TY - JOUR
T1 - Black Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas agassizii) Life History in the Sanctuary of Colola Beach, Michoacan, Mexico
AU - Bedolla Ochoa, Cutzi
AU - Reyes López, Miguel Angel
AU - Rodríguez-González, Hervey
AU - Delgado-Trejo, Carlos
PY - 2023/1/25
Y1 - 2023/1/25
N2 - Sea turtles present strategies that have allowed them to survive and reproduce. They spend most of their lives in the sea, except when they emerge as hatchlings from the nest and when the adult females return to nest. Those moments of their life cycle are vital for their reproductive success, conservation, and knowledge of their biology. This study reports the life history traits exhibited by female black sea turtles from Colola Beach, Mexico using morphometric and reproductive data obtained during 15 sampling seasons (1985–2000, n = 1500). The results indicate that nesting females have a mean body size of 85.7 cm and reach sexual maturity at 24 years old at a minimum size of 68 cm. Females deposit a mean of 69.3 eggs per clutch, and the mean fecundity was 196.4 eggs per female per season. The remigration intervals of 3 and 5 years were the most frequent registered. The life history traits found in the black sea turtle population present the lowest values reported with respect to studies conducted in the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific green turtle populations, which supports the hypothesis that this population is recovering, since morphometric and reproductive data represent young nesting turtles.
AB - Sea turtles present strategies that have allowed them to survive and reproduce. They spend most of their lives in the sea, except when they emerge as hatchlings from the nest and when the adult females return to nest. Those moments of their life cycle are vital for their reproductive success, conservation, and knowledge of their biology. This study reports the life history traits exhibited by female black sea turtles from Colola Beach, Mexico using morphometric and reproductive data obtained during 15 sampling seasons (1985–2000, n = 1500). The results indicate that nesting females have a mean body size of 85.7 cm and reach sexual maturity at 24 years old at a minimum size of 68 cm. Females deposit a mean of 69.3 eggs per clutch, and the mean fecundity was 196.4 eggs per female per season. The remigration intervals of 3 and 5 years were the most frequent registered. The life history traits found in the black sea turtle population present the lowest values reported with respect to studies conducted in the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific green turtle populations, which supports the hypothesis that this population is recovering, since morphometric and reproductive data represent young nesting turtles.
KW - black turtle
KW - Chelonia mydas agassizii;
KW - body size
KW - age of sexual maturity
KW - clutch size
KW - eastern Pacific
U2 - 10.3390/ani13030406
DO - 10.3390/ani13030406
M3 - Artículo
C2 - 36766296
SN - 2076-2615
VL - 13
SP - 1
JO - Animals
JF - Animals
IS - 3
M1 - 406
ER -