Range: Mississippi - The Pascagoula Map Turtle (Graptemys gibbonsi) is found in the Pascagoula and Pearl Rivers. Louisiana - It is only found in the Pearl River. It is also found in many of the streams, lakes and creeks that are proximal or connected to these rivers.
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. ernsti (Escambia Map Turtle) in having more orange on the marginal scutes and having a single line on the upper side of the marginal scutes. G. pulchra (Alabama Map Turtle) has a much flatter carapace then G. gibbonsi as well as circles on the upper side of the marginal scutes. G. gibbonsi does not have as full of a mask as G. pulchra. G. gibbonsi is basically a brown turtle with a green partial mask and orange or yellow coloration on the scutes. G. gibbonsi does not have a plastral pattern except for the 5 horizontal lines that outline the rows of scutes.
Habitat: This turtle lives in large sandy/muddy rivers as well as in rocky streams. Juveniles and males prefer brush piles along the sides of the river. Females, once again, prefer deeper water and tend to bask a little bit further out into the river. Basking tends to be on large stems of trees instead of small branches
Legal Status: Not protected in Mississippi, Not protected in Louisiana.
Other Information: In the parts of the rivers where I have looked for G. gibbonsi, 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 Graptemys flavimaculata (Yellow-blotched Sawback Map), Graptemys oculifera (Ringed Sawback Map Turtle), Pseudemys concinna (River Cooters), Trachemys scripta scripta x elegans (Yellowbelly x Red Eared Slider), Sternotherus minor peltifer (Stripeneck Musk), Sternotherus carinatus (Razorback Musk), Macroclemys temminckii (Alligator Snapping Turtles, not Loggerheads as named by the locals), and Apalone spinifera aspera, (Gulf Coast Spiny Softshell). G. gibbonsi, a broad head species, can be found along side G. oculifera and G. flavimaculata, both narrow-head species .
*** Also, see the editorial concerning the commercialization and exploitation of this species***