 Spiny softshell turtles are more dependent on underwater respiration than other freshwater species.This has led to a low tolerance of spiny shoftshells for anoxic waters; this becomes especially important when during times of hibernation when these turtles must choose hibernacula that are unlikely to become hypoxic.The spiny softshell has a wide range, extending throughout much of the United States, as well as north into the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec, and south into the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, Coahuila and Chihuahua.