334 



CHELONIA 



Western Atlantic from Florida to Brazil and in the Indian Ocean. 

 According to Agassiz it breeds regularly everj year in the 

 spring on the Bahamas, on the Tortugas, and on the coast of 

 Brazil, depositing its many eggs on the sandy shore like other 

 turtles. Accidentally it visits the northern coast up to Long 

 Island, and specimens, perhaps carried with the Gulf Stream, have 

 been caught on the coasts of Europe, for instance off Dorsetshire. 

 One was caught near Nantes in 1729, and is said to have made 



ffiSD 'Jrharrj 



Puttepwoi^thJc 



Fig. 73. — Sphargis coriacea, the "Leathery Turtle," young specimens, ventral 

 and dorsal views, x 1. 



a terrible noise when being killed. This is perhaps the reason 

 why Merrem in 1820 invented the generic name Sphargis, 

 supposed to be derived from acf^apayeco (I make a noise). It has 

 also been recorded from the Mediterranean. It seems to be 

 entirely carnivorous, living upon Molluscs, Crustacea, and fish. 

 The flesh is supposed to be unwholesome. It is a very curious 

 fact that of this rare species only large specimens, besides a very 

 few baby-turtles, are known or preserved in collections, while 

 individuals of intermediate size, say from four inches to three 

 feet in length, have never been recorded. If it were not for the 

 fact that they are still known to breed, it would look as if the 



