Turtles

Order Testudines

Superfamily Chelonioidea (Sea Turtles)

Large, exclusively marine turtles that utilize the Gulf of Mexico to forage and some natural beaches to nest

Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta)

Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas)

Leatherback Sea Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)

Hawksbill Sea Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata)

Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys kempii)

Chelydridae (Snapping Turtles)

Aquatic freshwater turtles with large snapping jaws

Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina)

Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys temminckii)

Emydidae (Pond and Box Turtles)

Freshwater semiaquatic and aquatic species found throughout the state

Southern Painted Turtle (Chrysemys dorsalis)

Chicken Turtle (Deirochelys reticularia)

Yellow-blotched Map Turtle (Graptemys flavimaculata)

Northern Map Turtle (Graptemys geographica)

Pascagoula Map Turtle (Graptemys gibbonsi)

Black-knobbed Map Turtle (Graptemys nigrinoda)

Ringed Map Turtle (Graptemys oculifera)

Ouachita Map Turtle (Graptemys ouachitensis)

Pearl River Map Turtle (Graptemys pearlensis)

Alabama Map Turtle (Graptemys pulchra)

False Map Turtle (Graptemys pseudogeographica)

Diamond-backed Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin)

Alabama Red-bellied Turtle (Pseudemys alabamensis)

River Cooter (Pseudemys concinna)

Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina)

Pond Slider (Trachemys scripta)

Kinosternidae (American Mud and Musk Turtles)

Small freshwater turtles found in a variety of wetlands

Eastern Mud Turtle (Kinosternon subrubrum)

Razor-backed Musk Turtle (Sternotherus carinatus)

Common Musk Turtle (Sternotherus odoratus)

Stripe-necked Musk Turtle (Sternotherus peltifer)

Testudinidae (Tortoises)

Large, exclusively terrestrial, the only species of tortoise in the state is federally protected and a habitat specialist

Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus)

Trionychidae (Softshell Turtles)

Highly aquatic freshwater turtles with compressed bodies

Smooth Softshell (Apalone mutica)

Spiny Softshell (Apalone spinifera)