NL·0344Herbarium of the Nature Library
- Name
- Caretta caretta
- Family
- Cheloniidae
- Native to
- Temperate and subtropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans and the Mediterranean
- Habitat
- Open ocean, Coastal waters, Sandy beaches
Loggerhead sea turtle
Caretta caretta
Also calledTortuga boba / Caguama (Spanish) · Tartaruga-cabeçuda (Portuguese) · Akaumigame アカウミガメ (Japanese) · Kareta καρέτα (Greek)
A big-headed sea turtle whose powerful jaws crush crabs and conchs. Hatchlings from Florida circle the Atlantic, and those from Japan cross the whole Pacific to feed off Mexico, navigating by the Earth's magnetic field.
The loggerhead sea turtle, loggerhead turtle or loggerhead, is a species of sea turtle distributed throughout the world. It is a marine reptile, belonging to the family Cheloniidae. The average loggerhead measures around 90 cm (35 in) in carapace length when fully grown. The adult loggerhead sea turtle weighs approximately 135 kg (298 lb), with the largest specimens weighing about 200 kg (440 lb). The skin ranges from yellow to brown in color, and the shell is typically reddish brown. No external differences in sex are seen until the turtle becomes an adult, the most obvious difference being the adult males have thicker tails and shorter plastrons than the females. Wikipedia
What it can do
- iNavigates using a magnetic 'map' that reads the strength and angle of Earth's magnetic field
- iiCrushes whelks, conchs and crabs with massive jaws
- iiiHatchlings swim continuously for about a day to reach the open sea
In the field
Field marks
- aVery large, broad head with heavy jaws
- bReddish-brown carapace, yellowish below
- cFive pairs of plates (costal scutes) along each side of the shell
- dBarnacles often encrust the shell
- Not to be confused with
- Green and hawksbill turtles have four pairs of costal scutes. Kemp's and olive ridleys are smaller and grey, with rounder shells.
- Where to see it
- Florida's Atlantic beaches (Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge), Masirah Island (Oman), Zakynthos (Greece), Yakushima (Japan), Mon Repos (Australia)
- When
- Nesting May–August in the northern hemisphere; Nov–Feb in Australia
Life & habits
- Diet
- Crabs, whelks, conchs, sea urchins, jellyfish
- Habitat
- Coastal waters, bays and open ocean; nests on sandy beaches
- Size
- Shell ~90 cm; weight ~100–150 kg
- Lifespan
- Probably 50+ years
Females return to nest on the same region of coast where they hatched, often decades later. Hatchlings head for the brightest horizon, which is the sea, so beachfront lights draw them inland.
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Native range
Temperate and subtropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans and the Mediterranean
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Caretta caretta in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
Marginalia
Archie Carr's studies of sea turtles in Florida and Costa Rica from the 1950s onwards inspired the protection of nesting beaches. Florida's Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge, one of the most important loggerhead beaches in the world, is named after him.
Curiosity
Laboratory tests by Kenneth Lohmann's team showed that hatchlings change swimming direction when exposed to the magnetic fields of different points on their migration route.
Kinship
Photographs: iNaturalist contributors under the licences shown. Records: GBIF.org. Historical plates: Source Library (CC BY-SA 4.0; originals public domain). Summary text: Nature Library editors and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Medicinal and edibility notes are historical and educational, not advice. iNaturalist taxon 39665.