It's preferred prey though is crab.įlatback: An omnivore that consumes sea cucumbers, jellies, soft corals, shrimp, crabs, molluscs, fish, and seaweed. Kemp's ridley: A carnivore that eats crabs, fish, jellies, shrimp, and a variety of molluscs. Olive ridley: An omnivore, these turtles eat a variety of animals and plants including crabs, shrimp, lobster, urchins, jellies, algae, and fish. The hawksbill has a sharp, narrow 'bird-like' beak that allows them to reach within crevices on the reef. Hawksbill: Often referred to as spongivores because of their specialized diet which consists almost exclusively of sponges. Loggerheads have a massive head and strong jaws which enable them to crush hard-shelled prey. Hatchlings are omnivores, eating both plant and animal material. Loggerhead: Adults are carnivores, eating crabs, conchs, whelks, and horseshoe crabs. They have 2 sharply pointed cusps, one on the upper and one on the lower jaw that allows them to pierce jellies and other soft-bodied organisms. Leatherback: Sometimes referred to as gelatinivores (eating gelatinous prey) because their diet consists exclusively of jellies and other soft-bodied invertebrates like tunicates and sea squirts. Greens have a finely serrated (sawlike) beak that allows them to scrape algae off rocks and tear grasses and seaweeds. Their diet consists primarily of algae, seagrasses, and seaweed. Green: Adults are referred to as herbivores although as hatchlings they are omnivores. Hawksbills for example, are mainly found on and around coral reefs where their main prey sponges are found. Greens forage among seagrass beds and nearshore habitats, and leatherbacks, which are deep divers, are found in pelagic (open ocean) environments where they feed exclusively on jellyfish and other soft-bodied invertebrates that float in the water column. Some are omnivores, eating a variety of plants and animals, while the hawksbill and the leatherback are specialists, subsisting primarily of sponges (hawksbills) and jellyfish (leatherbacks). What a sea turtle eats depends upon the species.

Prey of sea turtles