- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Reptilia
- Order: Tetsudines
- Family: Cheloniidae
- Genus: Lepidochelys
- Species: kempii
Description: Grayish-green color, carapace (shell) is nearly a complete circle, bottom half of shell is pale yellow color, four flippered-limbs, large beaked mouth, almost completely aquatic
Range: The Neritic Zone, many living in and around the Gulf of Mexico from the Yucatan Peninsula to the tip of southern Florida where depths are 160 ft or shallower.
Size: Adults can weigh up to 100 lbs and reach 24-28 inches long. Newly hatched turtles are about 0.5 oz and ~1.5 inches long.
Diet: Crabs, fish, jellyfish, and mollusks. All of their prey are nekton or plankton, but are only found near muddy or sandy bottoms.
Life Cycle: The lifespan of a Kemp's Ridley sea turtle is unknown. However, many of the species nest and lay eggs once a year at the same beaches for many generations. Hatchlings live independently in deeper waters for protection until they are sexually mature. It is unknown how the turtles mate or how long they live until they are full grown, but once a hatchling reaches about 8 inches or about 2 years they come closer to shore to begin finding a mate. Females nest and forage for months at a time at the same nesting beaches, while males may or may not migrate in the same way.
Facts:
- Juvenile Kemp's Ridley sea turtles use a seaweed called sargassum as refuge to rest in and eat for food, drifting in the bed of seaweed for up to two years
- The largest synchronized nesting site for Kemp's Ridley sea turtles is located in Rancho Nuevo, Mexico. The annual arrival of hundreds of waves of female turtles is called "arribada," which means "arrival" in Spanish
- Adult Kemp's Ridleys are the smallest marine turtle in the world
Source(s): "Kemp's Ridley Turtle (Lepidochelys Kempii) - Office of Protected Resources - NOAA Fisheries." Kemp's Ridley Turtle (Lepidochelys Kempii) - Office of Protected Resources - NOAA Fisheries. NOAA Fisheries, 4 Mar. 2013. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.