NEWS LEADER (Springfield, Missouri) 15 December 05 Red-eared slider: Possibly best-known turtle in the world - Some sold as pets were later let go in Europe, Asia and here, crowding native species out. (Francis Skalicky, Missouri Department Of Conservation)
Species: Red-eared slider
Scientific name: Trachemys scripta elegans
Nicknames: Red-eared terrapin, elegant terrapin
Claim to fame: Of the 21 species and subspecies of turtles native to Missouri, the red-eared slider is the one best-known around the world and — if you live in Asia or Europe — the one most disliked.
Prior to the 1970s, when pet-store sales of these turtles were curtailed because of the species' prevalence for carrying salmonella bacteria, red-eared sliders were the turtles most commonly sold for pets in the United States. In addition to U.S. sales, many red-eared sliders were also sold abroad. Many of these pet turtles were released into the wild and, as a result, thriving red-eared slider populations developed in several regions of Europe and Asia.
In many of these areas, red-eared slider numbers have grown to the point where they are crowding native species out of habitats. The Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG), a branch of the World Conservation Union, lists the red-eared slider among the world's 100 worst invasive species.
Species status: Missouri's red-eared slider population is relatively stable, but due to the overseas reptile trade and the degradation of aquatic habitats in many parts of the U.S., red-eared slider populations are thought to be gradually declining over much of the species' range.
First discovered: The first scientific description of the red-eared slider was written in 1838 by the naturalist/ethnologist Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied. This German prince is famous for his 1832-34 expedition to the upper stretches of the Missouri River. Traveling with Swiss artist Karl Bodmer through the present states of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota and Montana, he made detailed notes of the American Indians he encountered while Bodmer made hundreds of watercolor prints and drawings. As disease and warfare wiped out several of these tribes in ensuing years, these journals and pictures became invaluable chronicles of cultures that had disappeared.
Family matters: The red-eared slider is one of three subspecies of the common slider or pond slider (Trachemys scripta). The other two subspecies are the yellow-bellied slider (Trachemys scripta scripta) and the Cumberland turtle (Trachemys scripta troosti). Neither of these subspecies are native to Missouri. Common sliders belong to the reptile family Emydidae, a group known as the basking, marsh and box turtles.
Length: Adult red-eared sliders have top shells that range from five to eight inches in length.
Diet: Red-eared sliders eat both aquatic plants and animals.
Distinguishing characteristics: A red-eared slider's carapace (top shell) is olive-brown and is overlaid with many black and yellow lines. The plastron (bottom shell) is yellow with each section normally having a large dark blotch.
The turtle's most telling characteristic is its namesake — a red or orange stripe on each side of the head behind the eye.
On warm, sunny days the turtle will bask from mid-morning until mid-afternoon.
Captive red-eared sliders have been known to be carriers of the salmonella bacteria. This most often occurs when the turtles are kept in unsanitary or stressful conditions or they are fed contaminated foods.
Life span: Up to 42 years in the wild
Habitat: Red-eared sliders occur in a variety of aquatic habitats but prefer those that have mud bottoms, plenty of aquatic plants and numerous basking sites.
Life cycle: Courtship and mating take place from mid-March to mid-June. A clutch of up to 22 eggs is laid from April to mid-July. Some females may lay more than one clutch during a season. Eggs are laid out of water in a shallow pit dug by the female. After eggs are laid, the female covers them with the displaced soil.
Hatching usually occurs in late summer or early autumn, but young have been known to over-winter in the egg and hatch the following spring.
... Possibly best-known turtle in the world ...