📸 PhotoPhoto: LA Dawson · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Spiny Softshell
Apalone spinifera (Spiny Softshell · トゲスッポン)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its maximum carapace length of 48 cm is about 1.6 times the long side of an A4 sheet of paper (about 30 cm) (Comparison).
- 💡 Because it is harvested for food, some regions regulate catch limits, seasons, and size by law (ADW 'Economic Importance for Humans: Positive').
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The Spiny Softshell is a softshell turtle living in rivers and lakes of North America, preferring open waters with sparse vegetation and sandy or muddy bottoms. Its IUCN status is Least Concern (LC, as of 2024).
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its carapace is soft, flat, and round without scutes, with small spines along the margin. It has a long, upturned nose and can stay underwater for long periods by breathing through its pharynx, cloaca, and skin.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It is a carnivore feeding on aquatic insects, crayfish, and occasionally fish, burying itself in the bottom substrate to ambush passing prey. It basks on logs during the day, lies dormant buried in the bottom from October to April, and lays 9–38 eggs per clutch.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2024) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/163451/161722123
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • catalogueoflife.org — F6QR
- • iucnredlist.org — 161722123
- • wikidata.org — Q650232
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Apalone spinifera.jpg
- • animaldiversity.org — Apalone spinifera
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — author not recorded · CC0 1.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.