
In the "remarks" column of the USNM museum catalog, number 7855 is
referred to as "Ag. Type." USNM 7855 is here designated as lectotype
of _Trionyx spinifer emoryi_. The lectotype is a young specimen
(female?) that is not easily sexed by external characters; the
plastron measures (in centimeters) 6.3 in length, the carapace 8.2 in
length and 7.0 in width, and the head 1.4 in width. The carapace is
pale brown having inconspicuous whitish dots posteriorly and a pale
rim that is approximately 6.8 times wider posteriorly (4.1 mm.) than
it is laterally (0.6 mm.). The slightly curved dark line connecting
the anterior margins of the orbits is dimmer than the dark lines that
extend forward from the eyes. The pale postocular stripes having
blackish, dotted borders are interrupted; there are no other markings
on the side of the head. The ventral surface is immaculate except for
a few dark dots on the right side of the carapace; the ground color is
pale brown or tan, but the upper layer of skin can be scraped away
revealing an underlying pale lavender-cream ground color. The
tubercles along the anterior edge of the carapace resemble small
rounded warts.
MCZ 1910 is an adult male _T. s. emoryi_ having a plastron 10.7
centimeters in length. The carapace is pale brown having a relatively
smooth anterior edge, inconspicuous whitish tubercles posteriorly, and
a pale rim five times wider posteriorly than laterally; the pattern on
the head resembles that of _emoryi_.
Each of three hatchlings of _T. s. emoryi_, 3.4, 3.5 and 3.9
centimeters in plastral length, bears an MCZ catalogue number of 1909.
The carapaces are dark tan or gray having pale rims 3.7, 5.2 and 5.2
times wider posteriorly than laterally, and white dots absent or
obscure posteriorly; two specimens have small blackish dots
paralleling the pale rim posteriorly. The patterns on the heads are
referable to _emoryi_.