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Sample records for yellow pond turtles

  1. Multiple paternity in the cultured yellow pond turtles (Mauremys mutica).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xin-Cheng; Zhao, Jian; Li, Wei; Wei, Cheng-Qing; Zhu, Xin-Ping

    2017-08-01

    As a result of hunting and habitat loss, wild populations of the yellow pond turtle, Mauremys mutica, are decreasing. The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers M. mutica to be an endangered species. All studied freshwater turtles have polyandrous mating with multiple paternity. To survey the mating strategies of M. mutica, 1year's genetic data of parents and all offspring in an artificially captive population were analyzed. Two groups of multiplex PCR containing 16 microsatellite loci were used to analyze the paternity of 302 hatchlings from 132 parents and from 159 clutches. The genetic data indicated that multiple paternity is rare in M. mutica, occurring in only seven of 138 clutches. Although the frequency of multiple paternity was only 5.07%, results of the present research indicate that M. mutica has a polyandrous mating system. In the breeding season, the successive clutches of 34 females each had the same paternity as the previous clutches. It was observed that four males (f85, f58, f87, and f76) had more than 20 offspring each, totaling 99 and representing 32.78% of all offspring. This finding implies that paternity is competitive in this artificially captive population and might bias the genetic diversity of the offspring. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. The western pond turtle: Habitat and history. Final report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Holland, D.C.

    1994-08-01

    The western pond turtle is known from many areas of Oregon. The majority of sightings and other records occur in the major drainages of the Klamath, Rogue, Umpqua, Willamette and Columbia River systems. A brief overview is presented of the evolution of the Willamette-Puget Sound hydrographic basin. A synopsis is also presented of the natural history of the western pond turtle, as well as, the status of this turtle in the Willamette drainage basin. The reproductive ecology and molecular genetics of the western pond turtle are discussed. Aquatic movements and overwintering of the western pond turtle are evaluated. The effect of introduced turtle species on the status of the western pond turtle was investigated in a central California Pond. Experiments were performed to determine if this turtle could be translocated as a mitigation strategy

  3. Western Pond Turtle Head-starting and Reintroduction, 2005-2006 Annual Report.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Van Leuven, Susan; Allen, Harriet; Slavens, Kate (Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Wildlife Management Program, Olympia, WA)

    2006-11-01

    This report covers the results of the western pond turtle head-starting and reintroduction project for the period of October 2005-September 2006. Wild hatchling western pond turtles from the Columbia River Gorge were reared at the Woodland Park and Oregon zoos in 2005 and 2006 as part of the recovery effort for this Washington State endangered species. The objective of the program is to reduce losses to introduced predators like bullfrogs and largemouth bass by raising the hatchlings to a size where they are too large to be eaten by most of these predators. Twenty-six turtles were placed at the Woodland Park Zoo and 62 at the Oregon Zoo in fall 2005. These turtles joined two that were held back from release in summer 2005 due to their small size. All 90 juvenile turtles were released at three sites in the Columbia Gorge in 2006. Twenty-eight juvenile turtles were released at the Klickitat ponds, 22 at the Klickitat lake, 21 at the Skamania site, and 19 at Pierce National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). This brought the total number of head-start turtles released since 1991 to 944; 285 for the Klickitat ponds, 158 for the Klickitat lake, 227 for the Skamania pond complex, and 274 at Pierce NWR. In 2006, 20 females from the Klickitat population were equipped with transmitters and monitored for nesting activity. Fifteen nests were located and protected; these produced 55 hatchlings. The hatchlings were collected in September and transported to the Oregon and Woodland Park zoos for rearing in the head-start program. One wild hatchling captured in spring 2006 was placed in the head-start program to attain more growth in captivity. During the 2006 field season trapping effort, 414 western pond turtles were captured in the Columbia Gorge, including 374 previously head-started turtles. These recaptures, together with confirmed nesting by head-start females and visual resightings, indicate the program is succeeding in boosting juvenile recruitment to increase the populations

  4. Western Pond Turtle Head-starting and Reintroduction; 2004-2005 Annual Report.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Van Leuven, Susan; Allen, Harriet; Slavin, Kate (Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Wildlife Management Program, Olympia, WA)

    2005-09-01

    This report covers the results of the western pond turtle head-starting and reintroduction project for the period of October 2004-September 2005. Wild hatchling western pond turtles from the Columbia River Gorge were reared at the Woodland Park and Oregon Zoos in 2004 and 2005 as part of the recovery effort for this Washington State endangered species. The objective of the program is to reduce losses to introduced predators like bullfrogs and largemouth bass by raising the hatchlings to a size where they are too large to be eaten by most of these predators. Thirty-five turtles were placed at the Woodland Park Zoo and 53 at the Oregon Zoo. Of these, 77 head-started juvenile turtles were released at three sites in the Columbia Gorge in 2005. Four were held back to attain more growth in captivity. Eleven were released at the Klickitat ponds, 22 at the Klickitat lake, 39 at the Skamania site, and 5 at Pierce National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). This brought the total number of head-start turtles released since 1991 to 257 for the Klickitat ponds, 136 for the Klickitat lake, 206 for the Skamania pond complex, and 255 at Pierce NWR. In 2005, 34 females from the two Columbia Gorge populations were equipped with transmitters and monitored for nesting activity. Twenty-four nests were located and protected; these produced 90 hatchlings. The hatchlings were collected in September and transported to the Oregon and Woodland Park zoos for rearing in the head-start program. During the 2005 field season trapping effort, 486 western pond turtles were captured in the Columbia Gorge, including 430 previously head-started turtles. These recaptures, together with confirmed nesting by head-start females and visual resightings, indicate the program is succeeding in boosting juvenile recruitment to increase the populations. Records were also collected on 216 individual painted turtles captured in 2005 during trapping efforts at Pierce NWR, to gather baseline information on this native

  5. Western Pond Turtle Observations - Region 1 [ds313

    Data.gov (United States)

    California Natural Resource Agency — This dataset was developed in an effort to compile Western Pond Turtle (Clemmys marmorata) observations in CDFG Region 1. Steve Burton (CDFG Staff Environmental...

  6. Enviromental influences on the 137Cs kinetics of the yellow-bellied turtle (Trachemys Scripta)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peters, E.L.; Brisbin, L.I. Jr.

    1996-01-01

    Assessments of ecological risk require accurate predictions of contaminant dynamics in natural populations. However, simple deterministic models that assume constant uptake rates and elimination fractions may compromise both their ecological realism and their general application to animals with variable metabolism or diets. In particular, the temperature-dependent model of metabolic rates characteristic of ectotherms may lead to significant differences between observed and predicted contaminant kinetics. We examined the influence of a seasonally variable thermal environment on predicting the uptake and annual cycling of contaminants by ectotherms, using a temperature-dependent model of 137 Cs kinetics in free-living yellow-bellied turtles, Trachemys scripta. We compared predictions from this model with those of deterministics negative exponential and flexibly shaped Richards sigmoidal models. Concentrations of 137 Cs in a population if this species in Pond B, a radionuclide-contaminated nuclear reactor cooling reservoir, and 137 Cs uptake by the uncontaminated turtles held captive in Pond B for 4 yr confirmed both the pattern of uptake and the equilibrium concentrations predicted by the temperature-dependent model. Almost 90% of the variance on the predicted time-integrated 137 Cs concentration was explainable by linear relationships with model paramaters. The model was also relatively insensitive to uncertainties in the estimates of ambient temperature, suggesting that adequate estimates of temperature-dependent ingestion and elimination may require relatively few measurements of ambient conditions at sites of interest. Analyses of Richards sigmoidal models of 137 Cs uptake indicated significant differences from a negative exponential trajectory in the 1st yr after the turtles' release into Pond B. 76 refs., 7 figs., 5 tabs

  7. Dissemination of Zoonotic Antibiotic Resistant Serotypes of Salmonella by Caspian Pond Turtles, Golestan and Mazandaran Provinces, Iran

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Somayeh Namroodi

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Background: Salmonella spp. are widespread zoonotic pathogens with economic importance for both humans and animals. They are categorized as the natural flora of the gastrointestinal tract of many reptiles. Human salmonellosis acquired from contact with reptiles is a well-recognized medical problem. Objective: The frequency of Salmonella contamination in Caspian pond turtles was surveyed to evaluate the danger of exposure or disease risk for humans as these species are abundant around the villages in Golestan and Mazandaran provinces. Materials and Methods: One hundred fifty fecal samples from Caspian pond turtles were tested by standard bacteriological methods and positive samples were serotyped. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests on isolated Salmonella strains were also performed. Results: Out of 150 samples, 54 turtles were detected to be contaminated with Salmonella. Of the 54 Salmonella isolates, 38.8% (21/54 were serotyped as S. typhimurium; 35.1% (19/54 as S. enterica subsp. enterica; 9.2% (5/54 as S. enterica subsp. salamae; 9.2% (5/54 as S. enterica subsp. arizona; and 7.4% (4/54 as S. enterica subsp. houtenae. Female (28/80, 35% and male (26/74, 35.1% turtles showed equal incidence of Salmonella spp. contamination. Resistance was mostly observed against ampicillin (37% followed by tetracycline (33.3%, nalidixic acid (7.4%, ciprofloxacin (5.5%, and cotrimoxazole (3.7%. The highest susceptibility was observed against gentamicin (100% and trimethoprim (98.1%. Conclusion: Our findings confirmed that people who are in close exposure to Caspian pond turtles and their feces are at the risk of Salmonella contamination. Accordingly, fundamental principles of hygiene should be applied in human contact with Caspian pond turtles. Furthermore, people should be educated about the Salmonella contamination which may occur through Caspian pond turtles.

