Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My little brother found this one in the bayou a couple of months ago and took the pictures, don't know what it is except it's got a lot of algae on the shell and a big head.

2nd pic

3rd picture

Looks like a species of Kinosternon.

...believe or not, that is a red-eared slider. Old red-ears, especially males, tend to get melanistic and difficult to recognize as adults.

^actually glad to hear somebody else say that, i've had it named as a red eared slider on my computer because I thought I read that somewhere. But it is something about this ones head and nostrils that always looked different to me.

It could be a melanistic male RES, but it appears to be a bit too high-domed and larger than the average male RES. It could be a Pseudemys concinna texana with that high-domed shell.It is called a Texas "S;ider". but it is in that group commonly known as Cooters.

It's an adult male red eared slider, old in age and showing the lack of melanism. I've caught about 300 of these guys this summer doing my research; if you look really closely at their heads, you can see the faint trace of the outline of their "ear". Old males also lose all their shell striping and spotting, and just become darker and more drab.
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Check out my website, if you want

It is a Melanistic Red Eared Slider.

Thanks for the help everybody.