---
title: "River Cooter"
description: "Pseudemys concinna — Reptiles. The river cooter (Pseudemys concinna) is a species of freshwater turtle in the family Emydidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/river-cooter
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# River Cooter

> Pseudemys concinna — Reptiles. The river cooter (Pseudemys concinna) is a species of freshwater turtle in the family Emydidae.

- Scientific name: *Pseudemys concinna*
- Category: `reptiles` (Reptiles)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Lakes & rivers)
- iNaturalist observations: 19612
- Wikidata: [Q1193060](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1193060)
- iNaturalist taxon: [39830](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/39830)

## Names

- en: River Cooter
- de: Hieroglyphen-Schmuckschildkröte
- es: Tortuga jicotea
- fr: Pseudémyde concinne
- pl: Żółw żółtobrzuchy

## Countries with the most observations

US (15268), PT (405), DE (286), ES (192), IT (158), KR (105), AT (40), CA (23), FR (16), GB (10), LU (8), MX (8)

## Summary

The river cooter (Pseudemys concinna) is a species of freshwater turtle in the family Emydidae. The species is native to the central and eastern United States, but has been introduced into parts of California, Washington, and British Columbia.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_cooter

## Photo

![River Cooter](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/river-cooter/medium.jpg)

Photo: Mark Connolly · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/278969836

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/river-cooter?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).