Santa Cruz Marine Iguana
Amblyrhynchus cristatus hassi
Natural History:
The marine iguana is endemic to the Galapagos Archipelago and are unlike any other lizard. The Marine Iguana as its name suggests is an aquatic lizard that spends the majority of its time in the ocean. Being ectothermic they cannot regulate their own body temperature and every morning they gather on rocks to sunbath. When they are warm enough they plunge into the ocean in search of food. They can swim down to 10m deep and can hold their breath for over an hour which enables them to feed on seaweed.
During part of the year an event occurs called El Niño where ocean currents cause a large die off of algae, the iguanas main food source. During this time Marine Iguanas will shrink and grow back once food sources have returned. This is done by their ability to break down bone tissue and within months have it rebuild again.
Because of the amount of salt water consumed, the Marine Iguana has a specialized organ that separates the salt which is expelled through their nose in the form of "sneezes".
For most of the year Marine Iguanas are black to dark grey in colour to camouflage with their lava rock surroundings so not to become predated by Galapagos Hawks or Galapagos Racers which prey on the young. For part of the year from January to March, the males become bright red with shades of blue and other colours in order to attract a mate which they breed with using their hemipenis (two penises).
Because there are many islands isolated from one another it allows many animals to evolve independently from one another. The Marine Iguanas evolved independently from one another as well however due to their aquatic nature, many different subspecies have been known to traverse onto other islands and interbreed with different subspecies. The subspecies only differ genetically and their physical appearance is universal with the exception of areas with larger amounts of food which may have larger iguanas. This means that any hybrid offspring can only be differentiated by looking at their DNA as there is no way to tell based on physical features. The A. c. hassi subspecies is native to Santa Cruz Island along with smaller islands adjacent, such as; Baltra Island and Seymour Norte Island.
Anecdotal:
When I was in Galapagos I was not a herper but spent more time photographing birds, as a result I did not take as much time photographing the Marine Iguanas which I later regretted. The first spot we went to was Baltra Island where we were wearing wet suits and I had an underwater camera case on my camera as we were to go in the water directly after. Unfortunately (as I later found while off the boat) the case had blurred some of my photos though I figured I would be able to see more during the rest of the trip. I did not know however that they are all separate subspecies and that those would be the only photos I take of A. c. hassi.
The marine iguana is endemic to the Galapagos Archipelago and are unlike any other lizard. The Marine Iguana as its name suggests is an aquatic lizard that spends the majority of its time in the ocean. Being ectothermic they cannot regulate their own body temperature and every morning they gather on rocks to sunbath. When they are warm enough they plunge into the ocean in search of food. They can swim down to 10m deep and can hold their breath for over an hour which enables them to feed on seaweed.
During part of the year an event occurs called El Niño where ocean currents cause a large die off of algae, the iguanas main food source. During this time Marine Iguanas will shrink and grow back once food sources have returned. This is done by their ability to break down bone tissue and within months have it rebuild again.
Because of the amount of salt water consumed, the Marine Iguana has a specialized organ that separates the salt which is expelled through their nose in the form of "sneezes".
For most of the year Marine Iguanas are black to dark grey in colour to camouflage with their lava rock surroundings so not to become predated by Galapagos Hawks or Galapagos Racers which prey on the young. For part of the year from January to March, the males become bright red with shades of blue and other colours in order to attract a mate which they breed with using their hemipenis (two penises).
Because there are many islands isolated from one another it allows many animals to evolve independently from one another. The Marine Iguanas evolved independently from one another as well however due to their aquatic nature, many different subspecies have been known to traverse onto other islands and interbreed with different subspecies. The subspecies only differ genetically and their physical appearance is universal with the exception of areas with larger amounts of food which may have larger iguanas. This means that any hybrid offspring can only be differentiated by looking at their DNA as there is no way to tell based on physical features. The A. c. hassi subspecies is native to Santa Cruz Island along with smaller islands adjacent, such as; Baltra Island and Seymour Norte Island.
Anecdotal:
When I was in Galapagos I was not a herper but spent more time photographing birds, as a result I did not take as much time photographing the Marine Iguanas which I later regretted. The first spot we went to was Baltra Island where we were wearing wet suits and I had an underwater camera case on my camera as we were to go in the water directly after. Unfortunately (as I later found while off the boat) the case had blurred some of my photos though I figured I would be able to see more during the rest of the trip. I did not know however that they are all separate subspecies and that those would be the only photos I take of A. c. hassi.