  8. Unexpected early extinction of the European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis) in Sweden and climatic impact on its Holocene range.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sommer, Robert S; Lindqvist, Charlotte; Persson, Arne; Bringsøe, Henrik; Rhodin, Anders G J; Schneeweiss, Norbert; Siroký, Pavel; Bachmann, Lutz; Fritz, Uwe

    2009-03-01

    Using ancient DNA sequences of subfossil European pond turtles (Emys orbicularis) from Britain, Central and North Europe and accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dating for turtle remains from most Swedish sites, we provide evidence for a Holocene range expansion of the pond turtle from the southeastern Balkans into Britain, Central Europe and Scandinavia, according to the 'grasshopper pattern' of Hewitt. Northeastern Europe and adjacent Asia were colonized from another refuge located further east. With increasing annual mean temperatures, pond turtles reached southern Sweden approximately 9800 years ago. Until approximately 5500 years ago, rising temperatures facilitated a further range expansion up to Ostergötland, Sweden (approximately 58 degrees 30'N). However, around 5500 years ago pond turtle records suddenly terminate in Sweden, some 1500 years before the Holocene thermal maximum ended in Scandinavia and distinctly earlier than previously thought. This extinction coincides with a temporary cooling oscillation during the Holocene thermal maximum and is likely related to lower summer temperatures deteriorating reproductive success. Although climatic conditions improved later again, recolonization of Sweden from southern source populations was prevented by the Holocene submergence of the previous land connection via the Danish Straits that occurred approximately 8500 years ago.

  9. Anesthetic efficacy of ketamine-diazepam, ketamine-xylazine, and ketamine-acepromazine in Caspian Pond turtles (Mauremys caspica).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adel, Milad; Sadegh, Amin Bigham; Arizza, Vincenzo; Abbasi, Hossein; Inguglia, Luigi; Saravi, Hasan Nasrollahzadeh

    2017-01-01

    The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of different anesthetic drug combinations on the Caspian Pond turtles ( Mauremys caspica ). Three groups of the Caspian Pond turtles ( n = 6) were anesthetized with three different drug combinations. Initially, a pilot study was conducted to determine the best drug doses for the anesthetization of the turtles, and according to these results, ketamine-diazepam (120 mg/kg ketamine hydrochloride [5%] and 2 mg/kg diazepam [5%]), ketamine-acepromazine (120 mg/kg ketamine hydrochloride [5%] and 1 mg/kg acepromazine [1%]), and ketamine-xylazine (120 mg/kg ketamine hydrochloride [5%] and 1 mg/kg xylazine [2%]) were injected intramuscularly. The onset times of anesthetization and the recovery time were measured. Statistical analysis of the data was performed using one-way analysis of variance followed by t -tests, and P turtles, respectively, compared to that obtained with the ketamine-acepromazine combination and 64% (male turtles) and 50% (female turtles) shorter than that obtained with the ketamine-xylazine combination. Further, the recovery time, in male turtles, was 17% shorter in animals treated with the first drug combination than those treated with the ketamine-acepromazine combination and 37% shorter than those treated with the ketamine-xylazine combination. The recovery time, in female turtles, did not seem to be significantly different among treatments. The study showed that the ketamine-diazepam drug combination is the anesthetic combination with the fastest onset time and shortest recovery time.

  10. The effect of growth rate and ageing on colour variation of European pond turtles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ibáñez, Alejandro; Martín, José; Marzal, Alfonso; Bertolero, Albert

    2017-06-01

    Many chelonians have colourful dots, patches and stripes throughout their body that are made up, at least in part, of carotenoids. Therefore, turtles are very suitable models to study the evolution and functionality of carotenoid-based colouration. Recent studies suggested a close link between colouration and immune system in these taxa. However, more research is needed to understand the role of these colourful stripes and patches in turtle visual signalling. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between growth rate and colouration in European pond turtles. In particular, we wanted to answer the question of whether there is a trade-off between growth and colour expression. We also aimed to explore the effect of body size and age on colour variation. Turtles from a reintroduction-breeding program were recaptured, weighed and measured over an 8-year period to estimate their growth rates and age. We also measured with a spectrometer the reflectance of colour patches in two different body parts: shell and forelimb. We found that turtles with a faster growth rate had brighter limb stripes independently of their age. On the other hand, shell colouration was related to body size with larger turtles having brighter shell stripes and higher values of carotenoid chroma. Our results suggest that fast-growers may afford to express intense colourful limb stripes likely due to their higher intake of carotenoids that would modulate both growth and colour expression. However, shell colouration was related to body size probably due to ontogenetic differences in the diet, as juveniles are strictly carnivorous while adults are omnivorous. Alternatively, shell colouration might be involved in crypsis as the shell is visually exposed to predators.

  11. The effect of growth rate and ageing on colour variation of European pond turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ibáñez, Alejandro; Martín, José; Marzal, Alfonso; Bertolero, Albert

    2017-06-01

    Many chelonians have colourful dots, patches and stripes throughout their body that are made up, at least in part, of carotenoids. Therefore, turtles are very suitable models to study the evolution and functionality of carotenoid-based colouration. Recent studies suggested a close link between colouration and immune system in these taxa. However, more research is needed to understand the role of these colourful stripes and patches in turtle visual signalling. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between growth rate and colouration in European pond turtles. In particular, we wanted to answer the question of whether there is a trade-off between growth and colour expression. We also aimed to explore the effect of body size and age on colour variation. Turtles from a reintroduction-breeding program were recaptured, weighed and measured over an 8-year period to estimate their growth rates and age. We also measured with a spectrometer the reflectance of colour patches in two different body parts: shell and forelimb. We found that turtles with a faster growth rate had brighter limb stripes independently of their age. On the other hand, shell colouration was related to body size with larger turtles having brighter shell stripes and higher values of carotenoid chroma. Our results suggest that fast-growers may afford to express intense colourful limb stripes likely due to their higher intake of carotenoids that would modulate both growth and colour expression. However, shell colouration was related to body size probably due to ontogenetic differences in the diet, as juveniles are strictly carnivorous while adults are omnivorous. Alternatively, shell colouration might be involved in crypsis as the shell is visually exposed to predators.

  12. Skin and skeletal system lesions of european pond turtles (Emys orbicularis) from natural habitats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aleksić-Kovačević, Sanja; Ozvegy, József; Krstić, Nikola; Rusvai, Miklós; Jakab, Csaba; Stanimirović, Zoran; Becskei, Zsolt

    2014-06-01

    Water pollution is known to play an important role in the pathogenesis of plastron, carapace and skin diseases of turtles. In this study, a total of 150 European pond turtles (Emys orbicularis) of different age and both sexes, originating from natural habitats in Serbia, were examined for morphological changes of the skin, plastron, carapace and skeletal system. The turtles were taken out from their natural habitats in Lake Ludas, Lake Palic and Lake Tresetiste. After artificial hibernation, they were subjected to detailed examination, sampled and treated, and finally returned into their natural habitat. Biopsies from the skin and shell were subjected to histopathological examination and microbiological analysis. X-ray scanning was also performed to detect changes in the skeletal system. Macroscopic changes of the skin, most frequently degenerative, inflammatory or neoplastic diseases, were diagnosed in 49.33% of the turtles examined. Dermatitis of different origin and form was the most prominent histopathological finding (28.00%). In the plastron, inflammatory and degenerative processes were frequently found. Osteopathy and mechanical injuries were the dominant findings. Macroscopic changes of the plastron, carapace and skeletal system were diagnosed in 67.33% of the turtles examined. Using X-ray scanning, generalised osteopathy, anomalies and malformations of different aetiology were also diagnosed on the tail and legs. Microbiological examinations showed the presence of a variety of bacterial and fungal agents, either primary pathogens or potential polluters, which invaded the skin and shell, or were present in cloacal swab samples. Bacterial infection was diagnosed in 76.66% of the turtles, first of all in those with skin and shell necrosis. Mycoses were diagnosed in 33.33% of the animals.

  13. Removal of nonnative slider turtles (Trachemys scripta) and effects on native Sonora mud turtles (Kinosternon sonoriense) at Montezuma Well, Yavapai County, Arizona

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drost, Charles A.; Lovich, Jeffrey E.; Madrak, Sheila V.; Monatesti, A.J.

