Kemp's ridley turtle

A species back from the brink

Common Name		Kemp's ridley, Atlantic Ridley, Gulf Ridley, Mexican Ridley; Lépidochelyde de Kemp, Ridley de Kemp, Tortue de Kemp (Fr); Cotorra, Tortuga Lora, Tortuga marine bastarda (Sp)
Scientific Name		Lepidochelys kempii
Habitat		Shallow sand and mud, estuaries
Location		Gulf of Mexico, western Atlantic
Status		IUCN: Critically Endangered (CR A1ab) CITES: Appendix I CMS listing:Appendix I and II
Population		Approx. 1,000 nesting females

Background

This information has been reviewed.

Kemp's ridley turtles are the most endangered of all cheloniids. The species has a restricted range and nests only along a small stretch of coastline in the Gulf of Mexico. In the 1940s, more than 100,000 came ashore here in a single day to nest. By the 1980s, numbers were down to a few hundred nesting females.

Conservation efforts lead by USA and Mexico have been ongoing since the 1970s, when the nesting beach of Rancho Nuevo was declared a National Reserve. These efforts have been successful and today there is a female breeding population of approximately 1,000 individuals.

Although there has been an increase in the number of nests through the 1990s, since the introduction of Turtle Excluder Devices, shrimp trawling in the region remains a threat to the Kemp's ridley. The juvenile population of the Kemp's ridley is also threatened by pollution in the Gulf of Mexico around the mouths of the Alabama and Mississippi rivers, important development habitats for these animals.

Physical Description

The ridley turtles, Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) and olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), are the smallest of all marine turtles.

The species differs from the olive ridley by its parrot-like beak and flatter, almost completely round, carapace. Kemp's ridley turtles can grow up to 35 to 40kg in weight, with an average length of 69cm.

Like all marine turtles, Kemp's ridleys are migratory, swimming enormous distances between feeding grounds and the nesting beach. Feeding migrations are believed to be stimulated by the movement of warmer water. However, a seemingly unique feature of this species is that in contrast to females, the males appear to be non-migratory.

Size
Ridley turtles are around 70 cm long, and up to 40 kg in weight.

Colour
The carapace (shell) of hawksbills is olive grey, while the plastron (underside) is yellowish/white.

Habitat

Major habitat type
Shallow sand and mud, estuaries

Biogeographic realm
Neotropical

Range States
Mexico, U.S.

Geographical Location
Gulf of Mexico, western Atlantic

Ecological Region
Greater Antillean Marine, Mesoamerican Caribbean Reef

Why is this species important?

Kemp's ridley turtles feed on invertebrates and may play important roles in both open ocean and coastal ecosystems.

Interesting Facts

Nesting of this species occurs conspicuously in broad daylight, and apart from sporadic nesting elsewhere, takes place only on one 20 km beach at Rancho Nuevo in Mexico on the Gulf of Mexico.