Trachemys grayi (BOCOURT, 1868)

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Higher Taxa	Emydidae, Deirochelyinae, Testudinoidea, Testudines (turtles)
Subspecies	Trachemys grayi grayi (BOCOURT 1868) Trachemys grayi emolli (LEGLER in GIBBONS 1990) Trachemys grayi panamensis MCCORD, JOSEPH-OUNI, HAGEN & BLANCK 2010
Common Names	G: Nicaragua-Schmuckschildkröte [emolli] S: Jicotea Negra
Synonym	Emys grayi BOCOURT 1868 Pseudemys ornata grayi — STUART 1963 Trachemys scripta grayi — FRITZ 1990 Pseudemys scripta grayi — LEGLER 1990: 89 Trachemys venusta grayi — SEIDEL 2002 Trachemys venusta grayi — FRITZ & HAVAS 2007 Trachemys grayi — HARFUSH-MELÉNDEZ & BUSKIRK 2008 Trachemys venusta grayi — MCCORD et al. 2010 Trachemys venusta panamensis MCCORD et al. 2010 Trachemys grayi — FRITZ et al. 2011 Trachemys grayi grayi — MCCRANIE et al. 2013 Trachemys venusta panamensis — TTWG 2014 Trachemys grayi — TTWG 2014: 362 Trachemys grayi grayi — VARGAS-RAMÍREZ et al. 2017 Trachemys grayi grayi — TTWG 2021 Trachemys grayi grayi — FRITZ et al. 2024 Trachemys grayi — TTWG 2025 Trachemys grayi emolli (LEGLER in GIBBONS 1990) Pseudemys scripta emolli LEGLER in GIBBONS 1990: 91 Trachemys scripta emolli — IVERSON 1992: 208 Trachemys ornata emolli — WALLS 1996 Trachemys emolli — SEIDEL 2002 Trachemys venusta emolli — ARTNER 2003 Trachemys emolli — HENNIG 2004 Trachemys emolli — FRITZ & HAVAS 2007 Chrysemys ornata — HENDERSON 2010 Trachemys grayi emolli — MCCRANIE et al. 2013 Trachemys emolli — PARHAM et al. 2013 Trachemys emolli — TTWG 2014: 362 Trachemys grayi emolli — TTWG 2017 Trachemys grayi emolli — VARGAS-RAMÍREZ et al. 2017 Trachemys emolli — MCCRANIE 2018 Trachemys emolli — PFAU 2021 Trachemys grayi emolli — TTWG 2021 Trachemys emolli — SUNYER & MARTÍNEZ-FONSECA 2023 Trachemys grayi emolli — FRITZ et al. 2024 Trachemys emolli — SALAZAR-SAAVEDRA 2025 Trachemys grayi panamensis MCCORD, JOSEPH-OUNI, HAGEN & BLANCK 2010 Trachemys venusta panamensis MCCORD, JOSEPH-OUNI, HAGEN & BLANCK 2010 Trachemys grayi panamensis — TTWG 2017 Trachemys grayi panamensis — VARGAS-RAMÍREZ et al. 2017 Trachemys grayi panamensis — TTWG 2021 Trachemys grayi panamensis — FRITZ et al. 2024
Distribution	SW Mexico (Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Chiapas, Oaxaca) through W Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama Type locality: Río Nagualate, Guatemala. panamensis: Panama; Type locality: Chiva-Chiva Road (trail), 1 km from Gaillané (Gaillard) Highway (Fort Clayton entrance), north of Miraflores Lake, Pacific-side Panama Canal Zone, Panamá Province, Panama. emolli: Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras; Type locality: "Rio Tepetate. 2.5 km northeast of Granada, Granada Province, Nicaragua"
Reproduction	oviparous.
Types	Holotype: MNHN-RA 9220 (this specimen is also in the MNHN register as being the type of Emys umbra Bocourt) Holotype: UU 6728 [emolli] Holotype: UF (was FLMNH 52511), juvenile preserved in alcohol, collected in July 1968 by H. W. Campbell [panamensis]
Diagnosis	Unfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 2692 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details.
