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Loggerhead musk turtle

Sternotherus minor · Turtles · Reptiles

Loggerhead musk turtle (Sternotherus minor): Small musk turtle, carapace roughly 7.5-14.5 cm; dark brown to orange shell with a darker border. Brown or gray skin with spots, bolder in juveniles; webbed feet. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Scientific name
Sternotherus minor
Family
Kinosternidae
In North America
Native
Range
Southeastern United States; NatureServe restricts the species to river drainages in Alabama, Georgia and Florida (Athens, Georgia south to near Orlando), while the broader older concept reaches central Florida north to Virginia and west to Louisiana; not in Canada.
Biology

How to identify it

Small musk turtle, carapace roughly 7.5-14.5 cm; dark brown to orange shell with a darker border. [1][2]

Brown or gray skin with spots, bolder in juveniles; webbed feet. [1][2]

Males have thicker, longer tails and older males have enlarged heads; the stripe-necked form (S. m. peltifer) has yellow stripes on the neck. [1][2]

Field knowledge

Where it lives

Permanent freshwater including springs, sinkhole ponds, rivers, swamps and oxbow lakes with rock or sand bottoms and often dense vegetation; shelters in crayfish burrows, under submerged logs and in rock crevices. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Aquatic, diurnal and nocturnal with morning activity; basks on limbs and females leave water to nest. [1][2]

Hibernates in rock crevices or bottom mud in cooler waters; can stay submerged for long periods. [1][2]

Adults shift to a mollusc diet (snails and clams) while juveniles eat small insects; often forages at night. [1][2]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Southeastern United States; NatureServe restricts the species to river drainages in Alabama, Georgia and Florida (Athens, Georgia south to near Orlando), while the broader older concept reaches central Florida north to Virginia and west to Louisiana; not in Canada.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30

    University of Michigan Museum of Zoology