| Diagnosis |
Carapace in adults: cardiform or elliptical; with imbricated dorsal scutes. Head: medium-sized; narrow; with a pointed beak; 2 pairs of prefrontal and 3 or 4 postorbital scales; tomium not serrated on the cutting edge; but hooked at the tip. Snout: narrow; elongated. Carapace scutes: thick for coping with waves; to obtain food from between corals and rocky substrates. Scutes: strongly imbricated at maturity. Scutelation of the carapace: similar to Chelonia, with 5 costal; 4 pairs of lateral (the first not touching the precentral scute); 11 pairs of marginal plus one pair of postcentral or pigal scutes. Plastron: covered by 5 pairs of scutes; plus one or two intergular; at times 1 small interanal. There are 4 poreless inframarginal scutes covering each bridge. Each rear and fore flipper bears 2 claws on its anterior border. Males: stronger, more curved claws and longer tails than females. Hatchlings and juveniles: wider carapace than adults. Carapace have 3 keels of spines which disappear with growth. Young adults: sometimes have a remnant of the dorsal central keel; without spines. In juveniles and subadults: scutes of the carapace are indented on the rear third of the carapace margin. Color: most colorful among sea turtles. In Eastern Pacific, pattern shows from very bright colors to the heavy melanistic forms. Scales of the head: creamy or yellow margins; more apparent at the sides or cheeks than on the roof. Carapace color: in spots or stripes; of the complementary colors: brown; red; black and yellow. Color spots and stripes: arranged in a fan-like pattern. Scutes underneath are thin and amber-colored; in juveniles, brown spots in the rear part of each scute. Head and flippers dorsal side: darker and less variable; in eastern Pacific population, the coloration is sometimes nearly black. Hatchlings: more homogeneous in color. At the rear part of the carapace, mostly brown with paler blotches on the scutes; and, also small pale spots on the 'tip' of each scute along the 2 keels of the plastron. |