Chelonia mydas
Green turtle
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Reptilia
Order
Testudines
Family
Cheloniidae
Genus
Chelonia
Species
Chelonia mydas
Status
least concern
Colours
Distinguishing features
Four pairs of "plates" on the carapace, flanking the midline. On the head, there is a single pair of large scales behind the nostrils.
Size
- Up to 150 cm (carapace length)
Synonyms
Similar taxa
-
Animalia:
Hawksbill Turtle (species: Eretmochelys imbricata)
has a distinctive beak-like snout and two pairs of plates on top of the head between the snout and the unpaired central plate.
Distribution
©Atlas of Living Australia: Australian distribution
Local abundance
- Lizard Island, Queensland, Australia: This is the common turtle at Lizard Island. Small individuals (carapace length 40 to 50 cm) are seen frequently just off Casuarina Beach and on the reef flat off Coconut Beach. Larger individuals are seen occasionally in deeper water and a few females come ashore to lay eggs in summer.
Behaviour
Green Turtles nest infrequently at Lizard Island. Some years, no nests at all are seen. In other years, tens of nests may be seen on beaches around the island. Nesting mostly occurs in November or December but attempts have been seen as late as March. Hatchings were observed at Lizard Island in March (early 1990s) and on 27 May 2006.
Web resources
References
- Goatley, C.H.R. (2013). The ecological role of sediments on coral reefs, PhD thesis, James Cook University. LIRS catalog number 1840.
- Goatley, C.H.R., A.S. Hoey and D.R. Bellwood (2012). The role of turtles as coral reef macroherbivores. PLoS One, 7(6): e39979. LIRS catalog number 1523.
- Limpus, C.H. (1982). The reptiles of Lizard Island, Herpetofauna, 13(2): 1-6. LIRS catalog number 73.
- View all references