Sea iguana or Galapagos Sea Iguana (Lat. Amblyrhynchus Cristatus) - iguana, dwelling exclusively in the Galapagos Islands. It has a unique among modern lizards. Ability to spend most of the time in the sea. It is huge, up to 1.5 m in the length of the lizards. Color can be varied: there are gray, practically black, green-brown or brown-brown individuals. The males are usually brighter than females. Their brown-green color often seems red-green in the sun.
On the shore of the lizard heats up in the sun, keeping the stones using powerful claws. Black painting helps to warm up. Saluing salts, swallowed with food, is displayed using special glands through the nostrils.
Nutrition
Sea iguanas are powered mainly by algae in the tidal and tidal zone, they are busting them with stones.
Swimming
Sea iguanas float, wavely flexing the body in the horizontal plane. Dive prefer during the low tide when the water is most funded by the Sun. Young individuals hold on shallow water. Adults sail from the shore. The males sail from the coast further than females. Under the water, Iguana is able to detain their breath for 1 hour. Blood during swimming for saving oxygen comes only to vital organs.
In addition to searching for food, lizard can dive to escape from predators or cool in the heat.
Reproduction
In the marriage season, red spots appear on the male. Pigments for this lizard receive with food. Rivals are fighting, godding their heads. The female puts the eggs in a hole in the sand or volcanic ash at least 300 meters from the coast, it protects the masonry for several days, and then leaves it. The incubation period is about 95 days.
Sea Iguana is found on all the islands of the archipelago, mainly on rocky shores, salty swamps and mangroves. Sea Iguanas live only in the Galapagos Islands off the coast of South America.
Enemies
The introduced predators from which the iguana practically do not have protection include such animals like pigs, dogs, cats and rats. Dogs can attack adult sea iguan, while others can feed them with young individuals or eggs. This inhibits reproduction and survival rate. It is assumed that large sharks may be dangerous to Iguan, numbered in the sea. However, for 20 years of observation, not a single case of successful predation of sharks in relation to Iguanam was not recorded. Sometimes Galapagos Sea Lions may accidentally crush the sea iguan or play with them to the complete exhaustion and death of the latter
Sea iguana in the Galapagos Islands
