THE EBD BELLIED TEKliAPm OR SLIDER. 155 



■Slider." Its range seems to be limited to the Delaware River, the Sasquehanna River, and other 

 streams emptying into Chesapeake Bay. It is common in the vicinity of Washington, and is 

 frequently seen in the markets in considerable numbers. It is a large species; the shell is usually 

 ten or eleven inches in length. As has been already stated, the Red-bellied Terrapin is regularly 

 seen in the markets, and as it is more abundant and less esteemed than the "Diamond- back 

 Terrapin," it is usually much lower ia price. It is commonly substituted in certain proportion for 

 the "Diamond-back" in making terrapin stew. 



Aside from its somewhat slow growth there is apparently no reason why this Terrapin should 

 not be introduced into waters both north and south of its present range. It furnishes a very 

 considerable amount of nutritious food at no expense to the producer. 



The Mobilianek. — Another important si)ecies is that known as the " Mobilianer," 

 Pseudemys mobiliensis. This is perhaps the largest representative of the genus or of the whole 

 group in the United States. The shell is often from 14 to 16 inches in length. It is found more 

 or less abundantly in all the G-ulf States, from extreme Western Florida to the Rio Grande of 

 Texas. Its form would suggest tjiat it lives mostly in the water. Of what its food consists is 

 not definitely known, but it is undoubtedly mostly of a vegetable character. It is considered 

 quite delicate, and is esteemed as food. It is frequently sold in the markets of Mobile, New 

 Orleans, and other Southern cities.' 



The Yellow-bellied Terrapin. — Pseudemys scabra, a species which occurs in the Carolinas, 

 Georgia, and ISTorthern Florida, is used to a considerable extent for food. It is known popularly 

 as the "Yellow-bellied Terrapin." That it is a very abundant species, at least in Florida, we may 

 learn from the following note, communicated to the Boston Society of Natural History in 1870, by 

 the Rev. 0. F. Knight: 



"In the early summer [this speciesj congregates in great numbers in the shallow parts of 

 certain lakes, and the warm and still baj'ous near the mouths of those streams which empty into 

 the Gulf. On one occasion the speaker [Mr. Knight], floating quietly down stream, came upon 

 one of these gatherings where there seemed to be many thousands within the space of two or 

 three acres, covering every log and stump and hummock almost as thickly as shingles lie upon a 

 roof." 



The Yellow-bellied Terrapin is largely a carnivorous animal. It lives on small reptiles and 

 other such animals as it can capture in the streams and ponds which it inhabits. In confinement, 

 however, it will condescend to partake of vegetable food, particularly of the common purslain, 

 Poriulaca oleracea, of which it seems quite fond. It is frequently brought to Charleston, South 

 Carolina, and other Southern markets in considerable numbers. The flesh is not considered as 

 delicate as that of the "Diamond-back Terrapin," but the amount furnished is greater. 



Other species. — Of the remaining species it will be necessary to speak only of Pseudemys 

 concinna. The other three species, Pseudemys hieroglyphica, inhabiting the Middle, Western, and 

 Gulf States, Pseudemys Troostii, inhabiting the Mississippi Yalley, as iar north as Illinois, and 

 Pseudemys elegans, inhabiting Ohio and Texas and the States through which the western and 

 northern tributaiies of the Mississippi River flow, seem not to be sufftciently abundant to furnish 

 regular supplies of food. Pseudemys concinna, the " Florida Cooter," is found in all the Southern 

 States, from southern North Carolina to Florida, and from thence westward to Texas, and also in 

 Arkansas. They seem to prefer brackish waters, but are found also in fresh-water streams. 

 Their diet is principally of animal matter ; in Florida they are said to feed upon certain species of 

 worms which they capture by thrusting their long claws into the worm-holes in the clay. Although 



' Holbrook: North Ameiican Herpetology, i, 1H42, p. 74. 