    2011-01-01

    The National Park Service (NPS) estimates that 234 national parks contain nonnative, invasive animal species that are of management concern (National Park Service, 2004). Understanding and controlling invasive species is thus an important priority within the NPS (National Park Service, 1996). The slider turtle (Trachemys scripta) is one such invasive species. Native to the Southeastern United States (Ernst and Lovich, 2009), as well as Mexico, Central America, and portions of South America (Ernst and Barbour, 1989), the slider turtle has become established throughout the continental United States and in other locations around the world (Burke and others, 2000). Slider turtle introductions have been suspected to be a threat to native turtles (Holland 1994; da Silva and Blasco, 1995), however, there has not been serious study of their effects until recently. Cadi and Joly (2003) found that slider turtles outcompeted European pond turtles (Emys orbicularis) for preferred basking sites under controlled experimental conditions, demonstrating for the first time direct competition for resources between a native and an exotic turtle species. Similarly, Spinks and others (2003) suggested that competition for basking sites between slider turtles and Pacific pond turtles (Actinemys marmorata) was partly responsible for the decline of Pacific pond turtles observed at their study site in California. They concluded that the impact of introduced slider turtles was 'almost certainly negative' for the western pond turtle. In the most recent critical study to assess the effects of introduced slider turtles on native turtles, Cadi and Joly (2004) demonstrated that European pond turtles that were kept under experimentally controlled conditions with slider turtles lost body weight and exhibited higher rates of mortality than in control groups of turtles comprised of the same species, demonstrating potential population-level effects on native species. Slider turtles are not native to

  14. Do roads reduce painted turtle (Chrysemys picta populations?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexandra Dorland

    Full Text Available Road mortality is thought to be a leading cause of turtle population decline. However, empirical evidence of the direct negative effects of road mortality on turtle population abundance is lacking. The purpose of this study was to provide a strong test of the prediction that roads reduce turtle population abundance. While controlling for potentially confounding variables, we compared relative abundance of painted turtles (Chrysemys picta in 20 ponds in Eastern Ontario, 10 as close as possible to high traffic roads (Road sites and 10 as far as possible from any major roads (No Road sites. There was no significant effect of roads on painted turtle relative abundance. Furthermore, our data do not support other predictions of the road mortality hypothesis; we observed neither a higher relative frequency of males to females at Road sites than at No Road sites, nor a lower average body size of turtles at Road than at No Road sites. We speculate that, although roads can cause substantial adult mortality in turtles, other factors, such as release from predation on adults and/or nests close to roads counter the negative effect of road mortality in some populations. We suggest that road mitigation for painted turtles can be limited to locations where turtles are forced to migrate across high traffic roads due, for example, to destruction of local nesting habitat or seasonal drying of ponds. This conclusion should not be extrapolated to other species of turtles, where road mortality could have a larger population-level effect than on painted turtles.

  15. Do roads reduce painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) populations?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dorland, Alexandra; Rytwinski, Trina; Fahrig, Lenore

    2014-01-01

    Road mortality is thought to be a leading cause of turtle population decline. However, empirical evidence of the direct negative effects of road mortality on turtle population abundance is lacking. The purpose of this study was to provide a strong test of the prediction that roads reduce turtle population abundance. While controlling for potentially confounding variables, we compared relative abundance of painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) in 20 ponds in Eastern Ontario, 10 as close as possible to high traffic roads (Road sites) and 10 as far as possible from any major roads (No Road sites). There was no significant effect of roads on painted turtle relative abundance. Furthermore, our data do not support other predictions of the road mortality hypothesis; we observed neither a higher relative frequency of males to females at Road sites than at No Road sites, nor a lower average body size of turtles at Road than at No Road sites. We speculate that, although roads can cause substantial adult mortality in turtles, other factors, such as release from predation on adults and/or nests close to roads counter the negative effect of road mortality in some populations. We suggest that road mitigation for painted turtles can be limited to locations where turtles are forced to migrate across high traffic roads due, for example, to destruction of local nesting habitat or seasonal drying of ponds. This conclusion should not be extrapolated to other species of turtles, where road mortality could have a larger population-level effect than on painted turtles.

  16. Seasonal and diel environmental conditions predict western pond turtle (Emys marmorata) behavior at a perennial and an ephemeral stream in Sequoia National Park, California

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruso, Gabrielle; Meyer, Erik; Das, Adrian J.

    2017-01-01

    Managers making decisions may benefit from a well-informed understanding of a species' population size and trends. Given the cryptic nature and habitat characteristics of the western pond turtle (Emys marmorata), however, imperfect detection may be high and population estimates are frequently varied and unreliable. As a case study to investigate this issue, we used temperature dataloggers to examine turtle behavior at 2 long-term monitoring sites with different hydrological characteristics in Sequoia National Park, California, to determine if common stream-survey techniques are consistent with site-specific turtle behavior. Sycamore Creek is an intermittent stream that dries up every summer while the North Fork Kaweah River flows year-round. We found that while turtles spent most of the recorded time in the water (55% in Sycamore Creek and 82% in the North Fork Kaweah River), the timing of traditional surveys only coincided with the turtles' aquatic activity in the North Fork Kaweah River. At Sycamore Creek, turtles were most likely to be in the water at night. In contrast, failure to detect turtles in North Fork Kaweah River is likely owing to the larger size and complexity of the underwater habitat. In both streams, turtles were also more likely to be in the water in the weeks leading up to important changes in hydroperiods. Our findings illustrate the effects that differences in water permanence can have on turtle behavior within the same watershed and how phenotypic plasticity may then affect detection during surveys. Our study highlights the importance of tailoring survey practices to the site-specific behavioral traits of the target species.

  17. Intraspecific variation of the Green Turtle, Chelonia mydas (Cheloniidae), in the foraging area of Gorgona Natural National Park (Colombian Pacific)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sampson, Laura; Payan, Luis Fernando; Amorocho, Diego Fernando; Seminoff, Jeffrey A; Giraldo, Alan

    2014-01-01

    The size distribution and body condition of the two morphotypes of green turtle (Chelonia mydas) foraging in Gorgona Natural National Park (GNNP) in the Colombian Pacific was assessed from 2003 to 2012. Measurements of straight carapace length (SCL), curved carapace length (CCL), weight, and body condition of 1,023 turtles captured on the GNNP reefs were recorded. More black turtles (n = 747) than yellow turtles (n = 276) were captured, all of them juveniles. Black turtles were significantly larger and heavier than yellow turtles. The size of recruitment to the neritic zone was 40.0-49.9 cm SCL for both morphotypes, but there were more yellow than black turtles in this size class, indicating a difference in the recruitment pattern. The body condition index of yellow turtles was significantly higher than that of black turtles, which could indicate differences in resource use. Based on our results, we suggest that GNNP might function as a recruitment area for yellow turtles, which arrive at smaller sizes and as part of a coastal migratory route for black turtles, which arrive at larger sizes and maintain residence at this location for an unknown period of time.

  18. The advantages of going large: genome-wide SNPs clarify the complex population history and systematics of the threatened western pond turtle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spinks, Phillip Q; Thomson, Robert C; Shaffer, H Bradley

    2014-05-01

    As the field of phylogeography has matured, it has become clear that analyses of one or a few genes may reveal more about the history of those genes than the populations and species that are the targets of study. To alleviate these concerns, the discipline has moved towards larger analyses of more individuals and more genes, although little attention has been paid to the qualitative or quantitative gains that such increases in scale and scope may yield. Here, we increase the number of individuals and markers by an order of magnitude over previously published work to comprehensively assess the phylogeographical history of a well-studied declining species, the western pond turtle (Emys marmorata). We present a new analysis of 89 independent nuclear SNP markers and one mitochondrial gene sequence scored for rangewide sampling of >900 individuals, and compare these to smaller-scale, rangewide genetic and morphological analyses. Our enlarged SNP data fundamentally revise our understanding of evolutionary history for this lineage. Our results indicate that the gains from greatly increasing both the number of markers and individuals are substantial and worth the effort, particularly for species of high conservation concern such as the pond turtle, where accurate assessments of population history are a prerequisite for effective management. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  19. Effect of dietary cadmium on fitness, growth, genotoxicity and accumulation in the Yellow-spotted River Turtle, Podocnemis unifilis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Frossard, Alexandra; Ferreira, Paulo D. [Universidade Vila Velha, Vila Velha, ES (Brazil); Carneiro, Maria T.W.D. [Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Vitória, ES (Brazil); Heringer, Otávio A. [Universidade Vila Velha, Vila Velha, ES (Brazil); Tommasi Analítica, Vila Velha, ES (Brazil); Endringer, Denise C. [Universidade Vila Velha, Vila Velha, ES (Brazil); Gomes, Levy C., E-mail: levy.gomes@uvv.br [Universidade Vila Velha, Vila Velha, ES (Brazil)

    2013-09-15

    The aim of this study was to expose the Yellow-spotted River Turtle, Podocnemis unifilis, to dietary cadmium (Cd) contamination. The P. unifilis were fed with a Cd contaminated diet (590 µg g{sup −1}) or a control diet for 30 and 60 days. After the Cd feeding period, the locomotor performance and specific growth rate were assessed. Blood samples were drawn for micronuclei analysis and tissues were collected to analyze the Cd concentration. Dietary Cd influenced the fitness of turtles at 30 days (righting time 752 s), but not after 60 days (righting time 43.67 s). Micronuclei in erythrocytes (12 ± 5‰) were significantly greater in contaminated turtle at 60 days. Cd accumulation is found in gut, intestine, kidney, fat, liver and blood of animals from contaminated diet group and the Cd concentration of almost all the tissues had increased following the 30–60-day feeding period. Cd does not impair animal the fitness after sixty days of dietary treatment, but it does can cause an accumulation on P. unifilis.

