258 THE AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 



Chelydra serpentina serpentina (Linnaeus) 

 Snal^ping Turtle 



(Page 124; maps 30 and 68; plate 16. fig. 2) 



It is now generally conceded that there is more than one subsp.ci^s of 

 snapper. Chelydra s. osceola, of peninsular Florida, is a weakly defined race 

 in which there are four chin barbels instead of the usual two and in which the 

 vertebral plates of the carapace are widened. Eventually the tropical snappers 

 may be considered conspccific with the wide-ranging North American form, 

 but specimens from Latin America are still scarce in collections. 



A slight alteration in the general range map (page 125) must be made to 

 allow for osceola in Florida. New Ohio records are: 



Allen County: Riley Creek, Bluff ton (OSM 713). Butler County: Reily 

 (Fichter, 1947). Clermont County: Ohio Rivei, 1 mi. NW of New Richmond 

 (OSM 743). Defiance County: 1 mi. SW of Defiance (OSM 729). Fayette 

 County: Paint Creek at state route #70, Union Twp. (OSM 737). Highland 

 County': 1 mi. W of Rainsboro (WED 206). Hocking County': Laurel Twp. 

 (UMMZ 89989). Jackson County: Jackson (OUVC 561). Logan County: 

 Indian Lake (WED 164); 6 mi. S of Indian Lake (WED 369). Montgomery 

 County: Dayton (DPLM 125.42); Wolf Creek, Madison Twp. (Wood & Duellman, 

 1947b). Paulding County: Antwerp (OEE). Portage County: Kent, Ravenna, 

 and Windham (Dexter, 1948). Preble County: Camp Myron Kahn, 2 mi. S of 

 Camden (MU 12). Stark County : (CA 5823). Tuscarawas County: Near 

 Gnadenhutten (OSM 842). WiLLIAMS CoUNTY: West Branch, St. Joseph River, Sec. 

 8, Bridgewater Twp. (SL 780). 



These records are few in number for such a common and v.idespread turtle, 

 but they reflect the reluctance of collectors to catch and carry heavy specimens 

 and of museum curators to devote large containers to such material. Virtually 

 all the specimens listed above are juveniles. Snappers usually are not easy to 

 find and to capture by hand, however. Here is another turtle that is most 

 easily acquired by trapping. 



Lagler (1943a) has summarized the feeding habits of the snapper, basing 

 his conclusions upon an examination of the contents of stomachs and colons 

 removed from 281 specimens collected in lakes and streams of Michigan. In 

 the stomachs, the composition by volume was: game and pan fishes 34.2'%; 

 carrion 19.6%; vegetable matter 36.2%; invertebrates made up the bulk of the 

 remainder. In the colons, vegetable matter accounted for 69.2% of the total, 

 and the leaves and petioles of aquatic plants had been eaten by three out of 

 every four individuals. Lagler, after studying the effects of snapper preda- 

 tion, its biotic importance in natural waters, its value as a scavenger, and its 

 use as human food, recommends the conservation of this turtle except in 

 "those waters where special investigation proves [itj to be undesirable." 



Clemmys guttata (Schneider) 

 Spotted Turtle 



(Page 129; maps 31 and 69; plate 16, fig. 3 and plate 18, figs. 3 and 4) 



Relatively few sfxjtted turtles have been collected in the past decade, and 

 only three counties may be added to the list of those from which the spedes 

 has been reported. New records are as follows: 



