Ecology of Eretmochelys imbricata
| Main Ref. | Schneider, W., 1990 |
|---|---|
| Remarks | Most often seen in shallow waters around reefs, bays, and inlets (Ref. 122680). Turtles measuring up to 10 cm straight carapace length are usually nektonic animal. It changes to benthic feeding when it approaches coastal areas. This is a carnivorous turtle commonly poking in crevices between rocks and corals. It feeds on algae, ascidians, sponges, bryozoans, molluscs, hydroids, barnacles, cephalopods, salps, and seagrasses (Ref. 97534). It becomes a regular inhabitant of hard substrata, i.e., corals, tunicates, algae and sponges (Ref. 417). Associated with reef fishes (Ref. 104964) and a shrimp (Ref. 104967). |
Aquatic zones / Water bodies
| Marine - Neritic | Marine - Oceanic | Brackishwater | Freshwater | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marine zones / Brackish and freshwater bodies |
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Habitat
| Substrate | Benthic: mobile; Soft Bottom: sand; mud; Hard Bottom: rocky; |
|---|---|
| Substrate Ref. | Stampar, S.N., P.F. da Silva and O.J. Luiz Jr., 2007 |
| Special habitats | Beds: algae/seaweed; sea grass; Coral Reefs; vegetation |
| Special habitats Ref. | Stampar, S.N., P.F. da Silva and O.J. Luiz Jr., 2007 |
Associations
| Ref. | Schneider, W., 1990 |
|---|---|
| Associations | symbiosis; |
| Associated with | reef fishes Acanthurus chirurgus, Acanthurus coeruleus, Acanthurus coeruleus, Acanthurus nigrofuscus, Ctenochaetus strigosus, Zebrasoma flavescens, Ophioblennius trinitatis, Thalassoma duperrey, Thalassoma lunare, Abudefduf saxatilis, Abudefduf sexfasciatus, Stegastes rocasensis (Ref. 104964) and Pomacentrus paru (Ref. 104970); Shrimp Stenopus hispidus (Ref. 104967). Planes minutus (Ref. 129090). |
| Association remarks | Reef fishes forage on the epibionts of the turtle, exhibiting cleaning symbiosis (Ref. 104964). This association is also observed between a barber pole shrimp and E. imbricata (Ref. 104967). Basiobiont of Planes minutus (Ref. 129090). |
| Parasitism |
feeding
| Feeding type | plants/detritus+animals (troph. 2.2-2.79) |
|---|---|
| Feeding type Ref. | Márquez, M.R., 1990 |
| Feeding habit | hunting macrofauna (predator) |
| Feeding habit Ref. | Márquez, M.R., 1990 |
Trophic Level(s)
| Estimation method | original sample | unfished population | Remark | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Troph | s.e. | Troph | s.e. | ||
| From diet composition | 3.00 | 0.03 | Troph of recruits/juv.. | ||
| From individual food items | 3.54 | 0.26 | Trophic level estimated from a number of food items using a randomized resampling routine. | ||
| Ref. | León, Y.L. and K.A. Bjorndal, 2002 | ||||