The largest alligator snapper at the Tennessee Aquarium weighs 150 pounds. These turtles may live longer than 100 years.
Alligator snapping turtles live in rivers whose water finally drains into the Gulf of Mexico.
The adults hunt in deep water in rivers, lakes, swamps, ponds and bayous where plants such as the algae shown in this picture enhance their camouflage. Best known for an adaptation that allows it to lure fish into its mouth, the alligator snapper is a bottom dweller that surfaces to breathe. To catch a fish, the turtle sits very still in the depths of a pond or river where it can stay for 40 to 50 minutes. There it waits patiently, holding its mouth open and wiggling the small, pink, worm-like appendage on its tongue to lure passing fish. But fish are not the only food alligator snapping turtles eat.