Morphometric data for five freshwater turtles in south, central, and west Texas.

From 2008 to 2013, we sampled freshwater turtle populations at 66 sites in south, central, and west Texas, USA. Sampling sites included ponds, lakes, resacas (oxbow lakes), canals, and rivers. We sampled turtle populations using baited hoop nets (66 sites) and basking traps (3 sites), and captured turtles by hand opportunistically in terrestrial habitat. We measured carapace length and width, plastron length and width, body depth, and weight of captured turtles. Excluding recaptures, we measured 356 (Texas Spiny Softshell), 24 (Snapping Turtle), 20 (Yellow Mud Turtle), 47 (Big Bend Slider), and 1070 (Red-eared Slider). Carapace length of ranged from 85 to 426 mm (mean = 182 mm). Carapace length of ranged from 74 to 320 mm (mean = 233 mm). Carapace length of ranged from 64 to 147 mm (mean = 114 mm). Carapace length of ranged from 54 to 203 mm (mean = 141 mm). Carapace length of ranged from 30 to 328 mm (mean = 171 mm). These data are useful for assessing spatial and temporal variation in size and body condition of freshwater turtles.