Morphometric data for five freshwater turtles in south, central, and west Texas

From 2008–2013, we sampled freshwater turtle populations at 66 sites in south, central, and west Texas, USA. Sampling sites included ponds, lakes, resacas (oxbow lakes), canals, and rivers. We sampled turtle populations using baited hoop nets (66 sites) and basking traps (3 sites), and captured turtles by hand opportunistically in terrestrial habitat. We measured carapace length and width, plastron length and width, body depth, and weight of captured turtles. Excluding recaptures, we measured 356 Apalone spinifera emoryi (Texas Spiny Softshell), 24 Chelydra serpentina (Snapping Turtle), 20 Kinosternon flavescens (Yellow Mud Turtle), 47 Trachemys gaigeae (Big Bend Slider), and 1070 Trachemys scripta elegans (Red-eared Slider). Carapace length of Apalone spinifera emoryi ranged from 85–426 mm (mean = 182 mm). Carapace length of Chelydra serpentina ranged from 74–320 mm (mean = 233 mm). Carapace length of Kinosternon flavescens ranged from 64–147 mm (mean = 114 mm). Carapace length of Trachemys gaigeae ranged from 54–203 mm (mean = 141 mm). Carapace length of Trachemys scripta elegans ranged from 30–328 mm (mean = 171 mm). These data are useful for assessing spatial and temporal variation in size of freshwater turtles.

自2008年至2013年，本研究团队在位于美国德克萨斯州南部、中部和西部的66个地点对淡水龟类种群进行了采样。采样地点包括池塘、湖泊、牛轭湖（河曲湖）、运河和河流。通过设置诱饵环网（66个地点）和晒浴陷阱（3个地点）对龟类种群进行采样，并在陆地生境中偶然手工捕捉龟类。对捕获的龟类进行了甲壳长度、宽度、腹甲长度、宽度、身体深度和重量的测量。排除再捕获个体后，共测量了356只阿帕洛内棘背龟（Emoryi）（德克萨斯州棘背软甲龟）、24只鳖（Chelydra serpentina）、20只黄泥龟（Kinosternon flavescens）、47只大弯 Slider（Trachemys gaigeae）和1070只红耳龟（Trachemys scripta elegans）。阿帕洛内棘背龟的甲壳长度介于85至426毫米之间（平均值=182毫米）。鳖的甲壳长度介于74至320毫米之间（平均值=233毫米）。黄泥龟的甲壳长度介于64至147毫米之间（平均值=114毫米）。大弯 Slider的甲壳长度介于54至203毫米之间（平均值=141毫米）。红耳龟的甲壳长度介于30至328毫米之间（平均值=171毫米）。这些数据对于评估淡水龟类大小的空间和时间变化具有重要意义。