The Alligator Snapping Turtle is one of the largest freshwater turtles and can reach a carapace length of 75 centimeters. The upper surface of its tongue carries a mobile, worm-like appendage that is gray at rest; during times of action, it fills with blood and becomes light pink. The snapping turtle does not hunt its pray but quietly lurks with a wide open mouth, “angling” for prey by moving its tongue appendage in a jerking fashion. When a fish swims into the turtle’s open mouth to check out the perceived worm, it hardly stands a chance of escaping the razor-sharp jaws as they rapidly snap shut.
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