As you know, the olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) always tends to remain in the open ocean. But do you know that people call this vertebrate a bottom feeder or omnivorous animal reptile?
From my recent local project about olive ridley preservation, I came to know that olive ridleys may consume different invertebrates, soft-bodied fish and fish eggs. But the surprising thing is that I found that in a special condition, they can be cannibalistic too.
However, if you want to know about this dangerous situation of cannibalism, scroll down below. Besides, you will know the detailed food items of the invertebrates and fish groups that Olive Ridleys prefer.
Olive Ridley Sea Turtle Cuisine [Reference]
I think, before getting informed about their diet, you should first know about their habitat. That part will provide you with a clear concept of their food from geographical knowledge.
Following that, let me mention that olive ridley is mainly found in the warm and tropical waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Naturally, you can understand that the fish and sea elements that are found in these areas are related to the food item of olive ridley.
The most important part is that they can dive up to 500 feet deep to have benthic invertebrates. That’s why I have mentioned them as ‘Bottom-feeders’ in the introduction.
Along with their geographical location, you should also know about their mouthparts which will make you understand why they are familiar as “Omnivorous”.
Now, have a glance at this chart to learn about all the foods Olive Ridley Sea Turtle consumes.
| Food Type | Food Elements |
|---|---|
| Invertebrates | Rock lobsters, crabs, tunicates, mollusks, snails, shrimps, sea urchins, bryozoans, bivalves and sipunculid worms |
| Fish | Jellyfish, adult fish (sphoeroides), starfish and other soft-bodied fish |
| Plants (In the case of food scarcity) | Algae, seaweed, etc. |
| Others | Fish egg |
| Surprising diet!! | Captive turtles may sometimes show cannibalistic behavior |
Hold on!
As you have learned about olive ridley food and diet, you may think that the information about their food is over. But no! You still should continue to explore their best diet if you are having an olive ridley for any purpose.
Best Diet for an Olive Ridley
As I said before, you should have an idea about the best diet plan for an olive ridley. This is because ridleys may eat any type of food. But if they don’t get their most important one, they won’t grow larger and become healthy.
According to the research, they may grow up to 100 pounds, which is only possible when they are in a favorable condition. Well, let me mention their best and favorite food.
They like to have invertebrates and soft-bodied fish species as mentioned in the food chart above. Maybe you have noticed that they only have plants when they are deprived of food.
Hence, it’s better to always provide invertebrates and small and soft-bodied fish for them. Most importantly, no one should keep them in a captive state that may induce their cannibalistic behavior forcefully.
For more information about Olive Ridley Sea Turtle! you can read here!
What do Baby Olive Ridleys Eat?
When you are talking about Olive Ridley, you should know about the diet of the baby version too. Because, if you want to nurture an olive ridley in your tank, you have to grow them from a baby ridley.
In this case, baby olive ridleys cannot consume diversified food items like mature ones. As I experienced, babies can only take plant items like algae, seaweed, etc.
Highest, they may have extremely soft-bodied fish like jellyfish or invertebrates like lobsters, shrimps, etc. As their mouth parts are not too established like the adults, they have to consume soft food items.
Also, you have to provide enough food items for your baby ridleys. This is because, in the first stage of life, they cannot tolerate any stress that the mature ridleys can occasionally.
Why Do You Search for Olive Ridley Sea Turtle Diet?
If you want to understand the importance of the Olive Ridley diet, you have to understand its economic importance. Let’s start here.
Olive Ridley Sea Turtle Economic Importance
Well, researching an olive ridley sea turtle discloses their importance in nature. Also, they benefit the coastal people and industrial activities, which we can understand how important they are!
Let me mention some of those –
- Olive ridley leather can be used in the industry for making various things.
- Turtle egg food is a good source for the seashore people of Mexico and other countries.
- Due to the lack of Ridley turtles nowadays, deceiving river turtles were also found in the USA.
Why Should I Focus on the Olive Ridley Diet?
But why only food? To save them, we need to focus on their preservation activities, right? Look! Here is the point. The preservation activities of a species start their food habits. If you study turtles, you can find several sea turtle-like.
For example, As you know, the diet list of different sea turtles is variable according to their species. Hence, we need to figure out the perfect diet list for an olive ridley.
Olive Ridley Sea Turtle Mouthparts
As we can see, they have scissor-like, curved, and V-shaped jaws that help them to have both plants and animals. Their triangular-shaped skulls help to move them for prey.
At the same time, you can see that their beak ends up with a hook-like point. Such a structure may help them to consume soft-bodied fish.
Not only that, swallowing food is also easy for them as the mouth cavity and the throat remain lined with papillae. As a result, all these combinations make their food-taking process easier than most other sea turtles.
Factors Affecting the Olive Ridley Diet
Meanwhile, you have found a huge amount of information about the olive ridley diet. But don’t you think you should know about the factors that can affect an olive ridley diet?
Let me clear it up properly. This is not about the factors of a ridley body. They will take food properly when the amount of food is abundant.
But the most disappointing fact is some parts of the world like South California discharge oil and gasoline into the seawater. This matter affects the food habits of a ridley greatly.
As a result, sometimes food scarcity is created as other fish and invertebrates also may be killed due to the pollution. On the other hand, these discharges make the environment of sea water adverse for the ridley. Thus, the olive ridley diet is being affected badly.
Who Takes Olive Ridley as Its Prey! Which One is it?
Well, we are now informed about baby ridleys too. But do we know about the animals which are devastating for the ridleys due to their predatory nature?
In this list, the first one that I can mention is “Shark”. Most of the time, sharks consume mature ridleys at a wide range. Also, crabs, coatis and coyotes can eat Ridley eggs and hatchlings.
Most of the time when the female ridleys come to the coastal areas to lay eggs, at that time, the eggs and hatchlings are attacked by cats, dogs and other animals.
Frequently Asked Questions
Though I have given detailed information about the olive ridley food factors, I think you should know some points specifically. Let’s check them below.
1. Does Olive Ridley consume fish food?
Not really! As I described before, fish is an opportunistic feeding item for ridleys. But the items that you use for fish food are not usable for olive ridley food. Hence, you should avoid fish food, rather you can use fish as their food.
2. Why are they named “Olive Ridley”?
Whenever you see an olive ridley, you will find a glossy olive-colored shell on its back. This is the reason behind the name ‘Olive Ridley’.
3. Is the term “arribada” connected to olive ridley?
Yeah! When thousands of female ridleys come to the seashore to lay eggs, this phenomenon is termed as ‘arribada’. This is a special characteristic of olive ridley.
4. Is the Olive Ridley Sea Turtle a Threatened Species?
By studying their economy, you can understand their necessity. But still, you need to go further to understand why I am focusing on them. To be honest, they are mentioned as a “Threatened Species” in the IUCN red list, and they are disappearing day by day.
Final Thoughts
Well, I have reached the final destination of my article. Meantime, I tried to provide you with the highest information about the olive ridley sea turtle food and diet. Most of the time, they can live on the food items that they find.
As you know, olive ridleys are familiar as bottom feeders, they can find their food easily from the open ocean. But unfortunately, they are negatively affected by local capturing and industrial effluents. This phenomenon is making them endangered day by day.