CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. — Scientists have made a new discovery in Citrus County: the existence of alligator snapping turtles in the Homosassa River region.

The area is more than 40 miles from where this particular species was thought to be confined. 

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and its team of researchers are working to learn more by trapping some of the turtles and collecting data, including DNA samples. The snappers appear to be the Suwannee species, found in the Suwannee River.

Because that habitat is more than 40 miles away, researchers say how they got here is a bit of a mystery. 

At first, FWC suspected they were displaced by a storm in the 1990s. But given the size of some of the snappers documented, they now suspect they’ve been here a lot longer. 

“It’s looking more and more like this is a natural population that is isolated from the Suwannee,” said FWC biologist Kevin Enge, who has been leading the agency’s trap and release research project.

The alligator snappers are usually nocturnal, but Enge said the ones in the Homosassa River area are unusually active during the day. Females can grow two weigh up to 50 pounds, while males can weigh more than 100 pounds.

The alligator snapping turtle is considered a threatened species and protected under Florida law.

All of the snappers trapped by FWC for this research project were returned safely to the water, right near where they were found.