Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T07:41:11.671Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Diet selection by immature green turtles (Chelonia mydas) at Bahía Magdalena foraging ground in the Pacific Coast of the Baja California Peninsula, México

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 May 2008

Milagros López-Mendilaharsu ,
Susan C. Gardner ,
Rafael Riosmena-Rodriguez  and
Jeffrey A. Seminoff
Milagros López-Mendilaharsu
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, S C La Paz, BCS 23090, México
Susan C. Gardner
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, S C La Paz, BCS 23090, México
Rafael Riosmena-Rodriguez*
Affiliation:
Programa de Investigación en Botánica Marina, Departamento de Biología Marina, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur, La Paz, BCS 23080México
Jeffrey A. Seminoff
Affiliation:
Southwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA–National Marine Fisheries Service, 8604 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037USA
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Rafael Riosmena-Rodriguez Programa de Investigación en Botánica Marina Departamento de Biología MarinaUniversidad Autónoma de Baja California SurLa Paz BCS 23080México email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In order to determine if eastern Pacific green turtles (Chelonia mydas) exhibit feeding preferences samples of recently ingested food items were compared to the food resources available in the marine environment where C. mydas congregates. Stomach samples were collected by conducting gastric lavage and, at the same time, vegetation transects were conducted during spring and winter. Green turtles in our study selectively consumed seaweeds, with Codium amplivesiculatum and Gracialaria textorii as preferred species. Differences in the consumption of species were found across the two mentioned seasons and were consistent with changes in the availability of different algae species in the environment. Based on these results, it is recommended that sea turtle conservation plans along the Baja California Peninsula include Pacific coastal mangrove channels with a high diversity of algae species as priority areas for protection.

