Aquatic Turtles That Look Like a Box Turtle

Box Turtles are the most common land turtles in the eastern United States. Although they resemble tortoises on a superficial level, this species is more closely related to the aquatic turtles that belong to the family of spotted, painted and map turtles, as well as the diamondback terrapins. Box turtles, with their high domed shells, attain an adult length of approximately 8 inches. These turtles have a hinged plastron, which is the bottom piece of protective shell, which they can close totally as a means of protection

  1. Spotted Turtles

    • The background coloration of this turtle is black, whiles its head, neck, legs, and carapace or upper shell, are covered with yellow spots. Spotted turtles that have just hatched have fewer spots than adults. Despite their age, the plastron is black and yellow. The male turtle has dark coloration on its jaws, as compared to the yellow markings of the female. This species measures up to 12.7 inches in length.

    Map Turtles

    • Map turtles are found throughout a wide range of habitats from Florida to Texas, and north to Quebec. Although these turtles superficially resemble both painted turtles and sliders, they have a number of features that set them apart from other turtles, most noticeably, the well-defined keel that runs down the middle of their carapace. In certain species this keel incorporates large knobs or spines jutting either upward or backward. This interesting feature is responsible for the map turtles also being called a saw back turtle.

    Painted Turtles

    • This species gets its name from the yellow stripes on its head, neck, legs and tail. The painted turtle's carapace is dark to greenish black, with a worm-like pattern across that of the males. Female painted turtles are larger than males and can be up to 9.8 inches long. The claws of male animals are slender and fairly long, while the female, possesses far shorter claws. Painted turtles are found along the shallow margins of lakes, ponds and sluggish streams, where they use the muddy bottom and abundant aquatic plants for feeding and as shelter from predators.

    Diamondback Terrapins

    • This species has diamond-shaped markings and grooves on the plates of their carapace, which can range in color from gray or brown to nearly black. The feet of this terrapin are large, flat and strongly webbed. The diamondback terrapin lives exclusively in brackish water habitats, such as estuaries, tidal marshes and lagoons. Despite living in estuarine environments, this species chooses to nest on sandy beaches. The diamondback terrapin hibernates beneath the mud during the cold winter months.