Sea Turtles
An overview about the seven species of sea turtles > Click on picture or map to see enlarged view!
Picture | Distribution Map | Common & Scientific Name | Habitat (age dependent) |
Conservation Status (IUCN) | Link to Wikipedia |
Leatherback Dermochelys coriacea |
Open ocean | Overall status: Vulnerable Four subpopulations are listed as critically endangered: East Pacific, West Pacific Southwest Indian Ocean, Southwest Atlantic |
Leatherback on Wiki | ||
Loggerhead Caretta caretta |
Open ocean, various habitats in shallow coastal waters including rocky shores | Vulnerable | Loggerhead on Wiki | ||
Green Sea Turtle Chelonia mydas |
Shallow waters, juveniles in and around coral reefs, adults in algae covered areas or seagrass meadows |
Endangered | Green Turtle on Wiki | ||
See *annotation below table! |
Hawksbill Eretmochelys imbricata |
Shallow lagoons, coral reefs | Critically Endangered | Hawksbill on Wiki | |
Olive Ridley Sea Turtle Lepidochelys olivacea |
Open ocean | Vulnerable | Olive Ridley on Wiki | ||
Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle Lepidochelys kempii |
Open ocean, various habitats in shallow coastal waters | Critically Endangered | Kemp's Ridley on Wiki | ||
Flatback Natator depressus |
Prefers shallow, soft-bottomed tropical and subtropical waters, sea grass meadows, estuaries | Unknown/Data Deficient Protected under CITES in Australia |
Flatback on Wiki |
*Hawksbill distribution map: Confirmed sightings in the Mediterranean Sea are extremely rare, please read the following article: Hawksbill Turtles in the Mediterranean Sea (Marine Turtle Newsletter; Laboratoire Reptiles et Amphibiens, Museum national d'Histoire naturelle; Paris; 1991)
For this reason we have given the Mediterranean Sea a different colour than that shown in the Wikipedia map and placed a question mark there.
Additionally we have changed the colour of the Black Sea to white, records of confirmed sightings of hawksbills in the Black Sea don't exist to our knowledge.
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