Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Section 68A-25 of the Florida Fish and Wildlife states that collectors are limited to two Diamondback Terrapins in their collection and connot be sold or purchased within the state.

My question is whether this applies to all subspecies? It simply says Malaclemys terrapin. Would that include Northern and Western populations that are clearly different looking subspecies (with seperate taxonomic names) than the ones that are native to FL? I wonder because the same section of the laws make distinctions between Map turtles and Musk turtle subspecies, but seem rather vague when addressing the Diamondback issue. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
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1.0 Woma
1.0 Australian Water Python
1.0 Australian Olive Python
1.0 Albino Green Burmese
1.0 Lereh Green Tree Python
1.1 Loxocemus bicolor (New World "Pythons" )
1.1 Hog Island Boas
0.0.1 Chinese Thread Turtle
1.0 Alligator Snapper
0.0.1 FL Red belly
0.0.2 Leopard Tortoises
0.0.4 "Flame" Crested Geckos
1.0 Yellow Ackie

I'm not real sure about Florida laws, but generally when an animal is listed with the intentions of protecting a particular subspecies, they are listed by subspecies, such as if Florida were to protect the Gray Rat Snake, but not the Yellow Rat Snake, the listing would be for Elaphe (Pantherophis) obsoleta spilotes which would exclude the Yellow Rat Snake unless it were listed specifically also. If they wanted to protect all of that species, they could simply list "Rat Snakes" Elaphe (Pantherophis) obsoleta. Normally when multiple races of a species are to be protected, however, each one is listed specifically. When a population of a particular species is listed by species and not by sub-species, such as the Diamondback Terrapins, then "similar populations" may be automatically protected under the Similar Populations clauses, unless they are excluded elswhere.