Comment	Synonymy: Fritz et al. 2011 showed that T. venusta grayi was not part of the T. venusta complex and so should be recognized as a distinct species, T. grayi. Fritz et al. (2012) revealed T. venusta to be polyphyletic and referred T. emolli, T. venusta grayi, and T. venusta panamensis to T. grayi. Consequently, the latter name is now applicable to all populations naturally occurring in Costa Rica and Panama. Distribution: not in Honduras fide McCranie 2015 (checklist Honduras). See map in McCranie 2013: 25. Habitat: freshwater (lakes, ponds, rivers) NCBI taxonID: 365638 [emolli]
References	Bocourt,M.F. 1868. Descriptions de quelques chéloniens nouveaux appartenant a la faune Mexicaine. Ann. Sci. Nat. Zool., (Ser. 5) 10 (Pts. 1-3), p. 121-122 - get paper here Bour, R. 2008. Global diversity of turtles (Chelonii; Reptilia) in freshwater. Hydrobiologia 595:593–598 - get paper here Ernst, C, H. 2008. Trachemys emolli. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (846): 1-3 - get paper here Ernst, C. H. and M. E. Seidel 2006. Trachemys venusta. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles 832: 1-12. - get paper here Fritz U. 1990. Balzverhalten und Systematik in der Subtribus Nectemydina. 1. Die Gattung Trachemys, besonders Trachemys scripta callirostris (Gray, 1855). Salamandra 26 (4): 221-245 - get paper here Fritz, U., Stuckas, H., Vargas-RamÌrez, M., Hundsdærfer, A. K., Maran, J. & Påckert, M. 2012. Molecular phylogeny of Central and South American slider turtles: implications for biogeography and systematics (Testudines: Emydidae: Trachemys). Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 50 (2): 125 – 136 [2011] - get paper here Gray,J.E. 1856. Catalogue of Shield Reptiles in the Collection of the British Museum. Part I. Testudinata (Tortoises). British Museum, London, 79 pp. [1855] - get paper here Günther, A. C. L. G. 1885. Reptilia and Batrachia. Biologia Centrali-Américana. Taylor, & Francis, London, 326 pp. [published in parts from 1885-1902; reprint by the SSAR 1987] - get paper here Harfush-Meléndez, Martha and James R. Buskirk 2008. New Distributional Data on the Tehuantepec Slider, Trachemys grayi, in Oaxaca, Mexico. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 7(2): 274-276 - get paper here Henderson, C.L. 2010. Mammals, Amphibians, and Reptiles of Costa Rica - A field guide. University of Texas Press, Austin, 198 pp. Hennig, Andreas S. 2013. Die Neuwelt-Sumpfschildkröten der Familie Emydidae. Terraria-Elaphe 2013 (4): 14-20 - get paper here Iverson, J.B. 1992. A revised Checklist with Distribution Maps of the Turtles of the World. Richmond, Indiana, privately published, 363 pp. Johnson, Jerry D.; Vicente Mata-Silva, Elí García Padilla, and Larry David Wilson 2015. The Herpetofauna of Chiapas, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation. Mesoamerican Herpetology 2 (3): 272–329. - get paper here Koller, Rene 2005. Herpetologoische waarnemingen in Belize, deel 2: reptielen. Lacerta 63 (1): 4-19 - get paper here Legler, J.M. 1990. The genus Pseudemys in Mesoamerica: Taxonomy, distribution, and origins. in J.W. Gibbons (ed.): Life history and Ecology of the Slider Turtle. Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 82-105 McCord, William P.; Mehdi Joseph-Ouni, Cris Hagen, and Torsten Blanck 2010. Three New Subspecies of Trachemys venusta (Testudines: Emydidae) from Honduras, Northern Yucatán (Mexico), and Pacific Coastal Panama. Reptilia (GB): 39-49 - get paper here McCranie, James R. 2015. A checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Honduras, with additions, comments on taxonomy, some recent taxonomic decisions, and areas of further studies needed. Zootaxa 3931 (3): 352–386 - get paper here McCranie, James R.; Frank Köhler, Alexander Gutsche and Leonardo Valdés Orellana 2013. Trachemys grayi emolli (Testudines, Emydidae) in Honduras and its systematic relationships based on mitochondrial DNA. Zoosystematics and Evolution 89 (1): 21–29 - get paper here MORA, JOSÉ MANUEL; LUCÍA I. LÓPEZ, GERARDO CHAVES & JOSÉ MIGUEL MORA. 2022. Amelanism in the Nicaraguan slider turtle Trachemys grayi in Costa Rica. The Herpetological Bulletin (162). - get paper here Parham, James F.; Theodore J. Papenfuss, Peter Paul van Dijk, Byron S. Wilson, Cristian Marte, Lourdes Rodriguez Schettino, W. Brian Simison 2013. Genetic introgression and hybridization in Antillean freshwater turtles (Trachemys) revealed by coalescent analyses of mitochondrial and cloned nuclear markers. