MORPHS & VISUAL TRAITS

Thomas over at Diamondback Terrapin Island has been working on producing this line year after year since 2018. Akoya Terrapins are not a phenotype used to describe a look or trait of a terrapin.  Akoyas are the product of a line-breeding project which has been in the works for a long time. It started with the pairing of two beautiful terrapins of different subspecies.  In 2019, 5 terrapins hatched and 2 of them were uniquely beautiful. 2020 was even better and that's when I got into the project, sharing the same vision for it as Thomas has.  The Akoya line hatchlings come from the pairings of the above mentioned group and we think they are absolutely amazing...

Within the Akoya line all of the known phenotypes or traits can exist: Marbled, Crown, Blonde, Diadem, Concentric and even Flowerback.  The Akoya line’s skin color can come  in white, slate, blue, or powder blue 

Albinism is a recessive trait that requires both parents to carry the gene in order to produce visual offspring. Even if you breed an albino to another wild-type adult, unless they carry the same recessive gene, all of the offspring will appear normal. It wouldn't be until those offspring are raised up and bred back to each other when their offspring would show the visual albino characteristics. Without covering too much genetics in a short paragraph, animals that carry the gene, but don't show the trait are called "hets" which is short for heterozygous. Non-visual offspring from two "het" adults are considered "poss-het" which is short for possible heterozygous. Another term for a "poss-het" animal is a "66 het" which means there is a 66% chance that it carries the albinism gene. 

I encountered my first spotless Onyx Terrapin in 2020. The original breeder is unknown, but what we know about these unique animals is that they are Ornates most likely with some Mangrove influence. Onyx Terrapins can have skin color that ranges from a lavender to dark grey. The thing that truly sets a Spotless Onyx apart is the lack of markings on it's skin. Most of the terrapins from the Onyx line have an abundance of markings ranging from small specks to large blotchy markings on their face, neck, and limbs. Out of the 30 or so hatchlings we acquired in 2020, only 4 were completely spotless.  

"Crown" is a term for a visual trait sometimes seen in Norther Diamondback Terrapins, Carolina Diamondback Terrapins, and various intergrades. Crowns are identified easiest by the straight lines on the top of their heads or their "crowns". To be considered a true crown, a specimen must have mostly straight and non-touching lines extending towards their nose from behind their eyes. Another way to determine if an animal is a true "crown" is to observe the plastron markings. If they are thick, bold lines that don't have gaps in them, there is a good chance it is a crown. If the markings are more circle-like or "concentric", they are typically not considered a true crown and the value of the animal drops significantly.

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Crowns are difficult to predict from breeding pairs. Sometimes certain adults paired together will produce crowns consistently year after year, and others may produce them almost randomly. It isn't considered a genetic morph that can be easily determined by using a punnett square. Typically, if a pairing produces crowns, those adults are mates for life in captive breeding.

The term "Diadem" was first used by Mr. Stephen Chew when he produced the first ones in the early 2000's. The term "Diadem" refers to the clean, triangular markings on the top of the head of the animal. Although, TSE has only hatched one diadem to date, I hope to produce more of them in the years to come.

The term "Hypo" is short for hypomelanistic. Hypomelanism is a condition where there is less pigmentation (melanin) than that of a wild type animal. TSE hatched out a couple clutches in 2021 with noticeable hypo-like differences in some of the offspring. This upcoming 2023 season, I have three of the males paired with females to see what the offspring come out like. Hopefully this trait is able to be proven this year and it can open up more possibilities for the morph.

Spotless terrapins are most commonly seen in Ornates, but they have also been seen in Northern and Carolina Terrapins. 

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The gap between "a few spots" and a truly spotless animal may not seem like much, but it definitely is. Both in rarity and value. The monetary difference in value that a few small spots can make is usually measured in thousands of dollars. While the more commonly seen pink, spotless ornates are beautiful animals, the white spotless ornate, blue spotless ornate, purple spotless ornate (Spotless Onyx), and the varying colors of spotless Northerns are even more rare are sought after.

The flowerback trait is most commonly seen in Ornates, but it can also be displayed in Mangroves and intergrades as well. 

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The "flowerback" name is about as descriptive as it gets as it refers to the flower-like patterns or striations displayed on the carapace or "back" of a terrapin. There are different degrees of the flowerback trait, some that are barely noticeable until you look closely, and others that can fan out and take over the entire carapace, almost as if it was painted yellow. While flowerback terrapins have become more common in the hobby over the past 5 years or so, they are still some of the most beautiful examples of terrapins you will find.  

Diamondback Terrapins have been hybridized (usually by mistake) with different species of turtles many times over the years. The most common hybrids are produced from Map Turtles (Graptemys) being paired with Diamondback Terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin). The results can vary greatly depending on the visual traits of the parent stock, but they are almost always unique, bold, and some of the most sought-after hatchlings of the season. TSE has 8 female maps of various subspecies who have all been paired with male terrapins. While there haven't been any TSE hybrids produced as of yet, the hopes are high for the 2023 season and beyond.