Florida cooter or Coastal cooter

The species is found within the southeastern coastal plain of the United States, from extreme southeastern Virginia southward through all of Florida and westward to the vicinity of Mobile Bay, Alabama. The nominate race (P. f. floridana) occupies most of the species' geographic range but is replaced in the Florida peninsula by the Peninsula cooter (Pseudemys peninsularis), which is primarily distinguished by differences in head markings. Both races can be distinguished from sympatric Pseudemys species by the immaculate yellow color of their plastrons and the lack of a U-shaped cusp in the upper jaw (characteristic of the Florida Redbelly Turtle).