  20. Effect of dietary cadmium on fitness, growth, genotoxicity and accumulation in the Yellow-spotted River Turtle, Podocnemis unifilis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Frossard, Alexandra; Ferreira, Paulo D.; Carneiro, Maria T.W.D.; Heringer, Otávio A.; Endringer, Denise C.; Gomes, Levy C.

    2013-01-01

    The aim of this study was to expose the Yellow-spotted River Turtle, Podocnemis unifilis, to dietary cadmium (Cd) contamination. The P. unifilis were fed with a Cd contaminated diet (590 µg g −1 ) or a control diet for 30 and 60 days. After the Cd feeding period, the locomotor performance and specific growth rate were assessed. Blood samples were drawn for micronuclei analysis and tissues were collected to analyze the Cd concentration. Dietary Cd influenced the fitness of turtles at 30 days (righting time 752 s), but not after 60 days (righting time 43.67 s). Micronuclei in erythrocytes (12 ± 5‰) were significantly greater in contaminated turtle at 60 days. Cd accumulation is found in gut, intestine, kidney, fat, liver and blood of animals from contaminated diet group and the Cd concentration of almost all the tissues had increased following the 30–60-day feeding period. Cd does not impair animal the fitness after sixty days of dietary treatment, but it does can cause an accumulation on P. unifilis

  1. Environmental Assessment for the MC-12 Training Squadron Beddown

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-03-01

    Chelydra serpentina), eastern mud turtle (Kinosternon subrubrum), and yellow- bellied slider ( Trachemys scripta scipta). 3.2.5.2 Aquatic Communities...mountain garter snake (Thamnophis elegans elegans ), western pond turtle (Emys marmorata), western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis

  2. Msx genes are expressed in the carapacial ridge of turtle shell: a study of the European pond turtle, Emys orbicularis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vincent, Christine; Bontoux, Martine; Le Douarin, Nicole M; Pieau, Claude; Monsoro-Burq, Anne-Hélène

    2003-09-01

    The turtle shell forms by extensive ossification of dermis ventrally and dorsally. The carapacial ridge (CR) controls early dorsal shell formation and is thought to play a similar role in shell growth as the apical ectodermal ridge during limb development. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying carapace development are still unknown. Msx genes are involved in the development of limb mesenchyme and of various skeletal structures. In particular, precocious Msx expression is recorded in skeletal precursors that develop close to the ectoderm, such as vertebral spinous processes or skull. Here, we have studied the embryonic expression of Msx genes in the European pond turtle, Emys orbicularis. The overall Msx expression in head, limb, and trunk is similar to what is observed in other vertebrates. We have focused on the CR area and pre-skeletal shell condensations. The CR expresses Msx genes transiently, in a pattern similar to that of fgf10. In the future carapace domain, the dermis located dorsal to the spinal cord expresses Msx genes, as in other vertebrates, but we did not see expansion of this expression in the dermis located more laterally, on top of the dermomyotomes. In the ventral plastron, although the dermal osseous condensations form in the embryonic Msx-positive somatopleura, we did not observe enhanced Msx expression around these elements. These observations may indicate that common mechanisms participate in limb bud and CR early development, but that pre-differentiation steps differ between shell and other skeletal structures and involve other gene activities than that of Msx genes.

  3. Metal accumulation and evaluation of effects in a freshwater turtle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Shuangying; Halbrook, Richard S; Sparling, Donald W; Colombo, Robert

    2011-11-01

    A variety of contaminants have been detected in aquatic and terrestrial environments around the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP), Kentucky. The presence of these contaminants at the PGDP may pose a risk to biota, yet little is known about the bioaccumulation of contaminants and associated effects in wildlife, especially in aquatic turtles. The current study was initiated to evaluate: (1) the accumulation of heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Hg) in aquatic ecosystems associated with the PGDP using red-eared slider turtle (Trachemys scripta elegans) as biomonitors; (2) maternal transfer of heavy metals; and (3) potential hematological and immunological effects resulting from metal accumulation. A total of 26 turtles were collected from 7 ponds located south, adjacent, and north of the PGDP. Liver Cu concentrations were significantly different among ponds and Cu concentrations in eggs were positively correlated with female Cu concentrations in kidney. The concentrations of heavy metals measured in turtle tissues and eggs were low and, based on previous studies of reptiles and established avian threshold levels of heavy metals, did not appear to have adverse effects on aquatic turtles inhabiting ponds near the PGDP. However, total white blood cell counts, heterophil to lymphocyte ratio, and phytohemagglutinin stimulation index were correlated with metal concentrations. Because other factors may affect the hematological and immunological indices, further investigation is needed to determine if these effects are associated with metal exposure, other contaminants, or disease.

  4. A comparison of turtle sampling methods in a small lake in Standing Stone State Park, Overton County, Tennessee

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weber, A.; Layzer, James B.

    2011-01-01

    We used basking traps and hoop nets to sample turtles in Standing Stone Lake at 2-week intervals from May to November 2006. In alternate weeks, we conducted visual basking surveys. We collected and observed four species of turtles: spiny softshell (Apalone spinifera), northern map turtle (Graptemys geographica), pond slider (Trachernys scripta), and snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina). Relative abundances varied greatly among sampling methods. To varying degrees, all methods were species selective. Population estimates from mark and recaptures of three species, basking counts, and hoop net catches indicated that pond sliders were the most abundant species, but northern map turtles were 8× more abundant than pond sliders in basking trap catches. We saw relatively few snapping turtles basking even though population estimates indicated they were the second most abundant species. Populations of all species were dominated by adult individuals. Sex ratios of three species differed significantly from 1:1. Visual surveys were the most efficient method for determining the presence of species, but capture methods were necessary to obtain size and sex data.

  5. Mercury exposure associated with altered plasma thyroid hormones in the declining western pond turtle (Emys marmorata) from California mountain streams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meyer, Erik; Eagles-Smith, Collin A.; Sparling, Donald; Blumenshine, Steve

    2014-01-01

    Mercury (Hg) is a global threat to wildlife health that can impair many physiological processes. Mercury has well-documented endocrine activity; however, little work on the effects of Hg on the thyroid hormones triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) in aquatic wildlife exists despite the fact that it is a sensitive endpoint of contaminant exposure. An emerging body of evidence points to the toxicological susceptibility of aquatic reptiles to Hg exposure. We examined the endocrine disrupting potential of Hg in the western pond turtle (Emys marmorata), a long-lived reptile that is in decline throughout California and the Pacific Northwest. We measured total Hg (THg) concentrations in red blood cells (RBCs) and plasma T3 and T4 of turtles from several locations in California that have been impacted by historic gold mining. Across all turtles from all sites, the geometric mean and standard error THg concentration was 0.805 ± 0.025 μg/g dry weight. Sampling region and mass were the strongest determinants of RBC THg. Relationships between RBC THg and T3 and T4 were consistent with Hg-induced disruption of T4 deiodination, a mechanism of toxicity that may cause excess T4 levels and depressed concentrations of biologically active T3.

  6. Mercury exposure associated with altered plasma thyroid hormones in the declining western pond turtle (Emys marmorata) from California mountain streams.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meyer, Erik; Eagles-Smith, Collin A; Sparling, Donald; Blumenshine, Steve

    2014-01-01

    Mercury (Hg) is a global threat to wildlife health that can impair many physiological processes. Mercury has well-documented endocrine activity; however, little work on the effects of Hg on the thyroid hormones triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) in aquatic wildlife exists despite the fact that it is a sensitive endpoint of contaminant exposure. An emerging body of evidence points to the toxicological susceptibility of aquatic reptiles to Hg exposure. We examined the endocrine disrupting potential of Hg in the western pond turtle (Emys marmorata), a long-lived reptile that is in decline throughout California and the Pacific Northwest. We measured total Hg (THg) concentrations in red blood cells (RBCs) and plasma T3 and T4 of turtles from several locations in California that have been impacted by historic gold mining. Across all turtles from all sites, the geometric mean and standard error THg concentration was 0.805 ± 0.025 μg/g dry weight. Sampling region and mass were the strongest determinants of RBC THg. Relationships between RBC THg and T3 and T4 were consistent with Hg-induced disruption of T4 deiodination, a mechanism of toxicity that may cause excess T4 levels and depressed concentrations of biologically active T3.

