Marine life  /  Turtles, sea snakes & crocodiles
11 of 1316 species
Group

Turtles, sea snakes & crocodiles

The shortest group in the index: the turtles and the sea snakes, and nothing else.

Species
11
Depth
0–40 m
Rarity range
1 star of 5, found on most divesto 5 stars of 5, a handful of records
Night only
None
Can hurt a diver
5
Destinations
12

The two turtles are told apart at the head. The green turtle has a rounded beak and one pair of scales between the eyes, and eats seagrass and algae; the hawksbill has a hooked beak, two pairs of scales and a serrated rear shell edge, and eats sponge. Both are met resting under a ledge or feeding, and both are common across the region.

The two snakes are different animals doing different things. The banded sea krait hunts eels in the reef and comes ashore to digest and shed, which no true sea snake can do; it is highly venomous and entirely uninterested in divers. The olive sea snake cannot leave the water and is inquisitive, and it is the one that surprises people. Neither is a reason to get out of the water, and both are a reason not to handle anything.

11 species

Photographed first, then commonest

11 written up, none photographed yet

Every one has a page. They are shown as a list rather than as pictures because nothing has been photographed or logged for them yet, and a species with nothing behind it should not sit in front of one that has.

Where they are recorded

How many of the 11 carry a record at each destination. A species usually carries several, so these do not add up to 11.

Australia 6 Papua New Guinea 4 Lembeh Strait 3 Anilao 3 Dauin & Dumaguete 3 Bali 3 Islas Revillagigedo 3 Galapagos Islands 2 Cocos Island 1 Florida 1 Bahamas 1 Cayman Islands 1

The other groups

Anemonefish 11 Angelfish 25 Batfish 3 Blennies 26 Butterflyfish 35 Cardinalfish 13 Damselfish 32 Dottybacks 5 Dragonets 5 Eels & garden eels 18 Flatfish 8 Frogfish & anglers 26 Goatfish 8 Gobies & dartfish 29 Groupers & anthias 42 Hawkfish 5 Jacks & open-water fish 29 Jawfish 4 Lizardfish & flatheads 10 Morays 26 Morwongs & trumpeters 4 Parrotfish 16 Pufferfish & boxfish 23 Rabbitfish 5 Scorpionfish & lionfish 47 Seahorses & pipefish 53 Shrimpgobies 17 Snappers, breams & sweetlips 39 Squirrelfish & soldierfish 9 Surgeonfish & unicornfish 26 Triggerfish & filefish 25 Trumpetfish & cornetfish 4 Wrasses 56 Other fish 46 Sharks & rays 63 Marine mammals & birds 10 Cephalopods 36 Nudibranchs & sea slugs 137 Sea snails & shells 26 Shrimps 38 Mantis shrimps 5 Crabs 45 Hermit crabs 10 Lobsters & squat lobsters 13 Isopods & parasitic crustaceans 5 Amphipods 2 Sea stars 18 Brittle stars & basket stars 7 Feather stars 2 Sea urchins 23 Sea cucumbers 12 Worms 11 Flatworms 3 Jellyfish & stinging drifters 10 Anemones & zoanthids 12 Corals & sponges 29 Sea squirts 4 Blackwater & plankton 52 Other invertebrates 2

All 1316 species in one index, with filters for destination, rarity and hazard.

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