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 67 (1):176–187 - get paper here Pfau, B. 2021. Auffangstationen für Terrarientiere in Europa. Elaphe 2021 (3): 12-15 Salazar-Saavedra, Milton 2025. Listado de los Anfibios y Reptiles de Nicaragua con la<br />inclusión de 24 nuevos registros para el país. Revista Nicaragü ense de Biodiversidad. (114): 144 pp. - get paper here Sasa, M., Arias, E., & Chaves, G. 2025. Annotated list of amphibians and reptiles of Costa Rica: The role of the Museum of Zoology in cataloging the country’s herpetological diversity. Revista de Biología Tropical, 73(S2): e64536-e64536 - get paper here Seidel, Michael E. 2002. Taxonomic observations on extant species and subspecies of slider turtles, genus Trachemys. Journal of Herpetology 36 (2): 285-292 - get paper here Seidel, Michael E. & Carl H. Ernst 2017. A Systematic Review of the Turtle Family Emydidae. Vertebrate Zoology 67 (1): 1–122 - get paper here Solís, J. M., L. D. Wilson, and J. H. Townsend. 2014. An updated list of the amphibians and reptiles of Honduras, with comments on their nomenclature. Mesoamerican Herpetology 1: 123–144 - get paper here Stuart, L.C. 1963. A checklist of the herpetofauna of Guatemala. Misc. Publ. Mus. Zool., Univ. Michigan (No. 122): 1-150 - get paper here Sunyer, Javier 2014. An updated checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Nicaragua. Mesoamerican Herpetology 1 (2): 186–202. - get paper here Sunyer, Javier & José́ Gabriel Martínez-Fonseca 2023. An updated country checklist to the amphibians and reptiles of Nicaragua. REVISTA NICARAGÜENSE DE BIODIVERSIDAD (100): 1-25 - get paper here TTWG [TURTLE TAXONOMY WORKING GROUP: RHODIN, A.G.J., IVERSON, J.B., FRITZ, U., GALLEGO-GARCÍA, N., GEORGES, A., SHAFFER, H.B., AND VAN DuK, P.P.]. 2025. Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (10th Ed.). In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., van Dijk, P.P., Stanford, C.B., Goode, E.V., Buhlmann, K.A., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs 10:1-575 - get paper here TTWG; Anders G.J. Rhodin, John B. iverson, Roger Bour, Uwe Fritz, Arthur GeoRges, H. BRadley Shaffer, and Peter Paul van Dijk 2017. Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (8th Ed.). In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., van Dijk, P.P., Saumure, R.A., Buhlmann, K.A., Pritchard, P.C.H., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs 7:1–292. doi: 10.3854/crm.7.checklist.atlas.v8.2017 - get paper here TTWG; Dijk, Peter Paul van; John B. Iverson, H. Bradley Shaffer; Roger Bour & Anders G.J. Rhodin [turtle taxonomy working group] 2012. Turtles of the World, 2012 Update: Annotated Checklist of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status. Chelonian Research Monographs No. 5, doi:10.3854/crm.5.000.checklist.v5.2012 - get paper here TTWG; Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., Bour, R., Fritz, U., Georges, A., Shaffer, H.B., and van Dijk, P.P. 2021. Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (9th Ed.). In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., van Dijk, P.P., Stanford, C.B., Goode, E.V., Buhlmann, K.A., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs 8:1–472. doi:10.3854/crm.8.checklist.atlas.v9.2021. - get paper here Vargas-Ramírez M, del Valle C, Ceballos CP, Fritz U. 2017. Trachemys medemi n. sp. from northwestern Colombia turns the biogeography of South American slider turtles upside down. J Zool Syst Evol Res. 2017;55:326–339 - get paper here
External links	National Center for Biotechnology Information Google images

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