﻿342 
  BABCOCK: 
  NEW 
  ENGLAND 
  TURTLES. 
  

  

  Eretmochelys 
  imbricata 
  (LiNisr6). 
  

  

  Hawksbill 
  Turtle; 
  Shell 
  Turtle. 
  

  

  Plate 
  19. 
  

  

  Testudo 
  imbricata 
  Lirme, 
  Syst. 
  Nat., 
  ed. 
  12, 
  1766, 
  vol. 
  1, 
  p. 
  350. 
  

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

  

  The 
  Hawksbill 
  Turtle 
  is 
  the 
  smallest,^ 
  most 
  beautiful, 
  and 
  most 
  valuable 
  of 
  the 
  sea 
  turtles. 
  

   It 
  is 
  unique 
  in 
  that 
  the 
  shields 
  of 
  the 
  carapace 
  are 
  imbricated. 
  

  

  Size. 
  — 
  The 
  average 
  length 
  for 
  the 
  carapace 
  itself 
  is 
  about 
  two 
  feet, 
  specimens 
  measuring 
  

   two 
  and 
  one-half 
  feet 
  being 
  considered 
  large. 
  The 
  length 
  of 
  the 
  largest 
  shell 
  in 
  the 
  British 
  

   Museum 
  is 
  85 
  cm. 
  or 
  34 
  inches. 
  

  

  Weight. 
  — 
  An 
  average 
  turtle 
  will 
  weigh 
  twenty 
  or 
  thirty 
  pounds. 
  

  

  Color. 
  — 
  The 
  shields 
  of 
  the 
  carapace 
  are 
  colored 
  a 
  "rich, 
  warm, 
  translucent 
  yellow, 
  dashed 
  

   and 
  spotted 
  with 
  rich 
  brown 
  tints." 
  The 
  plastron 
  is 
  light 
  yellow. 
  The 
  head 
  and 
  flippers 
  

   are 
  covered 
  with 
  small 
  shields 
  of 
  brown 
  or 
  black 
  with 
  narrow 
  margins 
  of 
  yellow. 
  

  

  Description. 
  — 
  This 
  turtle 
  is 
  characterized 
  by 
  the 
  imbricated 
  shields 
  of 
  the 
  carapace, 
  

   which 
  overlap 
  from 
  before 
  backward, 
  except 
  in 
  very 
  old 
  specimens 
  where 
  the 
  shields 
  are 
  juxta- 
  

   posed. 
  The 
  neural 
  and 
  costal 
  shields 
  are 
  strongly 
  keeled 
  in 
  young 
  specimens. 
  The 
  marginal 
  

   shields 
  form 
  a 
  sharply 
  serrated 
  edge, 
  more 
  pronounced 
  in 
  the 
  posterior 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  shell. 
  

   The 
  horny 
  jaws 
  with 
  feebly 
  denticulated 
  margins 
  form 
  a 
  hooked 
  beak 
  (from 
  which 
  the 
  turtle 
  

   derives 
  its 
  name). 
  The 
  fore 
  and 
  hind 
  flippers 
  are 
  well 
  covered 
  with 
  small 
  shields 
  and 
  are 
  

   provided 
  with 
  two 
  claws. 
  The 
  tail 
  is 
  very 
  short. 
  The 
  body 
  is 
  long, 
  narrow, 
  and 
  somewhat 
  

   oval. 
  

  

  Geographic 
  Distribution. 
  — 
  The 
  home 
  range 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  centered 
  about 
  

   the 
  West 
  Indies, 
  extending 
  north 
  to 
  Florida 
  and 
  the 
  Gulf 
  of 
  Mexico, 
  and 
  south 
  to 
  Guiana 
  and 
  

   Brazil. 
  

  

  New 
  England 
  Records. 
  — 
  • 
  Until 
  within 
  a 
  few 
  years 
  this 
  turtle 
  had 
  not 
  been 
  recorded 
  north 
  

   of 
  North 
  Carohna. 
  In 
  1909, 
  however, 
  Dr. 
  F. 
  B. 
  Sumner 
  (1909, 
  p. 
  985) 
  reported 
  it 
  from 
  the 
  

   region 
  of 
  Buzzards 
  Bay, 
  Mass. 
  He 
  says: 
  "The 
  fact 
  does 
  not 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  hitherto 
  

   recorded 
  that 
  the 
  'hawk-bill' 
  or 
  tortoise-shell 
  turtle 
  {Eretmochelys 
  imbricata) 
  not 
  infrequently 
  

   reaches 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  southern 
  New 
  England. 
  Its 
  occurrence 
  has 
  not 
  been 
  mentioned 
  in 
  any 
  

   Ust 
  of 
  the 
  reptiles 
  of 
  Massachusetts, 
  and 
  I 
  have 
  found 
  no 
  reference 
  to 
  its 
  having 
  been 
  observed 
  

  

  ' 
  Carettochelys 
  insculpta, 
  the 
  single 
  species 
  of 
  an 
  entirely 
  different 
  family 
  and 
  the 
  superfamily 
  Pleurodira, 
  or 
  side- 
  

   necked 
  turtles, 
  which 
  resemble 
  the 
  sea 
  turtles 
  in 
  having 
  paddle-shaped 
  extremities, 
  is 
  only 
  eighteen 
  inches 
  in 
  length 
  (cara- 
  

   pace). 
  Tliis 
  turtle 
  is 
  recorded 
  from 
  Fly 
  River, 
  New 
  Guinea. 
  

  

  