Lepidochelys olivacea (Olive Ridley Sea Turtle)
The common name of this Sea-Turtle in English is commonly called Olive Ridley Sea Turtle, Olive Ridley, Pacific Ridley, Olive Ridley Seaturtle and Thai name called เต่าหญ้า (Dtao Yaa), เต่าหญ้าตาแดง (Dtao Yaa Taa Daeng), เต่าสังกะสี (Dtao Sang-ga-see), เต่าทะเลริดเลย์ (Dtao Ta-lay Ridley), เต่าหญ้าแปซิฟิก (Dtao Yaa Pacific).
เต่าหญ้า : Lepidochelys olivacea (Eschscholtz, 1829)
Lepidochelys olivacea is a species of the Ridley Sea Turtle Genus (Lepidochelys) within the Sea Turtle Family (Cheloniidae), Superfamily Chelonioidea, in the Suborder Cryptodira, in the Turtles Order (Testudines), in the Reptile Class (Reptilia), in the Chordate Phylum (Chordata) in the Animal Kingdom (Animalia).
Geographic Range
The Olive Ridley sea turtle has a circumtropical distribution, with nesting occurring throughout tropical waters (except the Gulf of Mexico) and migratory circuits in tropical and some subtropical areas (Atlantic Ocean – eastern central, northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest, western central; Indian Ocean – eastern, western; Pacific Ocean – eastern central, northwest, southwest, western central) (Pritchard 1969).
Nesting occurs in nearly 60 countries worldwide. Migratory movements are less well studied than other marine turtle species but are known to involve coastal waters of over 80 countries (see Table 1 in the Supplementary Material, see below).
With very few exceptions they are not known to move between ocean basins or to cross from one ocean border to the other. Within a region, Olive Ridleys may move between the oceanic and neritic zones (Plotkin et al. 1995, Shanker et al. 2003) or just occupy neritic waters (Pritchard 1976, Reichart 1993).
Habitat and Ecology
Like most other sea turtles, Olive Ridleys display a complex life cycle, which requires a range of geographically separated localities and multiple habitats (Márquez 1990).
Females lay their nests on coastal sandy beaches from which neonates emerge and enter the marine environment to continue their development.
They remain in a pelagic phase, drifting passively with major currents that disperse far from their natal sites, with juveniles sharing some of the adults’ habitats (Kopitsky et al. 2000) until sexual maturity is reached (Musick and Limpus 1997).
Reproductively active males and females migrate toward coastal zones and concentrate near nesting beaches.
However, some males appear to remain in oceanic waters and mate with females en route to their nesting beaches (Plotkin et al. 1996, Kopitsky et al. 2000).
Their post-breeding migrations are complex, with pathways varying annually (Plotkin 1994) and with no apparent migratory corridors, swimming hundreds or thousands of kilometers over large ocean expanses (Morreale et al. 2007), commonly within the 20°C isotherms (Márquez 1990).
In the East Pacific, they are present from 30°N to 15°S and often seen within 1,200 nautical miles from shore although they have been sighted as far as 140°W (IATTC 2004).
Western Atlantic Olive Ridleys appear to remain in neritic waters after breeding (Pritchard 1976, Reichart 1993).
Reproduction
Oviparous. This species exhibits temperature-dependant sex determination (TSD). Hybridication: Caretta caretta hybridizes with Lepidochelys olivacea (NCBI tax ID 2720220)
Synonyms
- Testudo mydas minor Georg Adolf Suckow (1798)
- Chelonia multiscutata Heinrich Kuhl (1820)
- Chelonia olivacea Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz (1829)
- Chelonia caretta var. olivacea John Edward Gray (1831)
- Chelonia dussumierii André Marie Constant Duméril & Gabriel Bibron (1835)
- Caretta olivacea Wilhelm Peter Eduard Simon Rüppell (1835)
- Thalassochelys (Lepidochelys) olivacea Leopold Fitzinger (1843)
- Caouana olivacea John Edward Gray (1844)
- Caouana ruppellii John Edward Gray (1844)
- Chelonia subcarinata Wilhelm Peter Eduard Simon Rüppell (1844)
- Caouana dessumierii Malcolm Arthur Smith (1849)
- Chelonia dussumieri Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz (1857)
- Chelonia polyaspis Pieter Bleeker (1857)
- Lepidochelys dussumieri Charles Frédéric Girard (1858)
- Lepidochelys olivacea Charles Frédéric Girard (1858)
- Chelonia dubia Pieter Bleeker (1864)
- Cephalochelys oceanica John Edward Gray (1873)
- Thalassiochelys tarapacona Rodolfo Amando Philippi (1887)
- Thalassochelys tarapacana Rodolfo Amando Philippi (1887)
- Thalassochelys tarapacona George Albert Boulenger (1889)
- Chelonia olivaccea Jacobo Reyes-Velasco (1892)
- Thalassochelys controversa Rodolfo Amando Philippi (1899)
- Caretta remivaga Oliver Perry Hay (1908)
- Caretta caretta var. olivacea Paul E. Pieris Deraniyagala (1930)
- Lepidochelys olivacea olivacea Paul E. Pieris Deraniyagala (1943)
- Caretta olivacea olivacea Robert Mertens (1952)
- Lepidochelys olivacea remivaga Karl Patterson Schmidt (1953)
- Caouana rueppellii Robert Mertens & Heinz Wermuth (1961)
- Lepidochelis olivacea Duniesky Ríos Tamayo (1962)
- Lepidochelys olivaceas Kesteven (ex errore) (1969)
- Chelonia multicustata René Marquez M. (1990)