Question 14 (Red-bellied Turtles)
14A:Turtle has medium to high-domed shell with vertical red or orange bars on each scute. Lower shell unpatterned or with faint dark smudges. Numerous yellow or whitish lines on head and legs. From Florida Peninsula only. Babies bright green with orange vertical bars.
Florida Red-bellied Turtle, Pseudemys nelsoni
14B:Turtle has medium to high domed shell with wrinkled texture (especially in adults). In adults shell almost patternless, orange-brown in color. Lower shell bright red-orange, young have patterning along scute seams. Very thin yellow lines on head and legs. From Mobile Bay drainage of southern Alabama only. Babies: no data.
Alabama Red-bellied Turtle, Pseudemys alabamensis
14C:Turtle has low, flat shell. Shell black, centers of scutes have bright red hue. Lower shell bright red, intricately patterned. Very thin yellow lines on head and feet. From southern Pennsylvania and New Jersey to extreme northeastern Virginia, isolated populations in Plymouth county and Naushon Island, Massachusetts. Babies black with bright red bellies.
Northern Red-bellied Turtle, Pseudemys rubriventris P. rubriventris Subspecies