(( N0V17 1E55 \^l[BR.!\?:(,^^ Vol. 68, pp. 157-164 ^^^^^ ''^ -"^^.J^-^ October 31, 1955 PROCEEDINGS OF THE BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON THE DIAMONDBACK TERRAPINS {MALACLEMY8 TERRAPIN) OF PENINSULAR FLORIDA By Albert Schwartz The Charleston Museum, Charleston, 8. C. As presently understood, three subspecies of diamondback terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin) inhabit the coastal waters of the Florida Peninsula and the Florida Keys. As mapped by Carr (1952: 164) the ranges of these three forms are: Mala-clemys t. macrospilota, Florida west coast ; Malaclemys t. cen-trata, Florida east coast, south to about Palm Beach County; Malaclemys t. rhizopkorarum, Florida Keys, integrading with M. t. centrata along the southeastern coast and with M. t. macrospilota in the region of Cape Sable. Eecent acquisition of fresh material from the Florida east coast and the coast of South Carolina indicates that the status of the diamond-back turtles from the former locality is not as Carr indicated. In addition to material in the collection of the Charleston Museum, I have examined specimens from various institutions, and wish to extend my thanks for the loan of turtles to the following curators of collections: Charles M. Bogert and Eichard G. Zweifel, American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) ; Arthur Loveridge, Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) ; Archie F. Carr and Duke Wilder, University of Florida (UF) ; Norman E. Hartweg and William E. Duellman, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (UMMZ), and Doris M. Cochran, United States National Museum (USNM). Numerous persons have aided in the collection of specimens of Malaclemys, and I wish to thank L. Neil Bell, Julian E. Harrison III, Eaymond P. Porter, John A. Quinby, and Ephie C. Seabrook for their assistance. Shell measurements follow Carr (1952), and all measurements are in millimeters. Malaclemys t. rhisophorarum was described by Fowler (1906) as Malaclemmys littoralis rhisophorarum, from a single specimen taken at Boca Grande Key, Monroe County, Florida. Boca Grande lies between Key West and the Marquesas. Carr (1946) resurrected the name rhizo-phorarum, after many years of disuse, for the diamondback terrapins of the Florida Keys, on the basis of a new specimen from Card Sound, Dade County, Florida, and the examination of turtles from the lower portion of the Florida Peninsula. Malacelmys t. macrospilota was described by Hay in 1905, from material taken at Charlotte Harbor, Florida, and the Florida West Coast; this Gulf Coast subspecies is readily separable from the Atlantic Coast material by virtue of the clear and sharply differentiated centers of the carapace laminae. Malaclemys 27— Proo. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. 68, 1955 (157) KTstlKi
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