TURTLES AND TORTOISES 23 



Female examples of Malacoclemmys are considerably 

 larger than the other sex and have proportionately much 

 broader heads. 



One of the requisites in making up a champagne din- 

 ner and consequently a valuable and well-known market 

 delicacy, the Diamond-Back Terrapin, Malacoclem- 

 mys palustris, ranks first in importance among the mem- 

 bers of its genus. Large specimens have a shell nine 

 inches long. Each of the larger shields of the carapace 

 contains a number of coarse, concentric grooves, their 

 angular outlines being responsible for the popular name. 

 The upper shell is dull brown or olive; the plastron is 

 orange yellow, often blotched with gray or showing 

 concentric rings of this color. From the other species 

 of Malacoclemmys the Diamond-Back Terrapin differs 

 materially in the head markings; there are no traces of 

 stripes; the head is pale gray profusely sprinkled with 

 black dots, while the mandibles are flesh color. 



Contrary to the habits of the other terrapins, the 

 "Diamond-Back" is found only in the vicinity of salt 

 or brackish water; it inhabits the salt marshes of the 

 Atlantic Coast from Massachusetts to Florida and the 

 southern borders of the Gulf States to Texas. Occa- 

 sional examples are found well up the larger rivers 

 though always within tide line. This terrapin seems to 

 be most abundant along the coasts of North and South 

 Carolina. 



The market demand for the Diamond-Back Terrapin 

 threatens early extinction. Prices have steadily risen. 

 As a consequence a number of terrapin "farms" have 

 been established. Five years ago "Diamond-Backs" 

 were expensive enough, but the price for eight-inch ter- 

 rapins was about sixty dollars per dozen. A dozen 

 terrapins of this size are now worth about seventy-five 



