Range: Florida - The Escambia Map Turtle (Graptemys ernsti) is found in the Escambia River. Alabama - It is found in the Conecuh River. (Hint: The Escambia River in Florida and the Conecuh River in Alabama are the same river. They just get a different name when it hits the state line.) Graptemys ernsti is also found in the Sepulga, Pea and Yellow Rivers in Alabama as well as all the interconnecting streams.
Description: This is a medium to large size turtle. Males are about 3.5 to 5 inches as adults and females are about 5.5 to 11.5 inches long. This turtle is part of the broad head group of map turtles and therefore is mostly a crustacean (mollusk) eater, but they are also opportunistic so insects (especially males and juveniles) and fish could also be eaten. It has a domed shell keel that is exaggerated as a hatchling and slowly wears down with age, especially old females. This turtle differs from G. pulchra (Alabama Map Turtle) and G. gibbonsi in having three separated blotches on the top of the head (instead of a partial or full mask) G. ernsti has a high carapace like G. gibbonsi and unlike G. pulchra. G. ernsti is basically a brown turtle with three green triangular blotches on the head and yellow coloration on the scutes. G. ernsti does not have a plastral pattern except for the 5 very thin horizontal lines that outline the rows of scutes.
Habitat: This turtle lives in a large sandy river. Juveniles and males prefer brush piles along the sides of the river. Females, once again, prefer deeper water and tend to bask a little further out into the river. Basking tends to occur on large stems of trees instead of small branches.
Legal Status: Regulated in Florida, 2 per person, Protected in Alabama
Other Information: In the parts of the rivers where I have looked for G. ernsti, it was not uncommon. In some parts of these rivers, Pseudemys concinna, appears to be as common. Other species that are found in the same places as this species are Pseudemys concinna (River Cooters), Trachemys scripta scripta (Yellowbelly Sliders), Sternotherus minor minor (Loggerhead Musk), Macroclemys temminckii (Alligator Snapping Turtles, not Loggerheads as named by the locals), and Apalone spinifera aspera, (Gulf Coast Spiny Softshell), Gulf Coast Smooth Softshell (Apalone muticus calvatus). Note: This is the missing part of the puzzle..... By example of G. nigrinoda/G. pulchra and G. flavimaculata/G. gibbonsi and G. oculifera/G. gibbonsi, there should be another narrow-head species in the Escambia drainage. I set out to look for that species with no luck. I heard rumors in the late 90's about this and spent some time looking for it in the Escambia, Sepulga etc. , but all that was found was G. ernsti.
Graptemys habitat on the Escambia River, Florida