Biodiversity & Conservation

Kemp's Ridley turtle - Lepidochelys kempii - Taxonomy and identification

Kemp's Ridley turtle

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Distribution map

Lepidochelys kempii recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

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  • Berne
  • CITES
  • EC_Habitats
  • WC_Act_1981

Taxonomy identification

Dictionary Icon Taxon Dictionary icon Latin English equivalent or translation
Phylum Chordata - Sea squirts, fish, reptiles, birds and mammals
Class Reptilia - Sea squirts, fish, reptiles, birds and mammals
Order Testudines
Family Cheloniidae
Genus Lepidochelys
Authority: (Garman, 1880) Synonyms: (since 1950) None

Key Icon Identifying features

  • Up to 74 cm in length and weigh around 45 kg.
  • Light grey-olive colour shell.
  • Large head with strong powerful jaws.
  • Usually five pairs of scales (costal scutes).

Additional information icon Additional information

Populations of Kemp's Ridley are threatened with decline as a result of intensive predation on eggs by local people and by coyotes, fishing for juveniles and adults, slaughter of nesting adults for meat, and incidental catch by trawlers. Nesting grounds are also threatened through destruction by humans.

This review can be cited as follows:

Rebecca Harris 2007. Lepidochelys kempii. Kemp's Ridley turtle. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 06/09/2010]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/taxonomyidentification.php?speciesID=3645>