A Comparison of Hatchling Locomotor Performance and Scute Pattern Variation between Two Rookeries of the Flatback Turtle (<i>Natator depressus</i>)

Sim, Elizabeth L.; Booth, David T.; Limpus, Colin J.; Guinea, Michael L.

doi:10.1643/ch-13-018

Cited by 11 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…However, this may be an artefact of the mother’s size. It is well established that hatchling size is related to egg and female size, with larger females ovipositing larger eggs which in turn produce larger hatchlings 33–37 . Therefore, the difference we found could have been an artefact of differences between initial egg size and females.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synchronised nesting aggregations are associated with enhanced capacity for extended embryonic arrest in olive ridley sea turtles

Williamson

Evans

Robinson

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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Sea turtle species in the genus Lepidochelys exhibit an unusual behavioural polymorphism, nesting in both aggregations and solitarily. Aggregated nesting events, termed ‘arribadas’, involve hundreds of thousands of females congregating at a single nesting beach over a few days to oviposit their eggs. Aggregate and solitary nesting behaviours are associated with distinct inter-nesting intervals, three and four weeks for non-arribada and arribada nesters respectively. Consequently, embryos are maintained in pre-ovipositional embryonic arrest in the hypoxic oviduct for different lengths of time depending on the mother’s reproductive behaviour. However, sea turtle embryos are limited in their capacity to remain in arrest and will subsequently die if held in hypoxia too long. Here, we tested whether embryos oviposited during arribada or non-arribada nesting differ in their capacity to be maintained in pre-ovipositional arrest. Olive ridley turtle ( Lepidochelys olivacea ) eggs from eight clutches (four from each nesting tactic) were divided among seven treatments after oviposition; normoxia (control; 21% O 2 ), or hypoxia (1% O 2 ) for 3, 3.5, 4, 8, 15 or 30 days, before being returned to normoxia. Arribada eggs were capable of extending pre-ovipositional arrest for longer, with some eggs from the 8- and 15-day hypoxia treatment still hatching while no non-arribada eggs hatched after more than four days in hypoxia. This difference in embryonic capacity to survive extended periods of arrest may be an important mechanism facilitating arribada behaviour by allowing longer inter-nesting intervals. Our finding provides an intriguing insight into the physiological mechanisms that are integral to this unique mass-nesting behaviour.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synchronised nesting aggregations are associated with enhanced capacity for extended embryonic arrest in olive ridley sea turtles

Williamson

Evans

Robinson

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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“…Findings from the same study also demonstrated that flatback turtles swim slower and crawl faster when incubated in hyperoxia for 5 days. Hatchling size, crawling, and swimming abilities are important for survival and they may also influence dispersal patterns (Booth et al, 2013; Le Gouvello et al, 2020; Read et al, 2013; Rings et al, 2015; Sim et al, 2014). However, variation in oxygen availability during the first 5 days of incubation appears to have no detectable impact on leatherback turtle hatchling morphology, exercise performance, or dispersal.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of postovipositional hypoxia and hyperoxia on leatherback turtle reproductive success and hatchling performance

Williamson,

Hoover,

Evans

et al. 2023

J Exp Zool Pt A

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Leatherback egg clutches typically experience lower hatching success (~50%) than those of other sea turtle species (>70%). The majority of embryonic death (>50%) occurs at early stages of development, possibly because embryos fail to break preovipositional embryonic arrest after oviposition. The embryonic arrest is maintained by hypoxia in the oviduct and following oviposition increased availability of oxygen is the trigger that breaks arrest in all turtle species studied to date. We conducted an ex situ incubator experiment and an in situ hatchery experiment to examine the influence of oxygen availability on hatching success and hatchling traits in leatherbacks. After oviposition, eggs (n = 1005) were incubated in either normoxia (21% O2), hyperoxia (32%–42% O2) for 5 days, or hypoxia (1% O2) for 3 or 5 days. As with other turtles, hypoxic incubation maintained embryos in arrest, equivalent to the time spent in hypoxia. However, extending arrest for 5 days resulted in greater early‐stage death and a significant decrease in hatching success (4% 5‐day hypoxia vs. 72% normoxia). Eggs placed in incubators had greater hatching success than those placed into hatchery nests (67% vs. 47%, respectively). We found no impact of hyperoxia on the stage of embryonic death, hatching success, hatchling phenotype, exercise performance, or early dispersal. Our findings indicate that delayed nesting and the subsequent extension of embryonic arrest may negatively impact embryonic development and therefore the reproductive success of leatherbacks. They also indicate that incubation under hyperoxic conditions is unlikely to be a useful method to improve hatching success in this species.

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“…To reduce the time spent in predator-dense zones, hatchlings undergo a period of hyperactivity for approximately the first 24 h post-emergence. During this 24 h period of hyperactivity termed the ‘frenzy’ [ 6 ], hatchlings swim almost continuously and exhibit high thrust production as they quickly disperse from the natal beach and surrounding waters [ 7 – 17 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While the ontogeny of swimming activity and the change in swimming behaviour as hatchlings age between frenzy and post-frenzy swimming has been studied previously [ 7 – 13 , 16 , 17 , 21 – 23 ], the ontogeny of metabolic rates remain relatively unstudied [ 18 , 19 ]. This difference is likely because hatchling metabolic rates (MRs) are typically measured by estimating oxygen consumption, which requires specialised equipment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ontogeny and ecological significance of metabolic rates in sea turtle hatchlings

et al. 2022

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Background Sea turtle hatchlings must avoid numerous predators during dispersal from their nesting beaches to foraging grounds. Hatchlings minimise time spent in predator-dense neritic waters by swimming almost continuously for approximately the first 24 h post-emergence, termed the ‘frenzy’. Post-frenzy, hatchling activity gradually declines as they swim in less predator-dense pelagic waters. It is well documented that hatchlings exhibit elevated metabolic rates during the frenzy to power their almost continuous swimming, but studies on post-frenzy MRs are sparse. Results We measured the frenzy and post-frenzy oxygen consumption of hatchlings of five species of sea turtle at different activity levels and ages to compare the ontogeny of mass-specific hatchling metabolic rates. Maximal metabolic rates were always higher than resting metabolic rates, but metabolic rates during routine swimming resembled resting metabolic rates in leatherback turtle hatchlings during the frenzy and post-frenzy, and in loggerhead hatchlings during the post-frenzy. Crawling metabolic rates did not differ among species, but green turtles had the highest metabolic rates during frenzy and post-frenzy swimming. Conclusions Differences in metabolic rate reflect the varying dispersal stratagems of each species and have important implications for dispersal ability, yolk consumption and survival. Our results provide the foundations for links between the physiology and ecology of dispersal of sea turtles.

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A Comparison of Hatchling Locomotor Performance and Scute Pattern Variation between Two Rookeries of the Flatback Turtle (Natator depressus)

Cited by 11 publications

References 30 publications

Synchronised nesting aggregations are associated with enhanced capacity for extended embryonic arrest in olive ridley sea turtles

Synchronised nesting aggregations are associated with enhanced capacity for extended embryonic arrest in olive ridley sea turtles

Effects of postovipositional hypoxia and hyperoxia on leatherback turtle reproductive success and hatchling performance

Ontogeny and ecological significance of metabolic rates in sea turtle hatchlings

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