TAXONOMY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SEA TURTLES' 



By F. G. Walton Smith, Marine Laboratory, University of Miami 



Out. of the total of nine species of living turtles 

 found throughout the world, five occur in the 

 Gulf area. Only three of these are normally 

 found in the Gulf of Mexico in sufficient quantity 

 to be of any commercial value. These are the 

 green turtle, Chelonia mydas (Linne), the log- 

 gerhead turtle, Caretta caretia (Linne), and the 

 hawksbill turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata (Linne). 

 The bastard turtle or Kemp's turtle, Lepidochelys 

 kempii (Garman) and the leatherback or trunk 

 turtle, Dermochelys coriacea (Linne) are com- 

 paratively few so that they have at no time been 

 of economic importance. 



Considerable confusion existed at one time 

 regarding the nomenclature. This arose from the 

 wide distribution of some of the species and the 

 comparative isolation of workers in various parts 

 of the world. The work of Stejneger and Barbour 

 (1943-44) based upon a number of collections is 

 used here as a basis for the systematic arrange- 

 ment. A more comprehensive list of sjTionyms 

 and authors is given in the earlier work of Garman 



(1884). 



Family CHELONIIDAE 



Chelonia Latreille, Hist. Nat. Rept., vol. 1, 1801, p. 22. 

 (Type: mydas) 



Chelonia mydas (Linne). Green turtle 

 Testudo mydas Linne 



Syst. Nat., Ed. 10, vol. 1, 1758, p. 197. 

 Chelonia mydas Schweigger 



Konigsberg. Arch. Natur. Math., vol. 1, 1812, 

 Pt. 3, p. 412. 

 Type locality: Ascension Island. 



Range: Atlantic Ocean; Gulf of Mexico; occasionally 

 as far north as Massachusetts. 

 Eretmochelys Fitzinger, Syst. Rept., 1843, p. 30. 

 (Type: imbricata) 



Eretmochelys imbricata (Linne). Hawksbill turtle 

 Testudo imbricata Linne 



Syst. Nat., Ed. 12, vol. 1, 1766, p. 350. 

 Eretmochelys imbricata Agassiz 



Contr. Nat. Hist. U. S., vol. 1, 1857, p. 381. 

 Type locality: American seas. 



Range: Florida and Gulf coasts; occasionally as far 

 north as Massachusetts. 



 Contribution No. 108 from the Marine Laboratory, University of 

 Miami. 



Caretta Raflnesque, Specchio Sci., Palmero Vol. 2 



No. 9, Sett. 1, 1814, p. 66. 

 (Type: caretia) 



Caretta caretta (Linng). Atlantic loggerhead turtle 

 Testudo caretta Linne 



Syst. Nat., Ed. 10, vol. 1, 1758, p. 197. 

 Caretta caretta Stejneger 



Ann. Rep. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1902 (1904), p. 715. 

 Type locahty: "About the American Islands." 

 Range: Atlantic Ocean, breeding as far north as 

 Beaufort, North Carolina; north occasionally to 

 coast of Massachusetts. 

 Lepidochelys Fitzinger, Syst. Rept., 1843, p. 30. 

 (Type: olivacea) 



Lepidochelys kempii (Garman). Kemp's, Mexican 

 or loggerhead 

 Thalassochelys (Colpochelys) kempii Garman 

 Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 6, 1880, p. 123. 

 Lepidochelys kempii Baur 



Am. Naturalist, vol. 24, 1890, p. 487. 

 Caretta kempii Stejneger and Barbour 

 Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 4, 1939, 

 - p. 170. 

 Type locality: Gulf of Mexico. 

 Range: Northern part of Gulf of Mexico north to 

 Cape Hatteras, and occasionally, to the coast of 

 Massachusetts, the Azores, and the coast of 

 Ireland. 



Family DERMOCHELIDAE 

 Dermochelys Blainville, Bull. Soc. Philom. Paris, 1816, 

 pp. 111-119. 

 (Type: coriacea) 



Dermochelys coriacea (Linn6). Leatherback or 

 trunli turtle 

 Testudo coriacea Linne 



Syst. Nat., Ed. 12, vol. 1, 1766, p. 350. 

 Dermochelys coriacea Boulenger 

 Cat. Chel. Brit. Mus., 1889, p. 10. 

 Type locality: Mediterranean Sea. 

 Range: Atlantic Ocean, occasionally on entire coast 

 as far north as Nova Scotia. 



Turtles usually possess bony plates covering 

 the outer surface of the body. The plates are 

 fused so as to form a rigid shell which may or 

 may not be covered with horny shields. The 

 dorsal portion is referred to as the carapace and 

 the ventral as the plastron. 



Dorsally along the median line there is a row 

 of plates, known as the neurals, which are fused 



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