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Natator depressa, Flatback turtle : fisheries

Natator depressa   (Garman, 1880)

Flatback turtle

Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Natator depressa  AquaMaps  Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Natator depressa

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | CoL | ITIS | WoRMS

Not assigned | Testudines | Cheloniidae

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Benthopelagic; depth range 0 - 200 m (Ref. 1397).  Tropical; 6°S - 38°S, 109°E - 157°E (Ref. 1397)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Indo-West Pacific: endemic to Australia.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm Max length : 96.0 cm CL male/unsexed; (Ref. 1397); max. published weight: 84.0 kg (Ref. 1397)

Short description Morphology

Adult: body flat, and carapace smooth, nearly elliptical with upturned margins. In subadults: carapace rim indented from middle to the back. Head: medium-sized, subtriangular, flat on top. Snout: longer and nearly equal to orbit. Scutes: ventrally consists of 6 pairs of main scutes, one intergular scute, a pair of postanal scutes and 4 poreless inframarginal scutes in each bridge with only one axillary scale in each bridge. Single visible claw in each flipper. Color: adults dorsally dull olive-grey with pale brownish yellow tones marginally; neck and head pale tone. Plastron ventrally are creamy white. Young individuals: brightly colored. Hatchlings: carapace scutes form a dark grey reticulate pattern; each scute are pale olive green; carapace rim and flippers are cream-colored band. Ventrally cream-white, except central part of each flipper which is bluish-grey diffuse spot.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

This species inhabits the shallow waters especially on coral reef areas like Great Barrier Reef and continental islands. Nesting only takes place in Australia. The peak season varies in localities: in southeast Queensland, November to January; in northern beaches, occurs throughout the year with a peak between March and April. Renesting interval usually lasts from 12 to 23 days. The nesting cycle at Mon Repos, ranges from 1 to 5 years with a mean of 2.65 years. Used as a value for subsistence and for some people the meat is considered as poisonous that is why local consumption is low (Ref. 1397). Inhabits the shallow waters of Australia especially on coral reef areas like the Great Barrier Reef and continental islands (Ref. 1397). Clutch volume may be determined by the available space it has for carrying eggs which is influenced by the adult size and morphology (Ref. 81165). Feeds on benthic invertebrates and jellyfishes (Ref. 97534).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Australia is the only place for nesting. The peak season varies in localities: in southeast Queensland, November to January; in northern beaches, occurs throughout the year with a peak between March and April. Renesting interval usually ranges from 12 to 23 days. The nesting cycle at Mon Repos, ranges from 1 to 5 years with a mean of 2.65 years (Ref. 1397). Temperature-dependent Sex Determination (TSD) is demonstrated in this species (Ref. 83973).

Main reference References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Hirth, H.F. 1993. (Ref. 97534)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Data deficient (DD) ; Date assessed: 01 September 1996

CITES status (Ref. 108899)


CMS (Ref. 116361)


Threat to humans

  Poisonous to eat

Human uses

Fisheries: subsistence fisheries
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More information

Common names
Synonyms
Predators
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Morphology
Larvae
Abundance
References
Mass conversion

Internet sources

BHL | BOLD Systems | CISTI | DiscoverLife | FAO(Publication : search) | Fishipedia | GenBank (genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | Gomexsi | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | PubMed | Tree of Life | Wikipedia (Go, Search) | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 22.4 - 28.7, mean 27.5 (based on 1182 cells).
Resilience (Ref. 69278): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.07-0.1).
Vulnerability (Ref. 71543): High vulnerability (58 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766): Unknown.