Apalone

Taxobox
name = Softshell turtles

---

image_caption = Spiny Softshell Turtle, "Apalone spinifera"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
ordo = Testudines
subordo = Cryptodira
familia = Trionychidae
genus = "Apalone"
genus_authority = Rafinesque, 1832

"Apalone" is a North American genus in the Trionychidae family of turtles, a family whose members are commonly referred to as softshell turtles. "Apalone" species are native primarily to the United States, though are also found in parts of southern Canada and northern Mexico. "Apalone" is a fairly new classification assigned to North American species of genus "Trionyx", though they are still sometimes listed as "Trionyx" in certain texts. ("Trionyx" now refers specifically to certain softshell species found in Asia.)They are fast swimmers that chase down their prey in water. They feed mainly on fish.

Species

*Florida Softshell Turtle, "Apalone ferox" - South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama.
*Smooth Softshell Turtle, "Apalone mutica" - United States, east of the Rocky Mountains.
*Spiny Softshell Turtle, "Apalone spinifera" - Canada (southern Ontario and Quebec), most of the United States, and eastern Mexico.
*Cuatro Cienegas Softshell, "Apalone ater" in Mexico

References

*EMBL genus|genus=Apalone

External links

* [http://www.tortoise.org/archives/apalone.html Tortoise.org "Apalone" entry]
* [http://www.herpnet.net/Iowa-Herpetology/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=76&Itemid=26 Spiny Softshell Turtle - Apalone spinifera] Species account from the Iowa Reptile and Amphibian Field Guide