Species profile
Eretmochelys imbricata
Hawksbill sea turtle
CR · Critically Endangered — Critically Endangered — extreme risk of extinction in the wild
About this species
Hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) is part of the curated SpeciesWatch catalogue and is classified as Critically Endangered. Hawksbill turtles keep coral reefs healthy by eating sponges that would otherwise outcompete corals — one turtle can remove hundreds of kilograms a year. Its recorded population direction is decreasing, so the category needs to be read alongside continuing losses of individuals or local populations.
Habitat, behaviour and ecological role
This profile associates the species with marine, coastal. These labels summarise environments used during different stages of its life rather than drawing an exact range boundary. Their beautifully patterned tortoiseshell made them one of the most trafficked animals in history, and illegal trade still threatens them today. Its anatomy and behaviour are responses to those environments, while movement can connect distant places requiring different forms of management.
Why this species is at risk
Hawksbills are among the few animals that can safely eat venomous sea sponges and even toxic jellyfish. The catalogue records 3 principal pressures for this profile: Tortoiseshell trade, Bycatch, Reef degradation. They should not be treated as isolated causes. Habitat change, exploitation, pollution, disease and climate stress can reinforce one another, while the importance of each pressure varies between regions and through time.
Conservation outlook
Protecting and reconnecting habitat is a priority, together with infrastructure planning that keeps feeding, breeding or migration routes functional. Fishery management needs enforceable limits, more selective gear, bycatch reduction and coordinated compliance across jurisdictions. Direct protection needs to combine enforcement with conflict prevention, demand reduction and local benefits that make coexistence viable. Actions need long-term monitoring and revision as evidence changes; a positive intervention in one place does not by itself represent recovery across the species.
Editorial review: 2026-08-21
Threat factors
Known occurrences
Dots are georeferenced occurrence records from OBIS (marine) and GBIF (global), not individual animals and not a complete range map. Up to 500 recent API results are cached; the profile renders at most 500 points.
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