  7. Temperature Effects on Development and Phenotype in a Free-Living Population of Western Pond Turtles (Emys marmorata).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christie, Nicole E; Geist, Nicholas R

    Changes in temperature regimes are occurring globally due to climate change as well as habitat alterations. Temperatures are expected to continue to rise in the future, along with a greater degree of climatic instability. Such changes could have potentially serious consequences for oviparous ectotherms, especially those with temperature-dependent sex determination. To investigate the effects of temperature on a range of developmental phenomena in a population of western pond turtles (Emys marmorata), we placed temperature sensors on top of each layer of eggs within nests and recorded temperatures hourly through the first 2-3 mo of incubation. These methods allowed us to look at in situ nest temperatures with high resolution. We found that mean incubation temperatures were similar between different nests and at different levels within nests but that incubation temperature fluctuations and maximum incubation temperatures differed greatly in both cases. The hatchling turtles were more likely to be female if they spent 30% or more of their sex-determining period of incubation above 29°C. Hatching success was best predicted by the maximum incubation temperature. We also found that incubation duration tended to be shorter as the mean temperature increased. However, exposure to either extremely high or low temperatures extended incubation times.

  8. Hematology and clinical chemistry of adult yellow-headed temple turtles (Hieremys annandalii) in Thailand.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chansue, Nantarika; Sailasuta, Achariya; Tangtrongpiros, Jirasak; Wangnaitham, Supradit; Assawawongkasem, Nongnut

    2011-06-01

    Yellow-headed temple turtles (YHT), Hieremys annandalii, native to Thailand, are protected from exploitation under the Wild Animal Reservation and Protection Act, also listed under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature red list. The objectives of this study were to describe quantitative, morphologic, and cytochemical features of blood cells and plasma biochemical analytes of clinically healthy YHT. Blood samples were collected from 40 adult YHT from October 2007 to February 2008. Hematologic and biochemical analyses, cytochemical staining, and ultrastructural evaluation were performed using standard methods. Hematologic results (mean ± SD) included: RBC count, 0.275 ± .094 × 10(6) cells/μL; WBC count, 11.7 ± 6.6 × 10(3) cells/μL; heterophils, 29.4 ± 6.9%; eosinophils, 23.7 ± 5.3%; basophils, 21.2 ± 1.9%; lymphocytes, 14.8 ± 5.9%; and azurophils, 10.7 ± 5.3%. Erythrocytes stained dark red with peroxidase-staining. Periodic acid-Schiff stain could not differentiate between thrombocytes and lymphocytes. Thrombocytes contained cytoplasmic vacuoles, similar to mammalian platelets and those of birds and snakes. Heterophils and eosinophils were similar in structure and cytochemical staining characteristics to those of other turtles and reptiles. Structure of basophils was similar to avian basophils. Lymphocytes and azurophils had similar cytochemical staining compared with mammalian lymphocytes and monocytes. Mean MCHC, WBC counts, absolute azurophil counts, and plasma alanine aminotransferase activity were higher in male turtles than in females. Blood characteristics of YHT are species-specific, and this study can be served as a reference for future clinical studies and medical care of YHT. ©2011 American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology.

  9. Predator-prey interactions between a recent invader, the Chinese sleeper (Perccottus glenii and the European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis: a case study from Lithuania

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vytautas Rakauskas

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The European pond turtle, Emys orbicularis, is a critically endangered species in most European countries. Habitat degradation and fragmentation are considered the main reasons for the decline of E. orbicularis. However, the spread of invasive species may also contribute to the disappearance of E. orbicularis populations. We examined the range overlap and predator-prey interactions between the invasive Chinese sleeper, Perccottus glenii, and E. orbicularis through controlled experiments and in field studies. Field surveys showed that both species occupied similar habitats. Predator-prey experiments suggested that newly hatched turtles are resistant to P. glenii predation. Conversely, adults of E. orbicularis consumed juvenile P. glenii even when other food sources were available. Overall, these findings suggested that E. orbicularis is not among the potential prey organisms in the diet of the invasive P. glenii, and that this fish does not directly contribute to the decline of E. orbicularis in Europe.

  10. A Mycoplasma species of Emydidae turtles in the northeastern USA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ossiboff, Robert J; Raphael, Bonnie L; Ammazzalorso, Alyssa D; Seimon, Tracie A; Niederriter, Holly; Zarate, Brian; Newton, Alisa L; McAloose, Denise

    2015-04-01

    Mycoplasma infections can cause significant morbidity and mortality in captive and wild chelonians. As part of a health assessment of endangered bog turtles (Glyptemys muhlenbergii) in the northeastern US, choanal and cloacal swabs from these and other sympatric species, including spotted turtles (Clemmys guttata), eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina), wood turtles (Glyptemys insculpta), and common snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) from 10 sampling sites in the states (US) of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, were tested by PCR for Mycoplasma. Of 108 turtles tested, 63 (58.3%) were PCR positive for Mycoplasma including 58 of 83 bog turtles (70%), three of three (100%) eastern box turtles, and two of 11 (18%) spotted turtles; all snapping turtles (n = 7) and wood turtles (n = 4) were negative. Sequence analysis of portions of the 16S-23S intergenic spacer region and the 16S ribosomal RNA gene revealed a single, unclassified species of Mycoplasma that has been previously reported in eastern box turtles, ornate box turtles (Terrapene ornata ornata), western pond turtles (Emys marmorata), and red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans). We document a high incidence of Mycoplasma, in the absence of clinical disease, in wild emydid turtles. These findings, along with wide distribution of the identified Mycoplasma sp. across a broad geographic region, suggest this bacterium is likely a commensal inhabitant of bog turtles, and possibly other species of emydid turtles, in the northeastern US.

  11. Intraspecific variation of the Green Turtle, Chelonia mydas (Cheloniidae), in the foraging area of Gorgona Natural National Park (Colombian Pacific); Variacion intraespecifica de la Tortuga Verde Chelonia mydas (Cheloniidae) en el area de forrajeo del Parque Nacional Natural Gorgona (Pacifico Colombiano)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sampson, Laura; Payan, Luis Fernando; Amorocho, Diego Fernando; Seminoff, Jeffrey A; Giraldo, Alan

    2014-07-01

    The size distribution and body condition of the two morphotypes of green turtle (Chelonia mydas) foraging in Gorgona Natural National Park (GNNP) in the Colombian Pacific was assessed from 2003 to 2012. Measurements of straight carapace length (SCL), curved carapace length (CCL), weight, and body condition of 1,023 turtles captured on the GNNP reefs were recorded. More black turtles (n = 747) than yellow turtles (n = 276) were captured, all of them juveniles. Black turtles were significantly larger and heavier than yellow turtles. The size of recruitment to the neritic zone was 40.0-49.9 cm SCL for both morphotypes, but there were more yellow than black turtles in this size class, indicating a difference in the recruitment pattern. The body condition index of yellow turtles was significantly higher than that of black turtles, which could indicate differences in resource use. Based on our results, we suggest that GNNP might function as a recruitment area for yellow turtles, which arrive at smaller sizes and as part of a coastal migratory route for black turtles, which arrive at larger sizes and maintain residence at this location for an unknown period of time.

  12. The Influences of Soil Characteristics on Nest-Site Selection in Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Page, R.

    2017-12-01

    A variety of animals dig nests and lay their eggs in soil, leaving them to incubate and hatch without assistance from the parents. Nesting habitat is important for these organisms many of which exhibit temperature dependent sex determination (TSD) whereby the incubation temperature determines the sex of each hatchling. However, suitable nesting habitat may be limited due to anthropogenic activities and global temperature increases. Soil thermal properties are critical to these organisms and are positively correlated with water retention and soil carbon; carbon-rich soils result in higher incubation temperatures. We investigated nest-site selection in painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) inhabiting an anthropogenic pond in south central Pennsylvania. We surveyed for turtle nests and documented location, depth, width, temperature, canopy coverage, clutch size, and hatch success for a total of 31 turtle nests. To address the influence of soil carbon and particle size on nest selection, we analyzed samples collected from: 1) actual nests that were depredated, 2) false nests, incomplete nests aborted during digging prior to nest completion, and 3) randomized locations. Soil samples were separated into coarse, medium, and fine grain size fractions through a stack of sieves. Samples were combusted in a total carbon analyzer to measure weight percent organic carbon. We found that anthropogenic activity at this site has created homogenous, sandy, compacted soils at the uppermost layer that may limit females' access to appropriate nesting habitat. Turtle nesting activity was limited to a linear region north of the pond and was constrained by an impassable rail line. Relative to other studies, turtle nests were notably shallow (5.8±0.9 cm) and placed close to the pond. Compared to false nests and random locations, turtle-selected sites averaged greater coarse grains (35% compared to 20.24 and 20.57%) and less fine grains (47% compared to 59 and 59, respectively). Despite

  13. Who are the important predators of sea turtle nests at Wreck Rock beach?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juan Lei

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Excessive sea turtle nest predation is a problem for conservation management of sea turtle populations. This study assessed predation on nests of the endangered loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta at Wreck Rock beach adjacent to Deepwater National Park in Southeast Queensland, Australia after a control program for feral foxes was instigated. The presence of predators on the nesting dune was evaluated by tracking plots (2 × 1 m every 100 m along the dune front. There were 21 (2014–2015 and 41 (2015–2016 plots established along the dune, and these were monitored for predator tracks daily over three consecutive months in both nesting seasons. Predator activities at nests were also recorded by the presence of tracks on top of nests until hatchlings emerged. In addition, camera traps were set to record the predator activity around selected nests. The tracks of the fox (Vulpes vulpes and goanna (Varanus spp were found on tracking plots. Tracking plots, nest tracks and camera traps indicated goanna abundance varied strongly between years. Goannas were widely distributed along the beach and had a Passive Activity Index (PAI (0.31 in 2014–2015 and 0.16 in 2015–2016 approximately seven times higher than that of foxes (PAI 0.04 in 2014–2015 and 0.02 in 2015–2016. Five hundred and twenty goanna nest visitation events were recorded by tracks but no fox tracks were found at turtle nests. Camera trap data indicated that yellow-spotted goannas (Varanus panoptes appeared at loggerhead turtle nests more frequently than lace monitors (V. varius did, and further that lace monitors only predated nests previously opened by yellow-spotted goannas. No foxes were recorded at nests with camera traps. This study suggests that large male yellow-spotted goannas are the major predator of sea turtle nests at the Wreck Rock beach nesting aggregation and that goanna activity varies between years.

