I know this thread is old, but I'm shocked that anyone is saying this is a common snapper. There's no question about it. It's an alligator snapper. I'm shocked that anyone would claim to have any knowledge about snappers and say the turtle in the pics is a common snapper. There's literally about 10 obvious signs in the pic that it's an AST. You can even see the small "spikes" that cover the neck and head area. Common snappers don't have those. Common snappers do not have 3 distinct ridges on the shell either. This is like turtles 101, people. Wow.