Endemic Animals of Alabama

The Alabama red-bellied cooter (Pseudemys alabamensis ) or Alabama red-bellied turtle, is native to Alabama. It belongs to the turtle family Emydidae, the pond turtles. It is the official reptile of the state of Alabama. Less

The black-knobbed map turtle (Graptemys nigrinoda ), formerly known as the black-knobbed sawback, is a small to medium-sized aquatic turtle with light gray skin. Some of the most distinguishing characteristics of the black-knobbed map turtle, and the Graptemys genus, are the protruding "spikes" on the turtle's carapace. This species inhabits mainly the fall lines of rivers in the Mobile Bay drainage, in Alabama and Mississippi. Less

The Alabama beach mouse (Peromyscus polionotus ammobates) is a federally endangered species that lives along the Alabama coast. Less

The flattened musk turtle (Sternotherus depressus ) is a species of turtle in the family Kinosternidae. The species is endemic to the southern United States. Less

The triangular kidneyshell (Ptychobranchus greenii ) is a species of freshwater mussel, in the family Unionidae, the river mussels. It is endemic to Alabama in the United States, where it is known from several rivers and streams in the Mobile River Basin. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.This aquatic bivalve mollusc is somewhat oval in shape and may reach 10 centimeters in length. It is yellow to yellow-brown in ...
color. The shell is quite variable in appearance.When this mussel breeds it releases its larvae, termed glochidia, glued together in packets called conglutinates. The conglutinate has a sticky filament that adheres to the substrate to prevent it from being washed away. The conglutinate resembles a fly larva, or perhaps a fish egg, and it is appetizing to fish. Fish hosts such as the warrior darter (Etheostoma bellator ), Tuskaloosa darter (Etheostoma douglasi ), and blackbanded darter (Percina nigrofasciata ) consume the conglutinates, degrading them and releasing the glochidia, which then lodge in the fish's gills as parasites. They develop into juvenile mussels and drop out of the fish to develop further elsewhere. Many other mussels in family Unionidae have a similar process.This mussel was known from the Black Warrior River and tributaries, the Coosa River and its tributaries, and the Cahaba River. When it was placed on the Endangered Species List in 1993 it was limited to some tributaries of the Black Warrior River and the Conasauga River in the Coosa River drainage. Any remaining specimens in the Cahaba River are now treated as members of another species, Ptychobranchus foremanianus. It is extirpated from the main Black Warrior River, but it is present in at least two tributaries, which are protected within Bankhead National Forest. Less

Margaritifera marrianae, the Alabama pearlshell, is a species of freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusk in the family Margaritiferidae, the freshwater pearl mussels.This species is endemic to the United States. It is threatened by habitat loss. Less

Lasmigona alabamensis, common name Alabama heelsplitter, is a species of freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusk in the family Unionidae.Confusingly, a different species, Potamilus inflatus, has also sometimes been listed as "Alabama heelsplitter". In order to avoid confusion, that species has now been given the common name "inflated heelsplitter". Less

Rotundaria asperata, the Alabama orb, is a species of freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusk.It is native to the United States, where it is endemic to the Mobile River drainage where it is found in medium-size rivers and creeks.This species was moved from Quadrula to Rotundaria based on genetic evidence in 2012. Less