The hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus Eretmochelys. The species has a global distribution that is largely limited to tropical and subtropical marine and estuary ecosystems.
The appearance of the hawksbill is similar to that of other marine turtles. In general, it has a flattened body shape, a protective carapace, and flipper-like limbs, adapted for swimming in the open ocean. E. imbricata is easily distinguished from other sea turtles by its sharp, curving beak with prominent tomium, and the saw-like appearance of its shell margins. Hawksbill shells slightly change colors, depending on water temperature. While this turtle lives part of its life in the open ocean, it spends more time in shallow lagoons and coral reefs. The World Conservation Union, primarily as a result of human fishing practices, classifies E. imbricata as critically endangered.[1] Hawksbill shells were the primary source of tortoiseshell material used for decorative purposes. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) regulates the international trade of hawksbill sea turtles and products derived from them.[3]
Linnaeus described the hawksbill sea turtle as Testudo imbricata in 1766, in the 12th edition of his Systema Naturae.[4] In 1843, Austrian zoologist Leopold Fitzinger moved it into the genus Eretmochelys.[5] In 1857, the species was temporarily misdescribed as Eretmochelys imbricata squamata.[6]
Neither the IUCN[1] nor the United States Endangered Species Act assessment[7] processes recognize any formal subspecies, but instead recognize one globally distributed species with populations, subpopulations, or regional management units.
Fitzinger derived the genus name Eretmochelys from the Ancient Greek roots eretmo and chelys, corresponding to "oar" and "turtle", respectively, in reference to the turtles' oar-like front flippers. The species name imbricate is Latin, corresponding to the English term imbricate, in reference to the turtles' shingle-like, overlapping carapace scutes.
Adult hawksbill sea turtles typically grow to 1 m (3 ft) in length, weighing around 80 kg (180 lb) on average. The heaviest hawksbill ever captured weighed 127 kg (280 lb).[8] The turtle's shell, or carapace, has an amber background patterned with an irregular combination of light and dark streaks, with predominantly black and mottled-brown colors radiating to the sides.[9]
Several characteristics of the hawksbill sea turtle distinguish it from other sea turtle species. Its elongated, tapered head ends in a beak-like mouth (from which its common name is derived), and its beak is more sharply pronounced and hooked than others. The hawksbill's forelimbs have two visible claws on each flipper.
An readily distinguished characteristic of the hawksbill is the pattern of thick scutes that make up its carapace. While its carapace has five central scutes and four pairs of lateral scutes like several members of its family, E. imbricata's posterior scutes overlap in such a way as to give the rear margin of its carapace a serrated look, similar to the edge of a saw or a steak knife. The turtle's carapace can reach almost 1 m (3 ft) in length.[10] The hawksbill appears to frequently employ its sturdy shell to insert its body into tight spaces in reefs.[11]
Crawling with an alternating gait, hawksbill tracks left in the sand are asymmetrical. In contrast, the green sea turtle and the leatherback turtle have a more symmetrical gait.[12][13]
Due to its consumption of venomous cnidarians, hawksbill sea turtle flesh can become toxic.[14]
The hawksbill is biofluorescent and is the first reptile recorded with this characteristic. It is unknown if the effect is due to the turtle's diet, which includes biofluorescent organisms like the hard coral Physogyra lichtensteini. Males have more intense pigmentation than females, and a behavioral role of these differences is speculated.[15][16]
Hawksbill sea turtles have a wide range, found predominantly in tropical reefs of the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans. Of all the sea turtle species, E. imbricata is the one most associated with warm tropical waters. Two significant subpopulations are known, in the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific.[17]
In the Atlantic, hawksbill populations range as far west as the Gulf of Mexico and as far southeast as the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.[17][18][19] They live off the Brazilian coast (specifically Bahia, Fernando de Noronha).
Along the East Coast of the United States, hawksbill sea turtle range from Virginia to Florida. In Florida, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, hawksbills are found primarily on reefs in the Florida Keys and along the southeastern Atlantic coast. Several major nesting sites are found in coastal Palm Beach, Broward, and Dade County.[8] THE FLORIDA HAWKSBILL PROJECT, is a comprehensive research and conservation Program to study and protect the region’s hawksbill sea turtles and the habitats in which they live. Within the scope of this project, numerous studies have been undertaken to characterize the hawksbill aggregations found in southeast Florida waters, and educational programs have been developed to engage the local dive community in the protection of hawksbill sea turtles and coral reef habitats. This program is hosted by the National Save the Sea Turtle Foundation, located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.Throughout their global range, hawksbill turtles are known to closely associate with coral reef habitats, mostly due to their preference for eating sponges and corals. Due to the large extent of Florida’s barrier reefs (approx. 350 linear miles), the Hawksbill Project focuses on representative sites in the northern, central, and southern sections of the Southeast Florida Reef Tract. The barrier reefs of northern Palm Beach County, the patch reefs of the northern Keys, and the finger reefs of Key West are the primary locations for their sampling efforts
In the Caribbean, the main nesting beaches are in the Lesser Antilles, Barbados,[20] Guadeloupe,[21] Tortuguero in Costa Rica,[22] and the Yucatan. They feed in the waters off Cuba[23] and around Mona Island near Puerto Rico,[24] among other places.