  14. Who are the important predators of sea turtle nests at Wreck Rock beach?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lei, Juan; Booth, David T

    2017-01-01

    Excessive sea turtle nest predation is a problem for conservation management of sea turtle populations. This study assessed predation on nests of the endangered loggerhead sea turtle ( Caretta caretta ) at Wreck Rock beach adjacent to Deepwater National Park in Southeast Queensland, Australia after a control program for feral foxes was instigated. The presence of predators on the nesting dune was evaluated by tracking plots (2 × 1 m) every 100 m along the dune front. There were 21 (2014-2015) and 41 (2015-2016) plots established along the dune, and these were monitored for predator tracks daily over three consecutive months in both nesting seasons. Predator activities at nests were also recorded by the presence of tracks on top of nests until hatchlings emerged. In addition, camera traps were set to record the predator activity around selected nests. The tracks of the fox ( Vulpes vulpes ) and goanna ( Varanus spp ) were found on tracking plots. Tracking plots, nest tracks and camera traps indicated goanna abundance varied strongly between years. Goannas were widely distributed along the beach and had a Passive Activity Index (PAI) (0.31 in 2014-2015 and 0.16 in 2015-2016) approximately seven times higher than that of foxes (PAI 0.04 in 2014-2015 and 0.02 in 2015-2016). Five hundred and twenty goanna nest visitation events were recorded by tracks but no fox tracks were found at turtle nests. Camera trap data indicated that yellow-spotted goannas ( Varanus panoptes ) appeared at loggerhead turtle nests more frequently than lace monitors ( V. varius ) did, and further that lace monitors only predated nests previously opened by yellow-spotted goannas. No foxes were recorded at nests with camera traps. This study suggests that large male yellow-spotted goannas are the major predator of sea turtle nests at the Wreck Rock beach nesting aggregation and that goanna activity varies between years.

  15. Genomic organization and identification of promoter regions for the BDNF gene in the pond turtle Trachemys scripta elegans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ambigapathy, Ganesh; Zheng, Zhaoqing; Keifer, Joyce

    2014-08-01

    Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is an important regulator of neuronal development and synaptic function. The BDNF gene undergoes significant activity-dependent regulation during learning. Here, we identified the BDNF promoter regions, transcription start sites, and potential regulatory sequences for BDNF exons I-III that may contribute to activity-dependent gene and protein expression in the pond turtle Trachemys scripta elegans (tBDNF). By using transfection of BDNF promoter/luciferase plasmid constructs into human neuroblastoma SHSY5Y cells and mouse embryonic fibroblast NIH3T3 cells, we identified the basal regulatory activity of promoter sequences located upstream of each tBDNF exon, designated as pBDNFI-III. Further, through chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays, we detected CREB binding directly to exon I and exon III promoters, while BHLHB2, but not CREB, binds within the exon II promoter. Elucidation of the promoter regions and regulatory protein binding sites in the tBDNF gene is essential for understanding the regulatory mechanisms that control tBDNF gene expression.

  16. Complete mitochondrial genomes of the yellow-bellied slider turtle Trachemys scripta scripta and anoxia tolerant red-eared slider Trachemys scripta elegans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Danna; Fang, Xindong; Storey, Kenneth B; Zhang, Yongpu; Zhang, Jiayong

    2016-05-01

    The complete mitochondrial genomes of the yellow-bellied slider (Trachemys scripta scripta) and anoxia tolerant red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) turtles were sequenced to analyze gene arrangement. The complete mt genomes of T. s. scripta and elegans were circular molecules of 16,791 bp and 16,810 bp in length, respectively, and included an A + 1 frameshift insertion in ND3 and ND4L genes. The AT content of the overall base composition of scripta and elegans was 61.2%. Nucleotide sequence divergence of the mt-genome (p distance) between scripta and elegans was 0.4%. A detailed comparison between the mitochondrial genomes of the two subspecies is shown.

  17. Replication and persistence of VHSV IVb in freshwater turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goodwin, Andrew E; Merry, Gwenn E

    2011-05-09

    With the emergence of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) strain IVb in the Great Lakes of North America, hatchery managers have become concerned that this important pathogen could be transmitted by animals other than fish. Turtles are likely candidates because they are poikilotherms that feed on dead fish, but there are very few reports of rhabdovirus infections in reptiles and no reports of the fish rhabdoviruses in animals other than teleosts. We injected common snapping turtles Chelydra serpentine and red-eared sliders Trachemys scripta elegans intraperitoneally with 10(4) median tissue culture infectious dose (TCID50) of VHSV-IVb and 21 d later were able to detect the virus by quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase PCR (qrt-RTPCR) in pools of kidney, liver, and spleen. In a second experiment, snapping turtles, red-eared sliders, yellow-bellied sliders T. scripta scripta, and northern map turtles Grapetemys geographica at 14 degrees C were allowed to feed on tissues from bluegill dying of VHSV IVb disease. Turtle kidney, spleen, and brain pools were not positive by qrt-RTPCR on Day 3 post feeding, but were positive on Days 10 and 20. Map turtles on Day 20 post-feeding were positive by both qrt-RTPCR and by cell culture. Our work shows that turtles that consume infected fish are a possible vector for VHSV IVb, and that the fish rhabdoviruses may have a broader host range than previously suspected.

  18. The western pond turtle (Clemmys marmorata) in the Mojave River, California, USA: Highly adapted survivor or tenuous relict?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lovich, J.; Meyer, K.

    2002-01-01

    Aspects of the ecology of populations of the western pond turtle Clemmys marmorata were investigated in the Mojave River of the central Mojave Desert, California, U.S.A. One population occupied man-made ponds and the other occurred in natural ponds in the flood plain of the Mojave River. Both habitats are severely degraded as a result of ground water depletion from human activities along the river and one is infested with the exotic shrub saltcedar Tamarix ramosissima. Mean female carapace length (CL) was significantly greater (14.4 cm) than that of males (13.7 cm). Live juveniles were not detected during the period of study. Shelled eggs were visible in X-radiographs from 26 May to 14 July. Mean clutch size was 4.46 and ranged from 3 to 6 eggs. Clutch size did not vary between 1998 and 1999 but was significantly correlated with CL for both years combined, increasing at the rate of 0.548 eggs/cm CL. Gravid female CL ranged from 13.3-16.0 cm. Some females nested in both years. Mean X-ray egg width (21.8 mm) was not significantly correlated with CL or clutch size. X-ray egg width differed more among clutches than within, whether including CL as a co-variate or not. Nesting migrations occurred from 6 June to 8 July with minimum round trip distances ranging from 17.5-585 m with a mean of 195 m. Mean estimated time of departure as measured at the drift fence was 18:13. Most females returned to the ponds in the early morning. Nesting migrations required females to be out of the water for estimated periods of 0.83 to 86 h. The destination of nesting females was typically fluvial sand bars in the channel of the dry riverbed. Overall, the ecology of C. marmorata in the Mojave River is very similar to that reported for populations in less severe habitats along the west coast of the United States. Notable exceptions include long nesting migrations to sandbars in the dry river channel, a possible result of human modifications to the environment, and an apparent lack of

  19. Habitat characteristics of nesting areas and of predated nests in a Mediterranean population of the European pond turtle, Emys orbicularis galloitalica

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marco A.L. Zuffi

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available one of the largest population of Emys orbicularis galloitalica of central Italy inhabits the canal system wet areas within a natural protected park. Features of nesting habitats, nest structure, and predation patterns of 209 nests of a large population of the European pond turtle are here presented and analysed. Nest sites were characterised by sunny bushy areas in strip habitat, digged along north-south oriented canals, on average with about 26% of the area covered by vegetation, less than one meter distant from 30 cm height bushes, at about 11 m from water and at about 13 m distance from wooded areas, 28 m away from a road. Principal Component and discriminant analyses were used on 20 selected variables in order to reduce the number of physical variables, and indicate that canal border, strip habitat, and canal orientation are grouping variables, that correctly classified 41.6%, 66.5%, and 100 % respectively of nest presence.

