Abstract
Excerpt: The native distribution of Trachemys scripta elegans, the redeared slider, is limited to the Mississippi Valley from Illinois to the Gulf of Mexico (Ernst et al. 1994). For decades, T. s. elegans has been the most popular turtle in the pet trade worldwide. Furthermore, large numbers of adults have been shipped around the world as laboratory animals. From these sources, T. scripta has been introduced into many areas outside of its native range. Introduced populations have been reported worldwide in Japan, Germany, Israel, South Africa, and the Mariana Islands (Ernst et al. 1994), and in the U.S. in Michigan, Arizona, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Washington D.C., and Virginia (Conant 1975; Ernst et al. 1994; Mitchell 1994). In Florida, introduced populations have been reported in Dade Co. (Wilson and Porras 1983), Orange Co. (Bancroft et al. 1983), and in Pinellas Co. at Coquina Key, Gulfport, Sawgrass Lake Park, Boyd Hill Park, and Eckerd College (Hutchison 1992; P. Meylan, pers. comm.; G. Heinrich, pers. comm.).
