152 NATURAL HISTORY OF AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



38. THE SOFT-SHELLED TORTOISES. 



The marsh and river Tortoises constitute a large group, well represented in North America. 

 It includes all the Tortoises which live in the marshes, iresh and salt, and in ponds and running 

 streams. It may be conveniently divided into six sections, comprising (1) the Soft-shelled 

 Tortoises; (2) the Snapping Turtles; (3) the Musk Tortoises; (4) the Freshwater Terrapins; (5) 

 the Salt-water Terrapin and Geographic Tortoises ; (6) the Fond Tortoises. 



Range oe the Sopt-shblled Tortoises.— The species of Soft-shelled Tortoises, Trionychidw, 

 inhabiting our country are six in number, and belong to two different genera, known scientiflcally 

 as Amyda and Aspidonectes. Their combined range extends from Lake Champlain, the Lower Saint 

 Lawrence, and the Upper Hudson on the east, westward through the great lakes and Northwestern 

 States, to the Yellowstone and Musselshell Rivers ; thence southward, east of the Rocky Mountains, 

 to Eastern Texas'; thence along the G-ulf States to Florida, and from there northward, west of the 

 AUeghanies, to the Upper Hudson. 



"In the Northwestern States, two species occur together, belonging to two different genera, 

 Amyda mutica and Aspidonectes spinifer ; in the middle Western States one species, Aspidonectes 

 nucJialis; in the South-Eastern and Southern States, two species, belonging to two different genera, 

 Platypeltis [Aspidonectes] ferox and Aspidonectes asper;^ and in the South-West, in Texas, one species, 

 Aspidonectes Umoryi."^ 



These Tortoises seem to be known everywhere in the country under the single name "Soft-shell 

 Turtle." As the habits of all the species are very similar, it will be scarcely necessary to consider 

 each separately. They vary in length from six or eight inches to two feet or even more, and their 

 weight is from four or five pounds to fifteen or sixteen pounds. Probably the largest species is A. 

 spinifer. 



Food. — The food of the Soft-shell Turtles consists of small fishes, snails, and other small 

 animals, and a variety of vegetable matter. It is said that some species do great damage in potato 

 fields, situated near the streams they inhabit, since they are very fond of browsing on the stems. 

 It is improbable, however, that they go very far from the water. They are most frequently seen 

 on the margin of sluggish, shallow streams, their bodies buried in the mud, and only the tip of their 

 long snout protruding, or crawling over the muddy bottom of the stream, or floating on its surface. 

 The fact of their fierceness has been regarded with doubt by some authorities, but they will 

 undoubtedly bite severely if provoked. They breed in June and July, seeking a dry sandy spot 

 on the bank of the streams they inhabit, in which to deposit their eggs. The female leaves the 

 water for this purpose, and returns to it immediately after the eggs are laid, leaving them to be 

 hatched by the heat of the sun. The number of eggs is large, varying from thirty or forty to sixty 

 or seventy. 



Economic taltjb. — Soft-shell Turtles are commonly eaten in the regions where they occur, 

 and are frequently seen in the markets. Their flesh furnishes a superior article of food, surpassing, 

 it is said, in delicacy the flesh of the Green Turtle. The eggs also are considered very excellent. 

 The Turtles are captured with hook and line, almost any bait being suitable, for they snap greedily 

 at any kind of food. They are also shot with the rifle while sunning themselves or floating on the 

 surface of the water. Mr. E. C. Pridgen, of Oakohay, Mississippi, informed me that the eggs are 

 discovered by following the tracks of the animal to the nest, the location of which is recognized by 

 the presence of a little depression of the earth. 



^Both belong to the same genus, acoording to Cope. See Cope: Check-list, North American Batrachia aad 

 Eeptilia, 1875, p. 51. 



^Agassiz: Contributions to the Natural History of the Uuited States, i, 1857, pp. 402, 403. 



