Cuatro Cienegas softshell

"Black spiny softshell turtle" redirects here. For the species from Asia, see black softshell turtle.

The Cuatro Ciénegas softshell (Apalone spinifera atra), also called the black spiny softshell, is a subspecies of the spiny softshell turtle in the family Trionychidae. It is found only in the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin in the Mexican state of Coahuila and it is considered critically endangered by the IUCN.^[1] The subspecies, along with its parent species, was formerly classified in the genus Trionyx.^[5]

Cuatro Ciénegas softshell
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 2.3)[1]
CITES Appendix I (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Family:	Trionychidae
Genus:	Apalone
Species:	A. spinifera
Subspecies:	A. s. atra
Trinomial name
Apalone spinifera atra (Webb & Legler, 1960)[3]
Synonyms[4]
Trionyx ater Webb & Legler, 1960 Trionyx spinifer ater — Morafka, 1977 Trionyx spiniferus ater — Smith & Smith, 1980 Apalone spinifera ater — Groombridge, 1988 Apalone ater — David, 1994 Trionys spiniferus ater — Obst, 1996 Apalone spiniferus ater — Ferri, 2002 Apalone spinifera atra — Artner, 2003 Apalone (Apalone) atra — Vetter, 2004