Coastal Plain Cooter

How to identify

• Large, 9–13 inches
• Yellow plastron without red
• Dark carapace with light markings
• Coastal plain still-water habitat

About this species

A subspecies of the river cooter found in the still and slow-moving waters of Virginia's coastal plain. Very similar to the eastern river cooter and the two subspecies can be difficult to distinguish. In Virginia, range overlap and habitat type are often the best initial clues.

Often confused with

Did you know

"Cooters are primarily herbivorous as adults — unusual for freshwater turtles — and play an important role in aquatic plant management in Virginia's slow-moving coastal waterways."

Sightings & citizen science

Help document Virginia wildlife by logging your sightings on iNaturalist. Every observation builds the conservation data that researchers and rehabbers depend on.