A Midland Smooth Softshell Turtle (Apalone mutica mutica) from the Little Miami River

Up where I live, the Little Miami River is speckled with rocky beaches and is held captive by cliffs and towering hills of woods and dolomite outcroppings. Near its headwaters upstream, it flows through even steeper gorges carved out by glacial meltwater. The dolomite cliffs at Clifton Gorge in Yellow Springs are so steep they create a microclimate that allows hemlock trees and white cedars (boreal relics from seeds swept down and deposited by the Wisconsinan continental glacier 10,000-15,000 years ago) to thrive in the cooler, shaded forests of the gorges. Further down the river, near me, Fort Ancient is the largest ancient earthen hilltop enclosure in the world, perched on land that rises 240 feet above the river, and its narrow rocky and muddy corridor keeps the water moving along swiftly, but after the river flows past the stretch I walk and canoe or kayak, its banks and bottom slowly start to change until mile after mile, the gorges disappear and the land flattens out. As it flows through Cincinnati and nears its mouth at the Ohio river, the Little Miami widens and the banks and river bottom become more sandy, and sandbars can be found here and there too, moving and shifting each year with the rains and currents. This newer habitat creates an ideal playground for Midland Smooth Softshell turtles...

Midland Smooth Softshell Turtle (Apalone mutica mutica)

A male Midland Smooth Softshell Turtle rests in the sand along the Little Miami River at Armleder Park in Cincinnati. Here, where the river nears its confluence with the Ohio river, the river bottom and banks are sandy and support a population of smooth softshell turtles. Paul Krusling knows where the smooth softshells live in the Little Miami, so two weeks ago I met up with Paul and Joe at Armleder to photograph this guy.

Last summer, Rick and I kayaked and canoed the Little Miami river many times always hopeful we'd see a Midland Smooth sunning on a log, but we didn't. The habitat was not right. The rocky, muddy corridors and river bottoms do not appeal to the smooth softshells. Eastern Spiny Softshell Turtles, however, love the parts of the Little Miami we paddled on, and we saw well over 30 turtles. There is just enough sand mixed in with the mud for them to thrive, but two weeks ago, I finally saw my first Midland Smooth Softshell in the Little Miami (up until then, all the smooth softshell turtles I photographed were from the Great Miami River, a much larger and sandier river). Paul and Joe were heading to Armleder Park, so I met up with them to photograph the Smoothy.

At first glance, the two softshell turtles look a lot a like. They are both flat like pancakes (and are sometimes commonly called pancake turtles) and have carapaces with no scutes--thus the "soft shell" (scutes are the armored, bony plates that make up a turtle's carapace--the upper shell.) You can also see the carapace bones through the soft shell of both species, but when you look closely, differences emerge and are easily recognizable.

Midland Smooth Softshells (Apalone mutica mutica) have an apricot or peach-colored stripe that runs from the nose, through the eye, and down the neck. Eastern Spiny Softshells (Aplone spinifera spinifera) have a yellowish stripe. I was surprised at how "peach" mutica's stripe really was!

...another color to look for...blue! If you turn a Midland Smooth Softshell turtle's foot over, you'll find a blue pad. It's quite a surprise!! Here Paul held the turtle upside down so I could snap off a quick shot. The brave turtle didn't seem to mind.

...and talking about feet. Look at that webbing! Apalone mutica mutica is a very fast swimmer--the fastest swimming turtle in our area. Of course, the Spiny softshell has webbed feet too, but not quite as extensive. The Spiny Softshell turtle can bite and is more aggressive than this Smooth Softshell turtle. Maybe being just a little faster in the water makes up for the more passive nature of the Smooth Softshell turtle, which doesn't bite. Another noticeable difference...Smoothys have less noticeable markings on their legs.

A very visible difference between the two species relates to their namesakes! As you can see here, the Smooth Softshell turtle has no spines or ridges at the edge of the carapace. It's smooth! The Spiny Softshell turtle has spines and bumps (click here to see the spines of a Spiny).

