Marine Turtle's Diet

Marine turtles eat a variety of crustaceans and invertebrates.

There are several species of marine turtle, including the loggerhead sea turtle, the leatherback sea turtle and the green sea turtle. These marine turtles have a varied diet consisting of many smaller oceanic animals and plants that are found in the areas in which they live. According to Sea World, marine turtles can be omnivorous, herbivorous or carnivorous.

Herbivores

The green sea turtle is the only species of marine turtle to be a strict herbivore as an adult. They eat items like sea grasses, algae and other plant materials found under the water.

Carnivores

Marine turtles such as the leatherback and hawksbill eat a carnivorous diet, which consists of jellyfish, crustaceans, mollusks, squid, shrimp and sea cucumbers.

Omnivores

The majority of marine turtles are omnivores, eating crabs, shrimp, squid, mollusks, jellyfish, other aquatic invertebrates as well as seaweed, algae, sea grasses and other aquatic vegetation.

Threats

Some species' diet relates to their threatened status in the wild. For example, carnivorous marine turtle species that eat jellyfish sometimes mistake transparent waste, such as plastic bottles and balloons, for jellyfish and eat the waste. This causes the marine turtle to choke or can obstruct their digestive systems, leading to death.

Age

The age of a marine turtle has some impact on their diet, similar to other species of turtles that live on land. Some species of marine turtle, for example the green sea turtle, eats a mainly carnivorous diet as hatchlings and juveniles, but become strict herbivores as adults.

Anatomy

Each species of marine turtle has jaws and mouths specially designed for their particular diet. For example, adult green sea turtles have serrated jaws for eating plants, loggerhead sea turtles have jaws made for crushing up crustaceans or mollusks and hawksbill sea turtles have narrower jaws for getting into tight crevices, because the food they primarily eat, like squid, is found there.

Captivity

An interesting note, according to Sea World, is that all species of marine turtles can be successfully fed a strict carnivorous diet in captivity, regardless of their diet in the wild.

References

• World Wildlife Fund: Marine Turtles
• Turtles: About Marine Turtles
• Caribbean Conservation Corporation: An Introduction to Sea Turtles
• Sea World: Sea Turtles Diet and Eating Habits