Olive Ridley

Lepidochelys olivacea

KINGDOM: Animalia
PHYLUM: Chordata
CLASS: Reptilia
ORDER: Testudines
SUBORDER: Cryptodira
FAMILY: Cheloniidae
GENUS: Lepidochelys
SPECIES: olivacea
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PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
The olive ridley features an almost-round, heart-shaped carapace with the edges slightly curved upward. Adults have a plain old olive-gray carapace (that's where they get the name, turtle names are rather logical, it would seem), but the plastron is cream or white (I think so, that's what I'm getting from this book. If it's wrong, feel free to e-mail me and correct me.)

SIZE and NESTING:
The olive ridley is the smallest of the sea turtles, generally ranging from 51 to 75 cm in length, I'm giving up on inches for now. The average mass is about 38 kg, but these turtles can range from 33 to 43 kg. The females tend to be shorter and heavier than their male counterparts.
Olive ridleys nest in arribadas. An arribada (aka arribanzone, morrina, or flota) is when humongouse numberss of females group to nest. And I mean large, 5,000 to 150,000 are known to nest at the same time. They nest during the 3/4 quarter moon, which is an interesting fact, and usually during the night. Most females nest every year, and may even lay more than once during the season.

FEEDING:
Olive ridleys, like most sea turtles, are carnivores. They feast on red lobsterets, fish, mollusks, crustaceans, and ascidians. Their meals are taken in shallow water.

HABITAT:
The olive ridley is most likely the most abundant of turtles, that's good news for the Lepidochelys olivacea!!! This turtle is pantropical, living mostly in the Northen Hempisphere. Major breeding & feeding occurs in the Easter Pacific and Indian Oceans. They are known to nest on the coast from Mexico to Costa Rica, and along the northeastern coast of India.

THREATS:
A rich source of protein and oil, the olive ridley is hunted for both food and leather. Millions of eggs are collected each year, and approximately 130,000 ridleys are killed each year for leather.