56o 



The Living Animals of the World 



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[NMiiig nm. 



TEMMIXCK S SNAPPER. 



ivhite points visible on the lower jaw represent the pair of worm-like appendages 

 which the creature uses as a halt to attract or captnie fish. 



just emerging from their sandy 

 nest. The majority were assisted 

 to the sea, and a few, reserved 

 in tlie interests of science, were 

 liberated in a bath of sea-water 

 to have their first swim. Snaji- 

 shot photographs were taken, one 

 of which, reproduced on page 561, 

 serves to illustrate the great relative 

 length of the paddle-like limbs at 

 this early stage and the variety of 

 postures assumed during natation. 

 Of the typical Marine Turtles 

 three distinctly characterised 

 species are recognised by zoologists. 

 These are the G-REEN Turtle, 

 indispensable for soup at alder- 

 manic banquets ; the Hawksbill, 



or tortoiseshell-producing turtle ; 

 and the Loggerhead. Of these three, the green turtle and the loggerhead more nearly 

 resemble one another, and are apt to be confounded by the uninitiated. Such an error is very 

 readily detected when the Chelonian comes to the table, the flesh of the loggerhead being 

 rank and utterly unfit for food. In order, however, to be wise before the event, and to avoid 

 a grievous misdirection of culinary energy — turtle being a standard dish in the coral seas — 

 it is only necessary to count the number of large shield-like plates that flank each side of the 

 central series in the creature's carapace. In the true green or edible turtle there are only 

 four pairs of these large lateral shields, while in the loggerhead there are never less than five, 

 and sometimes more. The loggerhead-turtle also, as its name implies, has a conspicuously 

 larger and coarser head than the esculent species. The fact that while the green turtle is a 

 strict vegetarian, feeding entirely on seaweeds, the loggerhead is altogether carnivorous, readily 

 accounts for the diametrically diverse gastronomic properties of these two Chelonians. Both 

 species attiiin to a considerable size, over 3 feet in length (the loggerhead being the larger), 

 and are found inhabiting the same waters throughout the tropics. 



The Hawksbill, or true tortoiseshell-producing turtle, never attains to quite as large 

 dimensions as the two ^jreceding species, though its carapace may measure as much as 2 feet 

 C or 8 inches long. The structural feature that at once distinguishes the hawksbill from 

 either the green or loggerhead species is the character of the horny shields developed on 

 the surface of the carapace. Instead of the edges meeting in juxtaposition, as in those two 

 forms, they overlap one another, like the scales of a fish, and are notable for their thickness 

 and their exceedingly beautiful but variably marbled patterns. It is these marbled horny plates 

 which constitute the tortoise-shell of commerce. In young individuals the substance is thin 

 and very transparent, but thickens witli advancing age, until in old individuals the plates 

 may vary from ^ to ^ inch in thickness. Like the two preceding species, the hawksbill, within 

 troiiical seas, enjoys a cosmopolitan distribution. Its habits, like the loggerhead's, are essentially 

 carnivorous ; but while the flesh is coarse and rank, the eggs are valued for the table. 



A remaining member of the INIarine Turtle series is the so-called LuTH or Leathery 

 Turtle. This Chelonian differs so materially in structure from the foregoing species as 

 to be referred to a distinct family. The horny plates, so conspicuous in all the other 

 types, are entirely absent, the bony carapace, which is distinctly seven-ridged longitudinally, 

 being covered with a homogeneous leather-like skin. Both jaws are formidably hooked and 

 cutting througliout their edges, and the paddles are destitute of the two rudimentary claws 

 found m the preceding species. The leathery turtle grows to an immense size; specimens 



