Common name: Spiny Softshell
Scientific name: Apalone spinifera (LeSueur, 1827)

Class:
Chelonia (Turtles)
Order:
Testudines (Turtles)
Family:
Trionychidae (Softshell Turtles)
Synonyms:
Trionyx spiniferus Le Sueur, 1827
Other common names:

Habitat type(s):
Habitat description(s)
Lacustrine:
Deep water, Shallow water
Palustrine:
Riparian
Riverine:
BIG RIVER, MEDIUM RIVER, CREEK, Pool, Moderate gradient, Low gradient
Terrestrial:
Sand/dune

Ecological systems and subsytems (about):
RIVERINE - NATURAL STREAMS:
Backwater slough (guide)
The aquatic community of quiet to stagnant waters in sloughs that form in embayments and old meanders that are cut off from an unconfined river or marsh headwater stream only at the upstream end by deposition of a levee.
RIVERINE - NATURAL STREAMS:
Confined river (guide)
The aquatic community of relatively large, fast flowing sections of streams with a moderate to gentle gradient.
RIVERINE - NATURAL STREAMS:
Deepwater river
The aquatic community of very large, very deep, quiet, base level sections of streams with a very low gradient. In places the water is deep enough so that light cannot reach the river bottom.
LACUSTRINE - NATURAL LAKES AND PONDS:
Great Lakes aquatic bed (guide)
The aquatic community of the protected shoals of the Great Lakes or Lake Champlain. They occur in quiet bays that are protected from extreme wave action by islands, shoals, or barrier bars, and typically support large areas of "weeds" or aquatic macrophytes.
LACUSTRINE - NATURAL LAKES AND PONDS:
Mesotrophic dimictic lake (guide)
The aquatic community of a lake that is intermediate between an oligotrophic lake and a eutrophic lake. These lakes are dimictic: they have two periods of mixing or turnover (spring and fall); they are thermally stratified in the summer, and they freeze over and become inversely stratified in the winter.
LACUSTRINE - NATURAL LAKES AND PONDS:
Oligotrophic dimictic lake (guide)
The aquatic community of a nutrient-poor lake that typically occurs in a deep, steeply-banked basin. These lakes are dimictic: they have two periods of mixing or turnover (spring and fall), they are thermally stratified in the summer, and they freeze over and become inversely stratified in the winter.
LACUSTRINE - LACUSTRINE CULTURAL:
Reservoir/artificial impoundment
The aquatic community of an artificial lake created by the impoundment of a river with a dam. Reservoirs are constructed to collect water for municipal and/or agricultural water use, to provide hydroelectric power, and to improve opportunities for recreational activities (e.g., boating, swimming), and development.
RIVERINE - NATURAL STREAMS:
Unconfined river (guide)
The aquatic community of large, quiet, base level sections of streams with a very low gradient.
LACUSTRINE - NATURAL LAKES AND PONDS:
Winter-stratified monomictic lake (guide)
The aquatic community of a large, shallow lake that has only one period of mixing each year because it is very shallow in relation to its size, and is completely exposed to winds. These lakes typically never become thermally stratified in the summer, and are only stratified in the winter when they freeze over, and become inversely stratified (coldest water at the surface). They are eutrophic to mesotrophic.

Conservation:
Global conservation status rank:
G5
Secure globally - Common in the world; widespread and abundant (but may be rare in some parts of its range).
State conservation status rank:
S2S3
Imperiled or Vulnerable in New York - Very vulnerable, or vulnerable, to disappearing from New York, due to rarity or other factors; typically 6 to 80 populations or locations in New York, few individuals, restricted range, few remaining acres (or miles of stream), and/or recent and widespread declines. More information is needed to assign either S2 or S3.
Federal protection:
Not Listed
State protection:
Special Concern
Listed as Special Concern by New York State: at risk of becoming Threatened; not listed as Endangered or Threatened, but concern exists for its continued welfare in New York; NYS DEC may promulgate regulations as to the taking, importation, transportation, or possession as it deems necessary.
SGCN:
NYNHP track status:
Y: Track all extant and selected historical EOs

More information:
Conservation guide:
https://guides.nynhp.org/spiny-softshell/
NatureServe explorer link:
https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.100616/Apalone_spinifera/