Smooth softshell
Apalone mutica (Lesueur, 1827)
Status not recordedturtles and tortoises
The smooth softshell (Apalone mutica) is a species in the family Trionychidae, order Testudines. Recorded adults weigh about 819 g.
No freely licensed photo yet
Quick facts about the smooth softshell
- Weight
- 819 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- up to 35.6 cmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 20 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Egg incubation
- 61.9 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3 – 28src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 7 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 2.5src for Litters or clutches a year
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Aquaticsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the smooth softshell live?
Not recorded
Is the smooth softshell endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the smooth softshell classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classReptilia
- orderTestudines
- familyTrionychidae
- genusApalone
- SpeciesApalone mutica (Lesueur, 1827)
Synonyms Potamochelys microcephalus, Trionyx muticus, Trionyx muticus, Trionyx muticus calvatus, Trionyx pusilla
Other names and names in other languages (16)
- Gulf coast smooth softshell turtleEnglish
- Midland smooth softshell turtleEnglish
- Smooth softshell turtleEnglish
- Smooth Softshelled turtleEnglish
- سلحفاة لينة الدرقة الناعمةArabic
- kožnatka hladkáCzech
- Glatte WeichschildkröteGerman
- Glattrand-WeichschildkröteGerman
- Tortuga de caparazón blando lisaSpanish
- sima lágyhéjúteknősHungarian
- スベスッポンJapanese
- Tartaruga-de-casco-mole-do-golfoPortuguese
- Гладкий триониксRussian
- Midland Smooth Softshellroot
- Gulf Coast Smooth Softshellroot
- 滑鱉Chinese
Relatives of the smooth softshell
Other species in the same genus Apalone.
CompareSmooth softshell vs Florida softshellSmooth softshell vs Spiny softshell turtleSmooth softshell vs Apalone amorense
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the smooth softshell?
An adult smooth softshell weighs 819 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
What kind of animal is the smooth softshell?
The smooth softshell (Apalone mutica) belongs to the family Trionychidae in the order Testudines.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-14. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles · CC BY 4.0 · v1-2
Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4
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Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Smooth softshell (Apalone mutica). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/smooth-softshell
“Smooth softshell (Apalone mutica).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/smooth-softshell.
@misc{smooth_softshell_2026,
title = {Smooth softshell (Apalone mutica)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/smooth-softshell},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}