Apalone spp.

Basic information
Scientific name	Apalone spp.	(No picture)
Lower taxa	Apalone ferox, A. mutica, A. spinifera
Common names	Softshelled turtle
Higher taxon	Trionychidae, Testudines, Reptilia
Natural range	E & C USA, N Mexico
Habitat	River, lake, pond, swamp, etc.

Invasion information
Range in Japan	Not established in Japan.
Origin	Unintroduced to Japan.
Date
Route	Deliberate (Three species, A. ferox, A. mutica, and A. spinifera is imported to Japan as pet animals)
Impact	Potentially: Competition with native freshwater turtles. Native organism(s) affected: Freshwater turtles.
Regulation in Japan	No action for prevention, mitigation, control, or eradication.
Introduced range in other countries	Established in California, Nevada, Arizona, etc., USA.

Reference	Notes
DECO (ed) (2006) Dictionary of Alien Species. Tokyo-Shoseki. (in Jpn) JWRC (ed) (2008) A Photographic Guide to the Invasive Alien Species in Japan. Heibonsha. (in Jpn) Yasukawa (2005) Alien freshwater turtles which may become established in Japan in the near future. Bull. Herpetol. Soc. Jpn. 2005(2):155-163 (in Jpn) etc.