  20. Coupling GIS spatial analysis and Ensemble Niche Modelling to investigate climate change-related threats to the Sicilian pond turtle Emys trinacris, an endangered species from the Mediterranean

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mattia Iannella

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available The pond turtle Emys trinacris is an endangered endemic species of Sicily showing a fragmented distribution throughout the main island. In this study, we applied “Ensemble Niche Modelling”, combining more classical statistical techniques as Generalized Linear Models and Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines with machine-learning approaches as Boosted Regression Trees and Maxent, to model the potential distribution of the species under current and future climatic conditions. Moreover, a “gap analysis” performed on both the species’ presence sites and the predictions from the Ensemble Models is proposed to integrate outputs from these models, in order to assess the conservation status of this threatened species in the context of biodiversity management. For this aim, four “Representative Concentration Pathways”, corresponding to different greenhouse gases emissions trajectories were considered to project the obtained models to both 2050 and 2070. Areas lost, gained or remaining stable for the target species in the projected models were calculated. E. trinacris’ potential distribution resulted to be significantly dependent upon precipitation-linked variables, mainly precipitation of wettest and coldest quarter. Future negative effects for the conservation of this species, because of more unstable precipitation patterns and extreme meteorological events, emerged from our analyses. Further, the sites currently inhabited by E. trinacris are, for more than a half, out of the Protected Areas network, highlighting an inadequate management of the species by the authorities responsible for its protection. Our results, therefore, suggest that in the next future the Sicilian pond turtle will need the utmost attention by the scientific community to avoid the imminent risk of extinction. Finally, the gap analysis performed in GIS environment resulted to be a very informative post-modeling technique, potentially applicable to the management

  1. Light pollution affects nesting behavior of loggerhead turtles and predation risk of nests and hatchlings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silva, Elton; Marco, Adolfo; da Graça, Jesemine; Pérez, Héctor; Abella, Elena; Patino-Martinez, Juan; Martins, Samir; Almeida, Corrine

    2017-08-01

    The introduction of artificial light into wildlife habitats is a rapidly expanding aspect of global change, which has many negative impacts on a wide range of taxa. In this experimental study, which took place on a beach located on the island of Boa Vista (Cabo Verde), three types of artificial light were tested on nesting loggerhead sea turtles as well as on ghost crabs, which intensively predate on nests and hatchlings, to determine the effects they would produce on the behavior of both species. Over the course of 36days, female loggerheads and ghost crabs were studied under yellow, orange and red lights, with observations also being made on dark nights that served as a control treatment. During this period, the frequencies of nesting attempts, the time taken by turtles to complete each phase of the nesting process, and ghost crab abundance and behaviors were carefully recorded. 1146 loggerhead nesting attempts were observed and recorded during the experiments, and results showed a decrease in nesting attempts of at least 20% when artificial lighting was present. A significant decline in successful attempts was also observed within the central sections of the beach, which corresponded to those that received more light. This artificial lighting significantly increased the time that turtles spent on the nesting process and forced them to do more extensive beach crawls. Despite this, the presence of light had no apparent effect on the final selection of the nesting site. Yellow and orange lights significantly disrupted the sea finding behavior and turtles were often unable to orient themselves seaward under these color lights. Disoriented turtles were observed crawling in circuitous paths in front of the light source for several minutes. In addition, artificial lights had the potential to increase the number of ghost crabs present within the illuminated stretches of the beach. However, only yellow lighting produced a significant change on aggressive and prey

  2. Reproductive physiology in eastern snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) exposed to runoff from a concentrated animal feeding operation

    Science.gov (United States)

    The eastern snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) is widely distributed throughout the eastern and central U.S. and may be a useful model organism to study land use impacts on water quality. We compared the reproductive condition of C. serpentina from a pond impacted by runoff fr...

  3. Tribute to P.L. Lutz: cardiac performance and cardiovascular regulation during anoxia/Hypoxia in freshwwater turtles

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Overgaard, J.; Gesser, Hans; Wang, Tobias

    2007-01-01

    Freshwater turtles overwintering in ice-covered ponds in North America may be exposed to prolonged anoxia, and survive this hostile environment by metabolic depression. Here, we review their cardiovascular function and regulation, with particular emphasis on the factors limiting cardiac performance....... The pronounced anoxia tolerance of the turtle heart is based on the ability to match energy consumption with the low anaerobic ATP production during anoxia. Together with a well-developed temporal and spatial energy buffering by creatine kinase, this allows for cellular energy charge to remain high during anoxia....... Furthermore, the turtle heart is well adapted to handle the adverse effects of free phosphate arising when phosphocreatine stores are used. Anoxia causes tenfold reductions in heart rate and blood flows that match the metabolic depression, and blood pressure is largely maintained through increased systemic...

  4. Background matching and camouflage efficiency predict population density in four-eyed turtle (Sacalia quadriocellata).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, Fanrong; Yang, Canchao; Shi, Haitao; Wang, Jichao; Sun, Liang; Lin, Liu

    2016-10-01

    Background matching is an important way to camouflage and is widespread among animals. In the field, however, few studies have addressed background matching, and there has been no reported camouflage efficiency in freshwater turtles. Background matching and camouflage efficiency of the four-eyed turtle, Sacalia quadriocellata, among three microhabitat sections of Hezonggou stream were investigated by measuring carapace components of CIE L*a*b* (International Commission on Illumination; lightness, red/green and yellow/blue) color space, and scoring camouflage efficiency through the use of humans as predators. The results showed that the color difference (ΔE), lightness difference (ΔL(*)), and chroma difference (Δa(*)b(*)) between carapace and the substrate background in midstream were significantly lower than that upstream and downstream, indicating that the four-eyed turtle carapace color most closely matched the substrate of midstream. In line with these findings, the camouflage efficiency was the best for the turtles that inhabit midstream. These results suggest that the four-eyed turtles may enhance camouflage efficiency by selecting microhabitat that best match their carapace color. This finding may explain the high population density of the four-eyed turtle in the midstream section of Hezonggou stream. To the best of our knowledge, this study is among the first to quantify camouflage of freshwater turtles in the wild, laying the groundwork to further study the function and mechanisms of turtle camouflage. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  5. Palaeoecology of triassic stem turtles sheds new light on turtle origins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joyce, Walter G; Gauthier, Jacques A

    2004-01-07

    Competing hypotheses of early turtle evolution contrast sharply in implying very different ecological settings-aquatic versus terrestrial-for the origin of turtles. We investigate the palaeoecology of extinct turtles by first demonstrating that the forelimbs of extant turtles faithfully reflect habitat preferences, with short-handed turtles being terrestrial and long-handed turtles being aquatic. We apply this metric to the two successive outgroups to all living turtles with forelimbs preserved, Proganochelys quenstedti and Palaeochersis talampayensis, to discover that these earliest turtle outgroups were decidedly terrestrial. We then plot the observed distribution of aquatic versus terrestrial habits among living turtles onto their hypothesized phylogenies. Both lines of evidence indicate that although the common ancestor of all living turtles was aquatic, the earliest turtles clearly lived in a terrestrial environment. Additional anatomical and sedimentological evidence favours these conclusions. The freshwater aquatic habitat preference so characteristic of living turtles cannot, consequently, be taken as positive evidence for an aquatic origin of turtles, but must rather be considered a convergence relative to other aquatic amniotes, including the marine sauropterygians to which turtles have sometimes been allied.

  6. Survey of Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricate Health Condition in Terms of Parasites and Microbes in Alas Purwo National Park, Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qurrota A'yunin

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Indonesian waters have six types of turtles that can live, spawn and breed. Sea turtle conservation becomes an important and urgent program to be done in order to protect and save sea turtle population in Indonesia. One of the factors that most affect the turtle population is the cause of degradation of pathogenic factors. Alas Purwo National Park, East Java, there is some communities that have activities turtle conservation. Conservation is done by securing and protecting turtle eggs. Turtle eggs that have hatched are released into the sea once it is ready. This study aims was to determine the type of bacteria and fungi that infect hatchlings and environmental factors that influence. This research is descriptive method to Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricate is by way of random sampling. Sampling of microbes in sea turtle was conducted using cotton swab method and then microbes was cultured and indentified in laboratory. The results showed The kind of parasites and microbes which were indentified in hatching and adult Hawksbill sea turtles were fungus with genus Aspergillus sp., Geotrichum sp., Fusarium sp., and Gliocladium sp. ; bacteria are Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacter cloaceae; and parasite is Chelonibia testudinaria barnacles.  The parameter average value of water in pond indicated 28.1 – 29.2°C for temperature, 32 - 34 ‰ for salinity, 7.78 – 8.2 for pH, and 3.86 – 4.21 mg/L for DO.

