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Pascagoula map turtle

Graptemys gibbonsi · Turtles · Reptiles

Pascagoula map turtle (Graptemys gibbonsi): Large; females to 29.5 cm carapace, males to 12.4 cm. High-domed olive, brown or green carapace with a medial keel bearing spines on the second and third vertebrals. 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
Graptemys gibbonsi
Family
Emydidae
In North America
Native
Range
Endemic to the Pascagoula River drainage in Mississippi (Pascagoula, Leaf and Chickasawhay rivers and tributaries). Not in Canada.
Biology

How to identify it

Large; females to 29.5 cm carapace, males to 12.4 cm. [1][2]

High-domed olive, brown or green carapace with a medial keel bearing spines on the second and third vertebrals. [1][2]

Large greenish interorbital blotch joined to two postorbital blotches, with yellow paramedian neck stripes. [1][2]

Yellow or orange vertical line on each marginal scute; nasal trident usually present. [1][2]

Compared with the alabama map turtle: Low-domed shell with concentric yellow semicircles on the marginals and no nasal trident; Mobile Bay drainage. [1][2]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a pascagoula map turtle before you act. Compared with the alabama map turtle: Low-domed shell with concentric yellow semicircles on the marginals and no nasal trident; Mobile Bay drainage.[1][2]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Large to medium rivers with mollusks, sandy banks or bars, deep pools and logs; highest densities near deadwood. Nests in sandy banks or bars. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Forages and basks by day and spends nights underwater clinging to branches. [1][2]

Adult females eat mainly mollusks; males and juveniles eat insects and other arthropods. [1][2]

Competes for basking space by pushing; larger turtles win more often. [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

Endemic to the Pascagoula River drainage in Mississippi (Pascagoula, Leaf and Chickasawhay rivers and tributaries). 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