The Galapagos Islands are home to at least 11 subspecies of iguanas. Credit: Martha Barreno / VWPics via Getty Images

Marine biologists are sounding the alarm on behalf of the Galápagos Islands ’ marine iguana ( Amblyrhynchus cristatus ). Without tightened regulations on the often abused exotic pet trade , researchers warn that a recent “strange uptick” in illegal animal trafficking combined with this season’s Super El Niño is further endangering the already vulnerable reptiles living on the Eastern Pacific archipelago .

“They are already shrinking in size and facing mass mortality, either by starvation or by trying to swim longer distances in search of food,” Juan José Alava , a marine ecotoxicologist at Canada’s Simon Fraser University, explained in a recent letter published in Science .

The marine iguana family encompasses at least 11 known subspecies, each specially evolved to live on the Galápagos Islands.…