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Like other amniotes (reptiles, birds, and mammals) they breathe air and do not lay eggs underwater, although many species live in or around water. Turtle shells are made mostly of bone; the upper part is the domed carapace, while the underside is the flatter plastron or belly-plate.
Sea turtles tend to live long lives, greater than 70 years, so barnacles do not have to worry about host death. However, mortality in sea turtle barnacles is often driven by their host shedding the scutes on which the barnacle is attached, rather than the death of the sea turtle itself. [ 161 ]
While they are omnivorous, sea sponges are their principal food; they constitute 70–95% of the turtles' diets. [39] However, like many spongivores, they feed only on select species, ignoring many others. Caribbean populations feed primarily on the orders Astrophorida, Spirophorida, and Hadromerida in the class Demospongiae. [40]
Long regarded as one of the longest-living pets you could ever own, turtles surprise many pet owners with how long they can live. Whether you have a red eared slider or a map turtle, these ...
Although the turtle does not actively hunt its prey, it can detect chemosensory cues from prey, like the mud turtle, in order to choose the location in which it is most likely to catch food. [29] Small fish, such as minnows , are often caught in this way by younger alligator snapping turtles, whereas adults must eat a greater quantity per day ...
These turtles can get oxygen by pushing their head out of the mud and allowing gas exchange to take place through the membranes of their mouth and throat. This is known as extrapulmonary respiration. [30] If they cannot get enough oxygen through this method they start to utilize anaerobic pathways, burning sugars and fats without the use of oxygen.
Loggerhead sea turtles spend most of their lives in the open ocean and in shallow coastal waters. They rarely come ashore besides the females' brief visits to construct nests and deposit eggs. Hatchling loggerhead turtles live in floating mats of Sargassum algae. [41]
The midland and southern painted turtles seek especially quiet waters, usually shores and coves. They favor shallows that contain dense vegetation and have an unusual toleration of pollution. [103] [104] The western painted turtle lives in streams and lakes, similar to the other painted turtles, but also inhabits pasture ponds and roadside ...