#1502 · 🦎 reptiles
Spiny Softshell
🇳🇱 Doornrandweekschildpad ·Apalone spinifera
8 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
what is it?
The spiny softshell turtle ( Apalone spinifera ) is a species of softshell turtle, one of the largest freshwater turtle species in North America. Both the common name, spiny softshell, and the specific name, spinifera (spine-bearing), refer to the spiny, cone-like projections on the leading edge of the carapace, which are not scutes (scales).
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
- 25,308 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by Charles Alexandre Lesueur in 1827 (199 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Spiny Softshell
- Nederlands
- Doornrandweekschildpad
- scientific name
- Apalone spinifera
- class
- Reptilia
- order
- Testudines
- family
- Trionychidae
- IUCN Red List
- LC · least concern
- sightings in NL
- 0
- sightings in Europe
- 24
- sightings worldwide
- 25,308
- GBIF records in NL
- 0
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1827 by Charles Alexandre Lesueur
IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.
relatives· Trionychidae
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 39556, Wikidata Q650232, GBIF 2442680, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.