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Lesueur's Terrapin
- Colouration
- The carapace is dull olive, or brownish above, with a few coarse and indistinct yellow lines. On each of the shields is one or two large blotches of black or dark brown. These blotches impart a characteristic appearance and greatly assist in separating the species from the Map Terrapin, although the much heavier and tubercular keel is another strong character.
- Dimensions
- -
- Distribution
- Valley of the Mississippi River. The species occurs from Ohio to Mississippi, inclusive.
- Habits
- Captive specimens are delicate and live but a few months. They do best if supplied with running water, with means of leaving the same--rockwork or a log. Marketmen tell the writer that to keep a large number of specimens alive for some time, it is necessary to keep them very cold--at a temperature of about 45 deg. F. They are very fat when received at the markets in the fall and in the cold vaults in which they are usually stored they remain so sluggish that this fat is not "worked off." Placed in an ordinary room temperature they rapidly emaciate.
Attains the same length as the preceding species. The carapace is flaring at the rear and strongly notched at the sutures of the marginal shields. The centre of the carapace rises rather sharply and is surmounted by a high keel, broken into a series of tubercles--one in each shield. This formation produces a strongly serrated outline to the curve of the back. The surface of the carapace is quite smooth, with a dull lustre, although blunt ridges are discernible on the sides.
The marginal shields of the underside of the carapace show the dark, concentric blotches like the former species. The plastron is immaculate yellow; occasionally marbled or lined with gray or brown.
Head markings.--The head is large, with sharply-pointed snout and the colouration is quite distinct. There are but few lines on the top of the head, which is dark olive or black. The lines are vivid yellow. One of these begins at the snout and extends backward for a little distance past the eyes where it abruptly terminates. Behind each eye is a bright yellow mark in the form of a crescent, which connects with parallel lines extending along the head and neck. Behind the crescents are finer markings, which on many specimens, fork in vein-like fashion. The limbs and tail are brightly striped.
Length of Carapace . . . . . 9 3/4 inches.
Width of " . . . . . 7 1/4 inches.
Length of Plastron . . . . . 8 1/4 inches.
Width, Flat Portion, of Plastron . . . . . 4 3/8 inches.
Width of Head . . . . . 2 inches.
It will be noted, on comparing the different measurements that the head of this species is proportionately large. The measurements are of a female specimen. It was taken in Illinois and weighed exactly four pounds. Specimens like it were selling in the eastern markets--in November--at $1.25 each, under the title of "Sliders."