Keywords

dietselectivityChelonia midasseaweedsea grassMéxico
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 88 , Issue 3 , May 2008 , pp. 641 - 647
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Amorocho, D.F. and Reina, R.D. (2007) Feeding ecology of the East Pacific green sea turtle Chelonia mydas agassizii at Gornina National Park, Colombia. Endangered Species Research 3, 43–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arriaga Cabrera, L., Vázquez Domínguez, E., González Cano, J., Jiménez Rosenberg, R., Muñoz López, E. and Aguilar Sierra, V. (1998) Regiones marinas prioritarias de México. Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y uso de la Biodiversidad. México. Mexico D.F. 300 pp.Google Scholar
Balazs, G.H. (1980) Synopsis of biological data on the green turtle in the Hawaiian Islands. NOAA Technical Memorandum NOAA-TM-NMFS-SWFS-7. 141 pp.Google Scholar
Balazs, G.H., Forsyth, R.G. and Kam, A.K.H. (1987) Preliminary assessment of habitat utilization by Hawaiian green turtles in their resident foraging pastures. US Department of Commerce, NOAA Technical Memorandum NOAA-TM-NMFS-SWFC-71, 107 p.Google Scholar
Bjorndal, K.A. (1980) Nutrition and grazing behavior of the green turtle Chelonia mydas. Marine Biology 56, 147–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bjorndal, K.A. (1997) Foraging ecology and nutrition of sea turtles. In Lutz, P. and Musick, J. (eds) The biology of sea turtles. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press, pp. 199–232.Google Scholar
Brand-Gardner, S.J., Lanyon, J.M. and Limpus, C.J. (1999) Diet selection by immature green turtles, Chelonia mydas, in subtropical Moreton Bay, south-east Queensland. Australian Journal of Zoology 47, 181–191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brooks, L. (2005) Foraging ecology of east Pacific green turtle (Chelonia mydas) in Baja California Sur, México. Master in Science thesis, San Jose State University California, 37 pp.Google Scholar
Caldwell, D.K. (1962) Sea turtles in Baja California waters (with special reference to those of the Gulf of California), and the description of a new subspecies of northeastern Pacific green turtle. Los Angeles County Museum Contributions in Science 61, 3–31.Google Scholar
Cliffton, K., Cornejo, D.O. and Felger, R.S. (1982) Sea turtles of the Pacific coast of México. In Bjorndal, K.A. (ed.) Biology and conservation of sea turtles. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 199–209.Google Scholar
Dawson, E.Y. (1950) A giant new Codium from Pacific Baja California. Bulletin of the Torrey-Botonical Club 77, 298–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Echavarria-Heras, H., Solana-Arellano, E. and Franco-Vizcaino, E. (2006) The role of increased sea surface temperature on eelgrass leaf dynamics: onset of El Niño as a proxy for global climate change in San Quintin Bay, Baja California. Bulletin of the South California Academy of Sciences 105, 113–127CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferreira, M.M. (1968). Sobre alimentação da aruanã Chelonia mydas a longo da costa do Estado de Ceará. Arquivos da Estação de Biologia Marinha da Universidade Federal do Ceará 8, 83–86.Google Scholar
Figueroa, A., Alvarado, J., Hernández, F., Rodríguez, G. and Robles, J. (1993) The ecological recovery of sea turtles of Michoacán, México. Special attention to the black turtle (Chelonia agassizii). Final Report to WWF-USFWS, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 96 pp.Google Scholar
Forbes, G. and Limpus, C. (1993) A non-lethal method for retrieving stomach contents from sea turtles. Wildlife Research 20, 339–343.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gardner, S.C. and Nichols, W.J. (2001) Assessment of sea turtle mortality rates in the Bahía Magdalena region, Baja California Sur México. Chelonian Conservation Biology 4, 197–199.Google Scholar
Garnett, S.T., Price, I.R. and Scott, F.J. (1985) The diet of the green turtle, Chelonia mydas (L.), in Torres Strait. Australian Wildlife Research 12, 103–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Groombridge, B. and Luxmoore, R. (1989) The green turtle and hawksbill (Reptilia: Cheloniidae): world status, exploitation and trade. CITES, UNEP. 601 p.Google Scholar
Hilton-Taylor, C. (2000) IUCN Red List of threatened species. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN.Google Scholar
Hirth, H.F. (1997) Synopsis of biological data on the green turtle Chelonia mydas (Linnaeus 1758). US Fish and Wild Service Biology Report 97, 1–120.Google Scholar
Holguín-Acosta, E. (2002) Fenología y repoducció de Codium magnum (Caulerpoles; chlorophyta) asociado a mantos de rodolitos en el canal de San Lorenzo, BCS Mexico. Departmento de Biología Marina, UABCS.Google Scholar
Hyslop, E.J. (1980) Stomach content analysis—a review of methods and their application. Journal of Fish Biology 17, 411–420.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iglesias-Prieto, R., Reyes-Bonilla, H. and Riosmena-Rodríguez, R. (2003) Effects of 1997–1998 ENSO on coral reef communities in the Gulf of California, Mexico. Geofísica Internacional 42. 467–471.Google Scholar
Johnson, D.H. (1980) The comparison of usage and availability measurements for evaluating resource preference. Ecology 61, 65–71.Google Scholar
Limpus, C.J. and Limpus, D.J. (2002) Mangroves in the diet of Chelonia mydas in Queensland, Australia. Marine Turtle Newsletter 89, 13–15.Google Scholar
Lluch-Belda, D., Hernández-Rivas, M.E., Saldierna-Martínez, R. and Guerrero-Caballero, R. (2000) Variabilidad de la temperatura superficial del mar en Bahía Magdalena, BCS. Oceanides 15, 1–23.Google Scholar
López-Mendilaharsu, M., Gardner, S.C., Seminoff, J.A. and Riosmena-Rodríguez, R. (2003) Feeding ecology of the east Pacific green turtle (Chelonia mydas agassizii) in Bahía Magdalena, B.C.S. México. In Seminoff, J.A. (comp.) Proceedings of the Twenty-Second Annual Symposiumon Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation, Miami, Florida, Miami, pp. 219–220.Google Scholar
López-Mendilaharsu, M., Gardner, S.C., Riosmena-Rodríguez, R. and Seminoff, J.A. (2005) Identifying critical foraging habitats of the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) along the Pacific Coast of the Baja California Peninsula, México. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 15, 259–269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDermid, K., Stuercke, B. and Haleakala, O.J. (2005) Total dietary fiber content in Hawaiian marine algae. Botanica Marina 48, 437–440.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDermid, K., Stuercke, B and Balazs, G. (2007) Nutritional composition of marine plants in the diet of the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) in the Hawaiian Islands. Bulletin of Marine Sciences 81, 55–71.Google Scholar
Mohan, M.V. and Sankaran, T.M. (1988) Two new indices for stomach content analysis of fishes. Aquatic Botany 33, 289–292.Google Scholar
National Marine Fisheries Service and United States Fish and Wildlife Service. (1998) Recovery plan for United States populations of the east Pacific green turtle (Chelonia mydas). National Marine Fisheries Service, Silver Spring, Maryland. 50 pp.Google Scholar
Read, M.A. and Limpus, C.J. (2002) The green turtle, Chelonia mydas, in Queensland: feeding ecology of immature turtles in Moreton Bay, southeastern Queensland. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 48, 207–214.Google Scholar
Riosmena-Rodríguez, R. and Paul-Chávez, L. (1997) Sistemática y biogeografía de macroalgas de la Bahía de La Paz, B.C.S., México. In Urban-Ramírez, J. and Meuricio, Ramírez (eds) La Bahía de La Paz. Investigación y conservación. UABCS–CICIMAR–SCRIPPS, pp. 292–397.Google Scholar
Ross, J.P. (1985) Biology of the green turtle, Chelonia mydas, on an Arabian feeding ground. Journal of Herpetology 19, 459–468.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sánchez-Rodríguez, I., Fajardo, C. and Pantoja, O. (1989) Estudio florístico estacional de las macroalgas en Bahía Magdalena, BCS, México. Investigaciones Marinas CICIMAR 4, 35–48.Google Scholar
Santos Baca, L. and González, S. (2005) Macroalgas asociadas a la zona de alimentación de tortuga verde (Chelonia mydas agassizii) en el estero Banderitas, B.C.S. Parte I: Variación espacial y temporal. Parte II: Estructura poblacional y tendencias reproductivas. Unpublished Bachelor thesis, Departamento de Biología Marina, UABCS. 150 p.Google Scholar
Sazima, I. and Sazima, M. (1983) Aspectos de comportamento alimentar e dieta da tartaruga marinha, Chelonia mydas, no litoral Norte Paulista. Boletin Institute Oceanography, São Paulo 32, 199–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seminoff, J.A., Resendiz, A. and Nichols, W.J. (2002) Diet of the east Pacific green turtle, Chelonia mydas, in the central Gulf of California, Mexico. Journal of Herpetology 36, 447–453.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sokal, R.R. and Rohlf, F. (1995) Biometry. 3rd edn.New York: W.H. Freeman and Co.Google Scholar
Villegas-Nava, F.E. (2006). Análisis nutricional de macroalgas y pastos marinos asociados a la alimentación de tortuga prieta Chelonia mydas agassizii (Bocourt, 1968) en Bahía Magdalena, B.C.S., México. Unpublished Bachelor thesis, Departamento de Biología Marina, UABCS. 65 pp.Google Scholar