Marine turtle

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Marine Reptiles
Saltwater crocodile
Marine iguana
Sea snake
Marine turtle
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Sea Snakes
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Sea Snakes

• Diversity
• Laticodtidae- krates- 5 species (1 is fw in
  Solomon Islands)
• Hydrophidae- 54 different species
• Location
• Laticotids- live from east coast India to Japan
  and come to the tip of Cape York (Australia)
• Hydrophiids- found from south tip of Africa to
  India to South East Asian Islands to Japan to
  north half of Australia
• Habitat
• Primarily tropical coastal estuaries, coral
  reefs, open sea 33-36oC

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Sea Snakes

• Behavior Often schooling in aggregations Not
  aggressive but human fatalities have occurred
• Prey Feed on small fish or squid, which are
  killed with powerful venom
• Predators (few) sharks, snapper, grouper, crabs,
  saltwater crocodiles, raptors they descend to
  escape
• Venom 2-10 times as toxic as that of a cobras

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Saltwater crocodiles

• Largest living crocodilians 6-7 m long
• Eggs laid and incubated on land
• Tropical and subtropical

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Marine Iguanas

• Marine lizard endemic to Galapagos islands
• Herbivorous graze on seaweeds
• Salt-glands on nose to eliminate excess salt
• Recently observed feeding on land for first time
• They return to land to escape predators.

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Marine Turtles (Honu)
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Conservation Status

1. International Union for the Conservation of
   Nature (IUCN), also called the World Conservation
   Union
2. The Convention on International Trade in
   Endangered Species (CITES)
3. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

1. Endangered-facing a very high risk of extinction
   in the wild
2. Vulnerable -facing a high risk of extinction in
   the wild
3. Threatened-close to qualifying in one of the
   above categories

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flatback
Class Reptilia Reptiles Order Chelonia
Turtles and Tortoises Family Chelonidae Marine
Turtles Scientific Name Natator depressus Diet
sea cucumbers, soft corals, jellyfish Size lt 1
m in length Conservation Status
vunerable Habitat near continental shelf,
shallow, soft bottom sea beds Range northern
part of Australia
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Green turtle
Class Reptilia Reptiles Order Chelonia
Turtles and Tortoises Family Chelonidae Marine
Turtles Scientific Name Chelonia mydas Diet
seagrass and algae Size 500lbs Conservation
Status threatened Habitat high energy ocean
beaches, convergence zones in the pelagic
habitat, benthic feeding grounds in relatively
protected waters Range throughout world in all
tropical and subtropical oceans
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hawksbill
Class Reptilia Reptiles Order Chelonia
Turtles and Tortoises Family Chelonidae Marine
Turtles Scientific Name Eretmochelys
imbricata Diet Shellfish Size 76 - 91 cm (30 -
36 in) Conservation Status Endangered Habitat
coral reefs, rocky coasts Range Tropical
Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans Caribbean
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Loggerhead
Class Reptilia Reptiles Order Chelonia
Turtles and Tortoises Family Chelonidae Marine
Turtles Scientific Name Caretta caretta Diet
Crustaceans Size 76 - 102 cm (30 - 40 in)
Conservation StatusVulnerable Habitat coasts,
open sea Range Temperate and tropical areas of
the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans
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leatherback
Class Reptilia Reptiles Order Chelonia
Turtles and Tortoises Family Dermochelidae
Marine Turtles Scientific Name Dermochelys
coriacea Diet sea jellies and salps Size 1500
lbs Conservation Status endangered Habitat
pelagic water Range tropical seas, oceanic
islands, Atlantic, Pacific, Indian Ocean
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Adaptation to the Marine Environment
Physiology
Poikilothermic (cold blooded) Skin has
scales Speed- 35 mph Breath holding- 2 hrs, when
sleeping or resting Maturity- 10-50 yrs for
green Cannot retract heads like terrestrial
turtles Lacrimal gland- salt secretion (drinks
seawater)
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Reproduction
Mating- at sea Migration- occurs in late spring
female is accompanied by male Green sea turtles
migrate as far as 800 miles from feeding area to
nest in Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Egg laying
behavior- return to same beach (natal beach)
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Kemps Ridley nesting
Usually nest at night Front flippers dig pit,
rear flippers carve out burrow
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Egg tooth- used to chip away at shell Group
effort to get out of nest- emerge at night
(safer) and head towards brightest
light Artificial lights- confuse hatchlings
Turtle nest Cross section
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Leatherback hatching
Kemps Ridley hatchlings
Clutch size- about 100 eggs covers pit with
sand Egg incubation- 2 months depending upon
species Sex determined by temperature- males
lower temp, females higher temp
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Predators
Eggs- skunks, raccoons, pigs, lizards, crabs,
ants, beetles, fungal and bacterial
infections Hatchlings- birds, mammals,
crabs Adults- sharks, humans
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Commercial Value

• Meat
• Eggs- nearly forbidden in all countries
• with nesting beaches
• Soup
• Jewelry
• Leather

Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species (CITES) turtle commerce prohibited in
countries that signed agreement
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Marine Debris- plastic bags, soda can plastic
rings, fishing line, oil and tar Costal
development and habitat degradation- noise,
light, beach obstructions- affect nesting habitat