GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida Fish and Wildlife crews managed to capture a 100-pound Suwanee alligator snapping turtle this past week.
Biologists with the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute were out last week checking traps set for the new species. The FWC helped describe the Suwanee alligator snapping turtle in 2014.
The FWC is collaborating with other researchers in Florida and Georgia to document the distribution and relative abundance of this threatened species.
Trappers say six 4-foot diameter hoop net traps were set in the New River, a 31-mile-long tributary of the Santa Fe River north of Gainesville. In one of the traps, they caught a 100-pound male and a 46-pound female. Another trap had a 64-pound male.
Researchers say the New River is a backwater stream with low biological productivity, and because of this, finding such a large turtle in a small stream is unusual.
FWC classifies the Suwanee alligator snapping turtle as "State Species of Special Concern."
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