In the Indian Ocean, hawksbills are a common sight along the east coast of Africa. You can find them in the seas surrounding Madagascar and Mozambique, and island groups like Primeiras e Segundas, which include the turtle protection island of Ilha do Fogo.[25] Hawksbills are also common along the southern Asian coast, including the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia coasts. They are present across the Malay Archipelago and northern Australia. Their Pacific range is limited to the ocean's tropical and subtropical regions. In the west, it extends from the southwestern tips of the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese Archipelago south to northern New Zealand.
The Philippines hosts several nesting sites, including the island of Boracay and Punta Dumalag in Davao City. Dahican Beach in Mati City, Davao Oriental, hosts one of the essential hatcheries of its kind, along with olive ridley sea turtles in the archipelagic country of the Philippines.[26] A small group of islands in the southwest of the archipelago is named the "Turtle Islands" because two species of sea turtles nest there: the hawksbill and the green sea turtle.[27] In January 2016, a juvenile was seen in Gulf of Thailand.[28] A 2018 article by The Straits Times reported that around 120 hawksbill juvenile turtles recently hatched at Pulau Satumu, Singapore.[29] Commonly found in Singapore waters, hawksbill turtles have returned to areas such East Coast Park and Palau Satumu to nest.[30] In Hawaii, hawksbills mostly nest on the "main" islands of Oahu, Maui, Molokai, and Hawaii.[31] In Australia, hawksbills are known to nest on Milman Island in the Great Barrier Reef.[32] Hawksbill sea turtles nest as far west as Cousine Island in the Seychelles, where the species since 1994 is legally protected, and the population is showing some recovery.[33] The Seychelles' inner islands and islets, such as Aldabra, are popular feeding grounds for immature hawksbills.[13][34]
In the eastern Pacific, hawksbills are known to occur from the Baja Peninsula in Mexico south along the coast to southern Peru.[17] Nonetheless, as recently as 2007, the species had been considered extirpated mainly in the region.[35] Important remnant nesting and foraging sites have since been discovered in Mexico, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Ecuador, providing new research and conservation opportunities. In contrast to their traditional roles in other parts of the world, where hawksbills primarily inhabit coral reefs and rocky substrate areas, in the eastern Pacific, hawksbills tend to forage and nest principally in mangrove estuaries, such as those present in the Bahia de Jiquilisco (El Salvador), Gulf of Fonseca (Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Honduras), Estero Padre Ramos (Nicaragua), and the Gulf of Guayaquil (Ecuador).[36] Multi-national initiatives, such as the Eastern Pacific Hawksbill Initiative Archived 2 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine, are currently pushing efforts to research and conserve the population, which remains poorly understood.
Adult hawksbill sea turtles are primarily found in tropical coral reefs. They are usually seen resting in caves and ledges in and around these reefs throughout the day. As a highly migratory species, they inhabit a wide range of habitats, from the open ocean to lagoons and even mangrove swamps in estuaries.[10][37] Little is known about the habitat preferences of early life-stage E. imbricata; like other young sea turtles, they are assumed to be completely pelagic, remaining at sea until they mature.[38]
While they are omnivorous, sea sponges are their principal food; they constitute 70–95% of the turtles' diets.[39] However, like many spongivores, they feed only on select species, ignoring many others. Caribbean populations feed primarily on the orders Astrophorida, Spirophorida, and Hadromerida in the class Demospongiae.[40] Aside from sponges, hawksbills feed on algae, marine plants (seagrasses), woody plant remains, mangrove fruits and seeds, cnidarians (comb jellies and other jellyfish, hydrozoans, hard corals, corallimorphs, zoanthids, and sea anemones), bryozoans, mollusks (squid, snails, nudibranchs, bivalves, and tusk shells), echinoderms (sea cucumbers and sea urchins), tunicates,
