Fao Species Catalogue
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
FAO Fisheries Synopsis No. 125, Volume 11 FIR/S125 Vol. 11 FAO SPECIES CATALOGUE VOL. 11. SEA TURTLES OF THE WORLD AN ANNOTATED AND ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE OF SEA TURTLE SPECIES KNOWN TO DATE FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS FAQ Fisheries Synopsis No 125. Volume 11 FIR/S 125 Vol. 11 FAO SPECIES CATALOGUE VOL. 11 SEA TURTLES OF THE WORLD An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Sea Turtle Species Known to Date prepared by René Marquez M. Instituto Nacional de la Pesca Centro de Investigación Pesquera A p a rta d o Postal 591 Manzanillo, Coi. México 28200 FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Rome, 1990 The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Applications for such permission, with a statement of the purpose and extent of the reproduction, should be addressed to the Director, Publications Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Via delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy. © FAO Rome 1990 PREPARATION OF THIS DOCUMENT Their high commercial value and traditional role as a basic protein source for many riparian peoples in tropical and subtropical areas place sea turtles among the marine resources groups of major interest to fisheries. On the other hand, they also have become part of the rapidly increasing group of marine animals that are seriously threatened by over-exploitation and other man-related disturbances. The present catalogue is an attempt to present a global synthesis of the information on sea turtle species scattered in many specialized publication series and thus facilitate the work of fishery officers and environmentalists towards management, farming and protection of these fascinating and delicate animals. The author has collaborated with FAO for many years in the preparation of species identification sheets for sea turtles from various marine fishing areas, e.g. the Western Central Atlantic, the Eastern Central Atlantic, the Western Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean/Black Seas. For the past 20 years, he has been actively engaged in research programmes, as well a s in management, protection and farming activities, both in the framework of th lUCNeand of the Instituto National de la Pesca of Mexico. He is currently the Coordinator of the Mexican National Research Programme on Sea Turtles of the Secretaria de Pesca of México, member of the Marine Turtle Specialist Group of the IUCN and President of the Ad Hoc Commission for the Investigation of the Sea Turtles of the American Pacific. Technical Editors: W. Fischer, W. Schneider and Nadia Scialabba, Fishery Resources and Environment Division, FAO Illustrators: P. Lastrico, FAO, Rome and R. Márquez M., INP, Mexico Page composition: M. Kautenberger-Longo, FAO, Rome Márquez M., R. FAO species catalogue.Vol.11: Sea turtles of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of sea turtle species known to date. FAO Fisheries Synopsis No. 125, Vol. 11. Rome, FAO. 1990. 81 p. ABSTRACT This is the eleventh issue in the FAO series of worldwide annotated and illustrated catalogues of major groups of organisms that enter marine fisheries. The present volume includes 8 sea turtle species belonging to 2 families and 6 genera. It comprises an introductory section with general remarks on habitat and fisheries of the families, a glossary of technical terms used, an illustrated key to genera, and detailed accounts on all species. Species accounts include drawings, scientific and vernacular names, information on habitat, biology and fisheries, and a distribution map. Lists of nominal species in the families, a table of species by major marine fishing areas and colour plates follow the species accounts. The work is fully indexed and there is ample reference to pertinent literature. Distribution Author FAO Fisheries Department FAO Regional Fisheries Officers Regional Fisheries Councils and Commissions Selector Global Species Catalogues click for next page click for previous page i V TABLE OF CONTENTS Code Page 1. IN T R O D U C T IO N ................................................................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Plan of the Catalogue ........................................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 General Remarks on Sea Turtles ................................................................................................................................................ 2 1.3 Illustrated Glossary of Technical Terms and Measurements ............................................................................................. 4 2. SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE ....................................................................................................................................................... 10 2.1 Illustrated Key to Families and Genera ....................................................................................................................................... 10 2.2 Family Cheloniidae ...................................................................................CHEL ........................................................................ 13 C a r e t t a ........................................................................................................ CHEL C a r ................................................................13 Caretta caretta ........................................................................................ CHEL Car 1 ......................................................... 14 C h e lo n ia.....................................................................................................CHEL C h e............................................................... l 21 Chelonia agassizii................................................................................. CHEL Chel2 ...................................................... 21 Chelonia m ydas.....................................................................................CHEL Chel 1 .........................................................25 Eretmochelys........................................................................................... CHEL E r e t......................................................... 30 Eretmochelys im bricata.................................................................... CHEL Eret 1 ........................................................... 31 Lepidochelys........................................................................................... CHEL L e p...............................................................38 Lepidochelys kem p ii...........................................................................CHEL Lep 1 ............................................................38 Lepidochelys olivacea........................................................................CHEL Lep 2 ............................................................43 N a t a t o r........................................................................................................CHEL Nat ...............................................................49 Natator depressus..................................................................................CHEL Nat 1 ............................................................. 49 2.3 Familly Dermochelyidae ......................................................................... D E R M O ..................................................... 53 Dermochelys............................................................................................... DERMO Dermo ................................................. 53 Dermochelys coriacea ........................................................................DERM O Dermo 1 ............................................... 53 3. LIST OF SPECIES BY MAJOR FISHING AREAS .............................................................................................................................. 59 4. BIB LIO G R A P H Y ........................................................................................................................................................................... 61 5. INDEX OF SCIENTIFIC AND VERNACULAR NAMES ......................................................................................................75 click for next page click for previous page 1 1. INTRODUCTION Although sea turtle conservation programmes have been encouraged by the recent discovery of important new nesting beaches, the future of sea turtles is still threatened by the decline of their natural populations, especially in nesting areas. Research and conservation activities on sea turtles are increasing, but there are still many gaps in our knowledge of the life history of these animals. This catalogue provides a brief description of the world’s eight sea turtle species, as well as up-to-date information on the state of the