In southern Florida, _ferox_ occurs in all fresh-water habitats (Duellman and Schwartz, 1958:272). Carr (1940:107) reported _ferox_ as widely distributed in streams, lakes, big springs and canals. Judging from the numbers of turtles, "the larger canals in the Everglades must represent something like an optimum habitat" (Carr, 1952:417). Wright and Funkhouser (1915:119) wrote that in the Okefinokee Swamp, _ferox_ was especially abundant where the water is deep and the bottom soft, and the species was found wherever there were alligators. Deckert (1918:31) wrote that young _ferox_ were taken in springs and brooks near Jacksonville, Florida. Marchand (_in_ Carr, 1952:417-19) observed _ferox_ while water-goggling in Florida and noted that individuals buried themselves in deep water in white sand, mud or bubbling mud-sand springs, sometimes where there was vegetation overhead. Neill (1951:16) collected _ferox_ in marshes, "prairies," flood-plain lakes, lagoons, ox-bow lakes, mangrove swamps, rivers, creeks, calcareous spring runs, man-made lakes and lime sinks. The same author (_loc. cit._) reported taking _agassizi_ (= _asper_) in large muddy rivers, clear "blackwater" streams, calcareous spring runs, creeks, marshes, lagoons, ox-bow lakes, flood-plain lakes, lime sinks, man-made lakes, and smaller ponds. Crenshaw and Hopkins (1955:16), however, stated that in the area where _T. ferox_ and _T. spinifer asper_ overlap, "_asper_ is nearly always an inhabitant of fluviatile situations whereas _ferox_ is equally closely confined to non-fluviatile lakes and ponds"; in the region of sympatry, Schwartz (1956:8) reported _ferox_ from "a moderately fast, blackwater stream [Combahee River, South Carolina]."