Green Sea Turtle 

 

Lucas Carty

 

 

Description 

 

The green Sea Turtle is a fairly big reptile and grows to three feet long to four feet long and has a shell on it's back like the Hermit Crab . The green sea turtle is also very distinguished from other turtles because they have a single pair of prefrontal scales. Also it has scales around it's eyes. The head of a green sea turtle is very blunt and small also it has a serrated jaw. The carapace (shell) is very bony without ridges, has large scutes (scales) that do not overlap. The body of a green sea turtle is an oval shape and it is a very flat body and the color of the shell can very very pale or a dark green and has tones of yellow, brown, green and radiant stripes on the shell. 

 

 

Habitat 

 

The habitat of the Green sea turtle is mostly around coast lines, bay's, around islands and protected area's. They are rarely found in the dep sea because they like to stay in grassy beds. So basically they prefere shallow areas. 

 

 

 

 

Symbiotic Interactions 

 

A Symbiotic Relationship is when another organism benefits from the other organism. Though the Green sea turtle and a fish called the Yellow Tang fish have relation called mutualism which is when both organisms benefit from each other. What the Yellow Tang fish does for the sea turtle is that it cleans it's shell by taking off the Algae and since the yellow tang fish eats Algae it benefits from that because that is their food. The Green sea turtle benefits from this because when the Yellow Tang Fish eats the Algae it makes it easier for the sea turtle to swim because it more smooth and there is not as much friction. It also improves the turtles health. 

 

Predator Adaptions

 

The Green Sea Turtle has a serrated jaw and it eats seaweed, algae and other organisms like the jelly fish, comb jellies, cray fish, Horseshoe Crab and Sea Cucumber. 

 

Prey Adaptions

 

The green sea turtle is known to be eaten by sharks and Man but specifically the Tiger Shark mostly eats the green sea turtle. So to protect the selves the green sea turtle has a shell to protect their back. it also has one claw on each of it's fins and that is used to fight.  

 

Species Comparison: Loggerhead Sea Turtle 

 

Similarities: 

 

Both species have a bony carapace without ridges and their diet is the same and where they live is very similar in shallow waters, bays, around islands and in grassy beds. Also the way they nest is similar and the amount of eggs they produce. 

 

Difference: 

 

The difference between the green sea turtle and the Loggerhead Sea Turtle is that the green sea turtle grows much bigger than the logger head sea turtle the green sea turtle grows three to four feet long but the logger head sea turtle normally grows two point five feet to three point five feet. The logger head sea turtle has a very heavy and big head where as the Green sea turtle has a light and small head. The green sea turtle has one claw on each fin and the loggerhead sea turtle has two or three claws on each fin. Also the color of the shell is different. 

 

Human Impact on Green sea Turtles 

 

Human impacts on Green sea turtles are that sometimes humans put plastic bags in the ocean and Green Sea Turtles think it is a jelly fish and then it affects their digestive system and they can not le out the waste and they will die. Also sometimes when people are driving they run over sea turtles and crack their shells or flip them upside down and sometimes that can't flip back over. SO WE SHOULD STOP POLLUTING. 

 

 

  

 

 

Resources 

1. Site name: Symbiosis of Sea Turtles and Yellow Tang Fish

    Date: April. 14 2010

    Name of Group: Pawnation

    Information Found: May. 26 2013 

http://animals.pawnation.com/symbiosis-sea-turtles-yellow-tang-4583.html

 

2. Site Name: Sea Turtle Conservancy

     Date: Feburary. 12 2011

    Name of group: Sea Turtle Conservancy

    Information Found: May. 26 2013

 

3.  Book resource Fabien Cousteau, Ocean, Jonathan Metclaf, 2006

 

     

4.

Britannica Image Quest

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Title     : green sea turtle

File Name : 130_594927-W.jpg

ID Number : 130_594927

Caption   : green sea turtle

Credit    : David B Fleetham / OSF / Photolibrary / Universal Images Group

Green Sea Turtle. Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest. Web. 27 May 2013.http://quest.eb.com/images/130_594927

 

 

 

 

 

5.

Britannica Image Quest

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Title     : Bay in St. Vincent

File Name : 139_2004840-W.jpg

ID Number : 139_2004840

Caption   : Bay in St. Vincent. Caribbean.

Credit    : Andrew J. Martinez / Photo Researchers / Universal Images Group 

Bay In St. Vincent. Photography. Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest. Web. 28 May 2013.http://quest.eb.com/images/139_200484