Epibionts of juvenile hawksbill turtle Eretmochelys imbricata in the Sanctuary of Sea Turtles of Rio Lagartos, Yucatan, México.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37543/oceanides.v20i1-2.20Keywords:
Epibionts, Juvenile, Hawksbill Turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata, Rio Lagartos Yucatán, MexicoAbstract
Studies about the relationship between sea turtles and epibionts are important for their conservation, because it gives us information about the effects of the epibionts on the turtles. During July and August of 1999, we counted the epibionts attached to each corporal region of 37 juvenile hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) captured in the Sanctuary of Sea Turtles of Rio Lagartos, Yucatán, México. The average size of the turtles was 36.4 (± 7.4) cm straight length. Barnacles presented the highest relative abundance: Platylepas sp. (97.2%), attached mainly to the neck and fins; Chelonibia testudinaria represented 1.6% attached only on the carapace and plastron. Leeches (Ozobranchus margoi) were found in the plastron and cloaca of two sea turtles; 43 mussels were registered under the scutes of the shell of one turtle. Filamentous algae were present in 20 turtles, mainly on the carapace. Oysters, amphipods, remoras, algae and percebes were scarcely registered. In general, the organisms associated to immature hawksbill
turtles were commensals, although high amounts of epibionts could affect the energy cost of the sea turtles
when they are swimming. In some cases the relation turned out to be parasitic, when the epibionts created
possible sites of infections.
Downloads
References
Davies, R.W. 1978. The morphology of Ozobranchus margoi (Apathy) (Hirudinoidea), a parasite of marine turtles. J. Parasitol., 64(6):1092-1096. https://doi.org/10.2307/3279733
Díaz, M., J. Gutiérrez, D. Jasso, C. López, L. Sarti & C. Vallejo. 1992. Epibiontes y estado físico de las tortugas Lepidochelys olivacea y Dermochelys coriacea en el playón de Mexiquillo, Michoacán, durante la temporada de anidación 1988-1989. Publ. Soc. Herpetol. Mex.,1(1):19-25.
Frazier, J.G., D. Margaritoulis, K. Muldoon, C.W. Potter, J. Rosewater, C.A. Rickdeschel & S. Salas. 1985. Epizoan communities on marine turtles. I Mollusca. Mar. Ecol. 6(2):127-140. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0485.1985.tb00134.x
Frick, M., K. Williams & D. Veljacic. 2000. Evidencia adicional que apoya una relación simbiótica de limpieza entre los cangrejos epibióticos y las tortugas marinas: ¿De qué manera impactará la cosecha de sargazo esta relación? Noticiero de Tortugas Marinas. 90:11-13
Frick, M., K. Williams, D. Veljacic, L. Pierrard, J. Jackson & S. Knight. 2000a. Newly Documented Epibiont Species from Nesting Loggerhead sea Turtles (Caretta caretta) in Georgia, USA. Marine Turtle Newsletter. 88:3-5.
Frick, M., P. Mason, K. Williams, K. Andrews & H. Gerstung. 2003. Epibionts of Hawksbill Turtles in a Caribbean Nesting Ground: A Potentially Unique Association with Snapping Shrimp (Crustacea: Alpheidae). Marine Turtle Newsletter. 99:8-11.
Garduño-Andrade, M. 1999. Nesting of the Hawksbill Turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata, at Río Lagartos, Yucatán, México, 1990-1997. Chelonian Conservation and Biology. 3(2) : 281-85.
Hernández-Vázquez, S. & C. Valadez-González. 1998. Observaciones de los Epizoarios encontrados sobre la Tortuga Golfina Lepidochelys olivacea en la Gloria, Jalisco, México. Cienc. Mar. 24(1): 119-125. https://doi.org/10.7773/cm.v24i1.733
Moll, D., B. Michaels, M. Henson & A.D. Roberts. 1995. Comportamiento simbiótico de limpieza entre una tortuga Kempii y un pez cerdo. Noticiero de Tortugas Marinas. 68: 2
Moncada F. G. 1996. Características biológicas del carey (Eretmochelys imbricata). Reunión Regional sobre Conservación y uso Sostenible del Carey en Cuba. 14-15 de marzo 1996. Doc. RRC/10. 2 p.
Ruppert, E. & R. Barnes. 1996. Zoología de los Invertebrados. 6a. edición. McGrawHill Interamericana Editores. México, D.F. 1114 p.
Sawyer, R. & A. Lawler. 1975. Marine leeches of the eastern United States and the Gulf of México with a key to the especies. J. Nat.Hist. 9: 633-667. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222937500770531
SEMARNAT, 2002. Acuerdo por el que se determinan como áreas naturales protegidas, con la categoría de santuarios, a las zonas de reserva y sitios de refugio para la protección, conservación, repoblación, desarrollo y control de las diversas especies de tortuga marina. Diario Oficial de la Federación. Martes, 16 de julio de 2002.
Smith, S.H. 1988. Clearing of the hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) by adult French angelfish. Herp. Rev. 19:55.
Witzell, W.N. 1983. Synopsis of biological data on the Hakwsbill turtle Eretmochelys imbricata (Linnaeus, 1766). FAO Fisheries Synopsis 137. 78 p.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2005 N. Cárdenas- Palomo, A. Maldonado- Gasca
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
