Record Clutch Size for Chelydra serpentina 

 (Testudines: Chelydridae) in Virginia 



Joseph C. Mitchell 



Department of Biology 



University of Richmond, 



Richmond, Virginia 23173 



AND 



Michael C. Odom 

 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 



11110 Kimages Road 

 Charles City, Virginia 23030 



ABSTRACT — A record clutch size of 67 is reported for a 

 common snapping turtle {Chelydra serpentina serpentina) from 

 Charles City County, Virginia, 12 larger than previously 

 reported for this chelonian. The new average for this species 

 in the Commonwealth is 29.9 ± 16.6 ( x ± SD). 



The snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) occurs from 

 Florida north to southern Canada and Nova Scotia in eastern North 

 America and from the Mexican border north to extreme southern 

 Saskatchewan in western North America (Conant and Collins 1991, 

 Iverson 1992, Russell and Bauer 1993). Clutch size varies latitudinally, 

 with the largest sizes reported for northern populations in Canada, 

 South Dakota, and Nebraska (Zug 1993; J. B. Iverson, Earlham College, 

 personal communication). Ash (1951) reported an average clutch 

 size of 28.6 and a range of 13-48 for 85 specimens presumably caught 

 in the Virginia area. However, these data were presented only in 

 an abstract. A complete paper was never published, and no docu- 

 mentation is available for us to determine the source of his 

 specimens. Information provided by the late John T. Wood 

 (formerly a retired medical doctor in Victoria, British Columbia 

 and Virginia in the 1950s, personal communication) indicated that 

 Ash's specimens could have been from multiple locations in and 

 out of Virginia. Mitchell (1994) reported an average clutch size of 

 27.0 ± 13.2 (range = 7-55) for 13 females collected from various 

 locations in Virginia. 



On 3 June 1994, a gravid female (271-mm carapace length, 

 201-mm plastron length) was inadvertently killed by a vehicle 

 at Harrison Lake National Fish Hatchery, Charles City County, 

 Virginia. Subsequent dissection revealed 67 shelled eggs. One egg 



Brimleyana 22:73-75, June 1995 73 



