While some morphological differences exist between northeastern and northwestern populations, a phylogeographic study found little genetic support for a distinction between eastern and western populations and recommended both groups be simply referred to as northern spiny softshell turtles.
While there are morphological distinctions between northeastern and northwestern populations, a phylogeographic study indicates that the genetic differences between eastern and western populations are not significant enough to warrant separate classification. Therefore, both groups can be considered as northern spiny softshell turtles.