Description: Approximately 1 foot in length. Females are slightly larger with a carapace (upper shell) length reaching 15 inches. Carapace color may be greenish to dark brown or black with yellowish, orangish, or reddish vertical markings along the sides. The plastron (under shell) may be pale yellow to red with or without dark markings. Colors or markings are usually more intense in young turtles. The head, neck, and legs are marked with yellowish striping. Males have elongated fore claws. A distinguishing characteristic is the prominent notch at the tip of the upper jaw, bordered on each side by a tooth-like cusp.
Habitat: ost abundant in quiet backwaters of upper Mobile Bay in areas with dense submerged vegetation, in water generally 3 to 6 feet deep; also in river channels; occurs only as a straggler in brackish water and salt marsh areas of lower Mobile Bay. Uses dense beds of aquatic vegetation for basking. Nest are made on sand spoil banks, on natural levees, and along river
Range: Range is restricted to the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta in Mobile and Baldwin counties adjacent to Mobile Bay. They are rarely found north of Interstate 65. Systematic sampling of major tributaries in coastal Alabama have shown them to be present in major rivers and tributaries of the Mobile Bay, Bayou La Batre, Fowl, Dog, Fish, Magnolia and Bon Secour rivers. Specimens have also been recorded from Daphne and Point Clear, Alabama.
Diet: Herbaceous (consume only vegetative matter), feeding on submergent aquatic macrophytes, such as hydrilla, brushy pondweed, eel-grass, arrowhead, and mud plantain.
Reproduction: Nesting of the red-bellied turtle occurs from May through July. Female turtles lay their eggs on dry land, digging nests in sandy soil, where 4 to 9 eggs are laid. Hatchlings usually emerge during the summer. When the turtles nest in late July, hatchlings may overwinter in the nest and emerge the following spring. Generally diurnal, though females lay eggs at night. Young probably emerge at night but also are primarily diurnal
Status: The Alabama red-bellied turtle was placed on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Endangered Species List in 1987 and is of the highest conservation concern. It is also protected under the Nongame Species Regulation by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. In 2008, a chain-link fence 3.4 miles long was constructed by the Alabama Department of Transportation and the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources along Battleship Parkway, the causeway that separates the Mobile-Tensaw Delta from Mobile Bay. The fence was designed to keep both mating and hatchling turtles from being hit by vehicles while attempting to cross the four lanes of the causeway. In the first year following its construction, recorded deaths dropped 80 percent. The current population is unknown but is speculated to be well below 10,000 individuals and may be as low as 1,000.
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Disclaimer: ITIS taxonomy is based on the latest scientific consensus available, and is provided as a general reference source for interested parties. However, it is not a legal authority for statutory or regulatory purposes. While every effort has been made to provide the most reliable and up-to-date information available, ultimate legal requirements with respect to species are contained in provisions of treaties to which the United States is a party, wildlife statutes, regulations, and any applicable notices that have been published in the Federal Register. For further information on U.S. legal requirements with respect to protected taxa, please contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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