...and last but not least, the carapace pattern visible on males and young Midland Smooth Softshell turtles is much different than the pattern that shows on Spiney Softshells (click here for the Spiney Softshell carapace pattern of dark circles called ocelli). Smooth Softshells have dots and dashes. This is an older male Smooth Softshell so his pattern is a bit faded (click here to see a very visible pattern on a baby Smoothy). The females of both species develop a similar pattern. Sherman Minton, Jr. in "Amphibians & Reptiles of Indiana" refers to the pattern as "lichenoid," which perfectly describes the blotchy, lichen-like look (click here to see a female softshell turtle's carapace pattern).

I have more photos of this fellow and a video of him swimming away in the water too. I'll work on getting them posted soon.

Baby Midland Smooth Softshell Turtles bury themselves in the sand, finishing with a shimmy...

…along the banks of the Great Miami River herpetologist Paul Krusling found several baby Midland Smooth Softshell turtles (Apalone mutica mutica). I videoed them burying themselves in the sand, capturing the little "shimmy" they perform when they are finished digging. When they decide it's time to go underground, they move fast...

Baby Midland Smooth Softshell turtles bury themselves in the sand. You can identify these as Midland Smooth Softshells (Apalone mutica mutica) by the dot and dash pattern that shows in the carapace.

For photos of Apalone mutica click here.

More Midland Smooth Softshell turtle photos...

This is the same Midland Smooth Softshell turtle that appears here, except he's moved in to the sun. Same colorful eye...same water...but now his carapace has color too...

Midland Smooth Softshell turtle (Apalone mutica mutica)

Click here for tips on distinguishing the Midland Smooth Softshell from the Eastern Spiny Softshell.

...the smooth softshell's interesting carapace pattern of dots and dashes (click here for more on their shell pattern).

...as a size reference, you can see how small this hatchling Midland Smooth Softshell turtle is! He's much smaller than my iPhone.

...the umbilicus still shows on this hatchling Midland Smooth Softshell.

For a video I took of baby Smooth Softshell turtles burrowing into the sand, click here.
Click here for additional Midland Smooth Softshell turtle photos.

Finally, a Midland Smooth Softshell Turtle (Apalone mutica mutica) in the Great Miami River!

I photographed this very young Midland Smooth Softshell turtle (Apalone mutica mutica) last Saturday morning along the sandy banks of the Great Miami River near the Shawnee Lookout boat ramp. The young turtle was submerged in the water with only his eyes and the tip of his snorkel-like nose protruding. It looks like a bit of PhotoShop trickery was used on these photos, but it wasn't. The turtle's eyes show the true color. It was very bright out, but the turtle was hiding in a deep shadow. As a result, everything under the water was drained of color, but the eyes, which were above the waterline, seemed to glow surreal...

...a gorgeous eye and a gorgeous apricot stripe behind the eye help identify this turtle as a Midland Smooth Softshell. Another identifying field mark is the pattern on the carapace (upper shell). It is a series of dots and dashes. This pattern appears on all young and male Smooth Softshell turtles. Click here for an earlier post to compare the Midland Smooth Softshell's carapace pattern with that of the Eastern Spiny Softshell. Females of both species lose the intricate patterns and develop blotchy markings.

...now look at the foot. The Smooth Softshell turtle is much more webbed than the Spiny Softshell. This added webbing accounts for the Smooth Softshell's dexterity and speed in the water, and is the reason he can claim the title of fastest swimmer in our area.

...cool eye rendered by Mother Nature!

...another way to ID smooth softshells is to look at the markings on their feet and legs. Eastern Spiny Softshell turtles are heavily streaked and spotted, but Midland Smooth Softshells are not. Click here for a photo of the markings on a spiny's feet.

For a video I took of baby Smooth Softshell turtles burrowing into the sand, click here.

Click here for more Midland Smooth Softshell turtle photos.