Marine Iguana
(Breeding male)
Where to Look
- Santa Cruz Highlands
- Lagoons on Larger Islands
Related Galapagos Species
Galapagos Land Iguana
(Conolophus subcristatus)
Identification
Unmistakeable. The only ocean going iguana on the Galapagos and the only one with an overall black or ‘christmas-colored’ appearance.
Description
A distinctive, overall black iguanna with a blunt snout and laterally compressed tail adapted for swimming. Although size differes between islands, males are significantly larger than females and have more priminent spines on their back. Dominant males on Floreana and Espanola aquire a distinctive red and blue-green ‘Christmas coloration’.
Galapagos Distribution
Found on coastlines throughout the entire archipelago.
Global Distribution
Endemic to the Galapagos
Status in the Galapagos
Extremely common to lacally abundant in areas with suitable coastline.
Conservation
Although this species is abundant on almost all rocky coastlines throughout the archipelago, their overall range is still reletively small when considered as an area of land. This species is also extremely suseptible to El Nino events which warm ocean surface temperatures, killing of the iguana’s algea food. Population declines of over 80% have occured as a result of this cyclic warming in recent years. Sub-populations of Marine Iguanas (i.e. subspecies) are not well monitored, and many may have reletively small populations.