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Turtles of Zihuatanejo

ORDER​ TESTUDINES

-Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

-Chordates (Phylum Chordata)

-Vertebrates (Subphylum Vertebrata)

-Reptiles (Class Reptilia)

-Turtles and Tortoises (Order Testudines)

-Sea Turtles (Superfamily Chelonioidea)

-Typical Sea Turtles Family Cheloniidae

-Hawksbill, Loggerhead, and Ridley Sea Turtles (Subfamily Carettinae)

-Ridley Sea Turtles (Genus Lepidochelys)

-Olive Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea)


Olive ridley turtles are the smallest and most numerous of the seven sea turtle species. The ‘olive’ in their common name comes from the coloration of the adults. Males usually spend their entire lives at sea while females characteristically only leave the water to lay their eggs, usually on the beach where they themselves hatched (nest site fidelity). For all life stages, olive ridleys eat mostly benthic invertebrates (crabs, other crustaceans, and mollusks) and occasionally jellies.

Olive Ridley Sea Turtle

Lepidochelys olivacea

Diet

  • Omnivorous, feeding on crabs, shrimp, jellyfish, molluscs, sea urchins, tunicates, fish eggs, algae, and other marine invertebrates.

  • Occasionally consumes small fish and marine plants.

  • Forages mainly on the seabed but also feeds in the open water when prey is abundant.

Range

  • Found throughout the tropical and subtropical oceans of the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans.

  • Along the eastern Pacific, it occurs from the Gulf of California south through the Pacific coast of Mexico, Central America, and South America to Peru.

  • The Pacific coast of Mexico, including Guerrero and the Zihuatanejo region, supports some of the world's most important nesting beaches for this species.

  • Mexico hosts internationally significant nesting populations, particularly along the Pacific coast.

Habitat

  • Inhabits coastal waters, continental shelves, estuaries, bays, lagoons, and the open ocean.

  • Adult females come ashore on sandy beaches to nest, often returning to the same general region where they previously nested.

  • Juveniles spend several years in the open ocean before moving into coastal feeding areas.

Size

  • Carapace length: 60–70 cm (24–28 in)

  • Weight: 35–50 kg (77–110 lb)

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