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Eretmochelys imbricata

‘Onu Taratara*

Hawksbill Turtle

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Adult and head closeup	94KB
Article:	Identify Cook Islands Marine Turtles Gerald McCormack, September 2005	Read

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Hawksbill Turtle, Tortoise-shell Turtle

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Onu (AT), ‘Onu (MK MT), ‘Onu Una‘i (AK), Honu Tala (TS), Honu Tara (TW), Fonu Kokorove (MH), Kea? (PK); Other Polynesian - ‘Ea (HAW)

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Marine-Land, near-shore and oceanic, nest ashore

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Globally endangered (seriously)Flesh food (+)

Enlarged Image of 'Eretmochelys imbricata'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
?		+	+

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
+?			i++

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Eretmochelys imbricata (Linnaeus, 1766)
SYNONYMS: Eretmochelys squamata; Chelonia imbricata; Chelone imbricata; Caretta imbricata; Testudo imbricata [O]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); TETRAPODA; REPTILIA; TESTUDINATA; Chelonia; CHELONIIDAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Pukapuka: informant reports at NBSAP meeting, 2/2004.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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