Northern Red-bellied Cooter

Fascinating facts about the Northern Red-bellied Cooter

• A female can grow up to 40 cm (16 in) long and weigh around 3 kg (6.6 lb), making it the biggest basking turtle ever recorded in the Chesapeake Bay area.
• Only tiny colonies of fewer than thirty individuals survive in places like Manor and Silver Lakes in Pennsylvania, a pattern noted as early as 1985.
• Massachusetts wildlife groups have been restocking ponds such as Long and Little Long Pond, and the Plymouth red-bellied turtles are now listed as endangered.

At a glance

About the Northern Red-bellied Cooter

The northern red-bellied turtle (Pseudemys rubriventris) is a sizable river cooter, with females averaging 30 cm (12 in) and weighing about 3 kg (6.6 lb), while the largest individuals can reach 40 cm (16 in). Males are slightly smaller, topping out at 29.5 cm (11.6 in). They are the largest recorded basking turtles in the Chesapeake Bay region. Their range includes coastal areas of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and a population in Massachusetts known as the Plymouth red-bellied turtle.

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