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HAWKSBILL TURTLE FACTS |
Description
The Hawksbill Turtle is critically endangered as it has been hunted for food, also for its attractive shell scales which are made into tortoiseshell ornaments and jewelry. The turtle is green or brown with reddish brown to black markings. The upper jaw projects forward making a beak-like snout. It has large flippers with two claws. The shell is serrated round the edge.
Size
1 m
Habitat
tropical and warm temperate waters. Forage around coral reefs. Ledges and caves of reef systems provide shelter for resting.
Food
sponges, soft corals, sea grasses, molluscs
Breeding
Hawksbills nest on beaches in tropical oceans of the world, often sharing beaches with green turtles. Nests are typically placed under vegetation.
Range
found in tropical and warm temperate waters around the world. In Australia, found around the coast from New South Wales around the eastern and northern coast to Western Australia
Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Conservation Status
The conservation status in the 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals is "critically endangered".
Classification
| Class: | Reptilia | | Order: | Testudines | | Family: | Cheloniidae | | Genus: | Eretmochelys | | Species: | imbricata | | Common Name: | Hawksbill Turtle |
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