Dermochelys coriacea (Vandellii, 1761)

Figueroa, Alex, Low, Martyn E. Y. & Lim, Kelvin K. P., 2023, Singapore’s herpetofauna: updated and annotated checklist, history, conservation, and distribution, Zootaxa 5287 (1), pp. 1-378 : 71-72

Dermochelys coriacea (Vandellii, 1761) — Visitor.

Testudo coriacea Vandelli 1761: 1 , 7–9, pl. 2. Holotype: MZP unnumbered (formerly ZMUP), according to Fretey & Bour (1980: 198). Type locality: “maris Tyrrheni oram in agro Laurentiano ” (= Italy); later restricted to “ Palermo , Sicily ”, Italy by Smith & Taylor (1950a: 315, 1950b: 13); later restricted to “la côte romaine (Italie), Mer Tyrrhénienne, Méditerranée occidentale” (= Italy) by Fretey & Bour (1980: 198); later restricted to “Laurentum, between Lido di Ostia and Tor Paterno, shore of the Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy ” by Bour & Dubois (1984: 359).

Leatherback Turtle

( Figure 8E & 8F )

Singapore records.

Sphargis coriacea — Knight, 1884: 3 (Siglap).

Dermochelys coriacea — Flower, 1896: 857.— Hanitsch, 1898: 8.— Flower, 1899: 609.—Ridley, 1899: 205.—Hanitsch, 1908: 37.— Boulenger, 1912: 30 ( Singapore Straits).— Hanitsch, 1912b: 14.— Sharma, 1973: 234.— Gremli, 1988: 62.—K.K.P. Lim & L.M. Chou, 1990: 56.—K.K.P. Lim & F.L.K. Lim, 1992: 135, 151.—L.M. Chou et al., 1994: 105.—E.K. Chua, 2007b: 28.—H.T.W. Tan et al., 2007: 119.—P.K.A. Ng, 2009: 25.—T.H. Ng & K.K.P. Lim, 2010: 119.—H.T.W. Tan et al., 2010: 158.—L.M. Chou, 2011: 77.—P.K.L. Ng et al., 2011: 362.

Dermatochelys [sic] coriacea —Ridley, 1899: 188 (Tanjong Katong).

Remarks. Dermochelys coriacea is known from Singapore from a single specimen collected on 14 December 1883 by Skinner at Siglap ( Fig. 8E ) who discovered locals trying to encourage it from the beach back into the sea ( Knight 1884). The records from Singapore Straits in Boulenger (1912) and Tanjong Katong in Ridley (1899) both refer to the same specimen. The only other record of D. coriacea in Singapore is from CAS 22249 whose catalogue notes state it was purchased from Turtox, a general biological supply company; thus, the locality may be unreliable. Although not collected in Singapore’s waters, another specimen was found trapped in a damaged fish trap at Kampung Batu Jawa, Johor Bahru, Malaysia on 11 March 1905 ( Kloss 1907). TTWG (2021) does not include Singapore in the nesting or foraging range of D. coriacea , but includes Malaysia under nesting distribution. Terengganu, Malaysia was renowned for its gathering of nesting D. coriacea (Moll 1976) with 37,654 sightings being recorded between 1967 and 1976 ( Chua 1988). Regrettably, the nesting population has since collapsed from a total of 10,000 nests in 1956 to 100 nests by 1995 ( Chan & Liew 1996). The movement patterns of these turtles are unknown, but given Terengganu’s proximity to Singapore, we suspect D. coriacea forages in or transits through Singapore’s waters.

Occurrence. Visitor. Rare.

Singapore conservation status. Not Evaluated.

Conservation priority. Lowest.

IUCN conservation status. Vulnerable [2013].

LKCNHM & NHMUK Museum specimens. Siglap: ZRC.2.179 (14-Dec-1883) .

Additional Singapore museum specimens. Singapore (no locality): CAS.

Singapore localities. Siglap*.

Figures

FIGURE 8. A) Caretta caretta, B) Chelonia mydas, C) Eretmochelys imbricata, D) Lepidochelys olivacea, E) Dermochelys coriacea, F) Dermochelys coriacea, G) Trachemys scripta, and H) Batagur borneoensis. Photographs by: Halvard Aas Midtun [A], Marcus A.H. Chua [B], Karenne Tun [C], Ashesh Rathor [D], Tan Heok Hui [E], Alastair Rae [F], Holly Siow [G], and Kelvin K.P. Lim [H].