Pictures of softshell nostrils

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Don Becker
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Pictures of softshell nostrils

Post by Don Becker »

So, I have up close photos of Smooth softshell nostrils, and I have looked at plenty of spiny nostrils, but I don't appear to have any good pictures of the nostrils of spiny softshells. Does anyone else have some shots they could share so I can show them to someone as a comparison?

Here is the nostrils of a Smooth Softshell
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Mike Pingleton
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Re: Pictures of softshell nostrils

Post by Mike Pingleton »

How about this one?

Image

-Mike
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Chris Smith
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Re: Pictures of softshell nostrils

Post by Chris Smith »

Apalone spinifera (Spiny Softshell Turtle). Not the best photo in the world but you can see the spines on the septum.
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Apalone mutica (Smooth Softshell Turtle)
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-Chris
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Don Becker
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Re: Pictures of softshell nostrils

Post by Don Becker »

Excellent! Also Chris, if you end up finding my other A. mutica record, I am not sure if I have nostril shots uploaded with it, so I will have to check the photos I have to look through the other photos of the animal I have. I uploaded the underside of each turtle to show the color differences which I thought was diagnostic enough for the voucher.
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Don Becker
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Re: Pictures of softshell nostrils

Post by Don Becker »

I guess to be thorough, here are shots of the underside of both species too.

Adult A. spinifera
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Young A. mutica
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If anyone has a shot of the underside of an adult mutica, please post that too.
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Chris Smith
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Re: Pictures of softshell nostrils

Post by Chris Smith »

I don't have an underside of A. mutica ( :? I have underside shots of every things else... doh). I am not familiar with the underside diagnostic characteristics. What are you looking at, color?

-Chris
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Don Becker
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Re: Pictures of softshell nostrils

Post by Don Becker »

The underside of the rear of the shell is brown in mutica, but white in spinifera, though I am trying to find where I first read that as a diagnostic.
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MHollanders
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Re: Pictures of softshell nostrils

Post by MHollanders »

Shooting macro makes it difficult to get the full nose in focus, so I apologize for that.

Pallid Spiny Softshell (Apalone spinifera pallida)

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Later, Matt
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Gyri
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Re: Pictures of softshell nostrils

Post by Gyri »

Here ya go boss.

Image
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justinm
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Re: Pictures of softshell nostrils

Post by justinm »

I just posted this on another topic. Don feel free to use this as you wish. Give me a call sometime we need to finally catch up, things are settling down now.
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Here's the underside but it has some old guy in it.

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Chris Smith
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Re: Pictures of softshell nostrils

Post by Chris Smith »

psyon wrote:The underside of the rear of the shell is brown in mutica, but white in spinifera, though I am trying to find where I first read that as a diagnostic.
Let me know if you find this cited somewhere. I will have to pay more attention to that characteristic in the future.

-Chris
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Chris Smith
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Re: Pictures of softshell nostrils

Post by Chris Smith »

Don- Here is a record of A. mutica that has white on the rear portion of the shell.

-Chris
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kaptainkory
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Re: Pictures of softshell nostrils

Post by kaptainkory »

Image
J-Miz
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Re: Pictures of softshell nostrils

Post by J-Miz »

Nice shot, Justin!
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Don Becker
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Re: Pictures of softshell nostrils

Post by Don Becker »

Chris Smith wrote:Don- Here is a record of A. mutica that has white on the rear portion of the shell.

-Chris
Maybe it is only in juveniles, thats why I was hoping for other pictures. I still wish I remembered where I had read it at.
Shells-n-scales
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Re: Pictures of softshell nostrils

Post by Shells-n-scales »

Not a "softshell" turtle but similar

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snakeguy101
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Re: Pictures of softshell nostrils

Post by snakeguy101 »

Here is a FL soft shell:
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and a mata mata with a similar nose:
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Paul White
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Re: Pictures of softshell nostrils

Post by Paul White »

Justinnm: That first picture is probably the coolest shot of any turtle I've ever seen. I love the expression on it's face :)
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TeeJay
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Re: Pictures of softshell nostrils

Post by TeeJay »

Here's some belly pics of a couple different male Mutica from the Minnesota River 1997:

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And here's an odd thing...here's a pic of a Spiny Softshell with a funny wierd thing that came down out of its butt! (???) It looked like it was leaking oil! After about a minute, it went back in again. I've never seen this before or since. Any idea what this was all about? (Not sure if it was a male or female)

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ThamnElegans24
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Re: Pictures of softshell nostrils

Post by ThamnElegans24 »

Here's a couple of pics of a Spiny Softshell from Arizona.

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Piglet
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Re: Pictures of softshell nostrils

Post by Piglet »

I believe this is a Gulf Coast Spiny
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