  7. Turtle carapace anomalies: the roles of genetic diversity and environment.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guillermo Velo-Antón

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available Phenotypic anomalies are common in wild populations and multiple genetic, biotic and abiotic factors might contribute to their formation. Turtles are excellent models for the study of developmental instability because anomalies are easily detected in the form of malformations, additions, or reductions in the number of scutes or scales.In this study, we integrated field observations, manipulative experiments, and climatic and genetic approaches to investigate the origin of carapace scute anomalies across Iberian populations of the European pond turtle, Emys orbicularis. The proportion of anomalous individuals varied from 3% to 69% in local populations, with increasing frequency of anomalies in northern regions. We found no significant effect of climatic and soil moisture, or climatic temperature on the occurrence of anomalies. However, lower genetic diversity and inbreeding were good predictors of the prevalence of scute anomalies among populations. Both decreasing genetic diversity and increasing proportion of anomalous individuals in northern parts of the Iberian distribution may be linked to recolonization events from the Southern Pleistocene refugium.Overall, our results suggest that developmental instability in turtle carapace formation might be caused, at least in part, by genetic factors, although the influence of environmental factors affecting the developmental stability of turtle carapace cannot be ruled out. Further studies of the effects of environmental factors, pollutants and heritability of anomalies would be useful to better understand the complex origin of anomalies in natural populations.

  8. Survey of ophthalmic anterior segment findings and intraocular pressure in 95 North American box turtles (Terrapene spp.).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Espinheira Gomes, Filipe; Brandão, João; Sumner, Julia; Kearney, Michael; Freitas, Inês; Johnson, James; Cutler, Daniel; Nevarez, Javier

    2016-03-01

    To describe the ophthalmic biomicroscopy findings and intraocular pressures (IOP) in a captive population of box turtles and to determine whether a relationship exists between body morphometrics or health status and IOP. Hundred and three box turtles (69 Gulf coast, 24 three-toed, one ornate, one eastern, and eight unidentified) were triaged into three different color-coded groups: green (healthy), yellow (abnormal physical examination with no need for immediate care), and red (immediate care required). Both eyes were evaluated by rebound tonometry and slit-lamp biomicroscopy. Body weight and morphometric data were recorded. Intraocular pressures measurements were available for 190 eyes, slit-lamp biomicroscopy was available for 170 eyes, and morphometric data were available for 81 turtles. IOP in Gulf coast turtles (138 eyes) was 6.7 ± 1.4 mmHg OU. IOP in three-toed turtles (48 eyes) was 8.3 ± 1.5 mmHg OU, which was significantly higher than in Gulf coast turtles (P turtles only. There was a mild negative correlation between morphometrics and IOP in Gulf coast and three-toed turtles. Fifteen of 87 turtles had unilateral corneal or lenticular opacities; 3/87 had bilateral corneal or lenticular disease; and 3/87 had adnexal abnormalities. Different subspecies of box turtles have different normal intraocular pressures as measured by rebound tonometry, which was influenced by the animals' health status in one subspecies. Some morphometric parameters were found to be associated with IOP. Box turtles are often affected with ophthalmic abnormalities of unknown clinical significance. © 2015 American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists.

  9. Palaeoecology of triassic stem turtles sheds new light on turtle origins.

    OpenAIRE

    Joyce, Walter G.; Gauthier, Jacques A.

    2004-01-01

    Competing hypotheses of early turtle evolution contrast sharply in implying very different ecological settings-aquatic versus terrestrial-for the origin of turtles. We investigate the palaeoecology of extinct turtles by first demonstrating that the forelimbs of extant turtles faithfully reflect habitat preferences, with short-handed turtles being terrestrial and long-handed turtles being aquatic. We apply this metric to the two successive outgroups to all living turtles with forelimbs preserv...

  10. Coexistence of two freshwater turtle species along a Mediterranean stream: The role of spatial and temporal heterogeneity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Segurado, Pedro; Figueiredo, Diogo

    2007-09-01

    In the Iberian Peninsula the European pond turtle ( Emys orbicularis) and the Mediterranean pond turtle ( Mauremys leprosa) share many freshwater habitats, in particular Mediterranean streams. Whether and how these two species divide space within those habitats is poorly known in part due to the very low abundance of E. orbicularis at most syntopic sites. The spatial coexistence of these two species was studied along a 1.3 km reach of a typical Mediterranean stream based on data from trapping sessions and basking counts. The effect of the hydrological regime on differences in space use between species was also assessed. Spatial associations between species and between each species and microhabitat descriptors were estimated using a permutation procedure to account for spatial autocorrelation. Differences in the use of space were also estimated using a resample technique to account for the small sample sizes of E. orbicularis. Results indicate that E. orbicularis shows a preference for temporary, shallow, well vegetated and sandy reaches, while M. leprosa is less selective regarding microhabitat. Differences between E. orbicularis and juveniles of M. leprosa were less obvious. The high spatial heterogeneity of Mediterranean streams may be responsible for the persistence of viable populations of E. orbicularis as well as favouring the coexistence of the two turtle species. Therefore, stream habitat management and conservation plans for E. orbicularis should give priority to the maintenance of high levels of heterogeneity along Mediterranean streams.

  11. Comparative Genomics Identifies Epidermal Proteins Associated with the Evolution of the Turtle Shell.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holthaus, Karin Brigit; Strasser, Bettina; Sipos, Wolfgang; Schmidt, Heiko A; Mlitz, Veronika; Sukseree, Supawadee; Weissenbacher, Anton; Tschachler, Erwin; Alibardi, Lorenzo; Eckhart, Leopold

    2016-03-01

    The evolution of reptiles, birds, and mammals was associated with the origin of unique integumentary structures. Studies on lizards, chicken, and humans have suggested that the evolution of major structural proteins of the outermost, cornified layers of the epidermis was driven by the diversification of a gene cluster called Epidermal Differentiation Complex (EDC). Turtles have evolved unique defense mechanisms that depend on mechanically resilient modifications of the epidermis. To investigate whether the evolution of the integument in these reptiles was associated with specific adaptations of the sequences and expression patterns of EDC-related genes, we utilized newly available genome sequences to determine the epidermal differentiation gene complement of turtles. The EDC of the western painted turtle (Chrysemys picta bellii) comprises more than 100 genes, including at least 48 genes that encode proteins referred to as beta-keratins or corneous beta-proteins. Several EDC proteins have evolved cysteine/proline contents beyond 50% of total amino acid residues. Comparative genomics suggests that distinct subfamilies of EDC genes have been expanded and partly translocated to loci outside of the EDC in turtles. Gene expression analysis in the European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis) showed that EDC genes are differentially expressed in the skin of the various body sites and that a subset of beta-keratin genes within the EDC as well as those located outside of the EDC are expressed predominantly in the shell. Our findings give strong support to the hypothesis that the evolutionary innovation of the turtle shell involved specific molecular adaptations of epidermal differentiation. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

  12. Using genes as characters and a parsimony analysis to explore the phylogenetic position of turtles.

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    Bin Lu

    Full Text Available The phylogenetic position of turtles within the vertebrate tree of life remains controversial. Conflicting conclusions from different studies are likely a consequence of systematic error in the tree construction process, rather than random error from small amounts of data. Using genomic data, we evaluate the phylogenetic position of turtles with both conventional concatenated data analysis and a "genes as characters" approach. Two datasets were constructed, one with seven species (human, opossum, zebra finch, chicken, green anole, Chinese pond turtle, and western clawed frog and 4584 orthologous genes, and the second with four additional species (soft-shelled turtle, Nile crocodile, royal python, and tuatara but only 1638 genes. Our concatenated data analysis strongly supported turtle as the sister-group to archosaurs (the archosaur hypothesis, similar to several recent genomic data based studies using similar methods. When using genes as characters and gene trees as character-state trees with equal weighting for each gene, however, our parsimony analysis suggested that turtles are possibly sister-group to diapsids, archosaurs, or lepidosaurs. None of these resolutions were strongly supported by bootstraps. Furthermore, our incongruence analysis clearly demonstrated that there is a large amount of inconsistency among genes and most of the conflict relates to the placement of turtles. We conclude that the uncertain placement of turtles is a reflection of the true state of nature. Concatenated data analysis of large and heterogeneous datasets likely suffers from systematic error and over-estimates of confidence as a consequence of a large number of characters. Using genes as characters offers an alternative for phylogenomic analysis. It has potential to reduce systematic error, such as data heterogeneity and long-branch attraction, and it can also avoid problems associated with computation time and model selection. Finally, treating genes as

  13. Using Genes as Characters and a Parsimony Analysis to Explore the Phylogenetic Position of Turtles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Bin; Yang, Weizhao; Dai, Qiang; Fu, Jinzhong

    2013-01-01

    The phylogenetic position of turtles within the vertebrate tree of life remains controversial. Conflicting conclusions from different studies are likely a consequence of systematic error in the tree construction process, rather than random error from small amounts of data. Using genomic data, we evaluate the phylogenetic position of turtles with both conventional concatenated data analysis and a “genes as characters” approach. Two datasets were constructed, one with seven species (human, opossum, zebra finch, chicken, green anole, Chinese pond turtle, and western clawed frog) and 4584 orthologous genes, and the second with four additional species (soft-shelled turtle, Nile crocodile, royal python, and tuatara) but only 1638 genes. Our concatenated data analysis strongly supported turtle as the sister-group to archosaurs (the archosaur hypothesis), similar to several recent genomic data based studies using similar methods. When using genes as characters and gene trees as character-state trees with equal weighting for each gene, however, our parsimony analysis suggested that turtles are possibly sister-group to diapsids, archosaurs, or lepidosaurs. None of these resolutions were strongly supported by bootstraps. Furthermore, our incongruence analysis clearly demonstrated that there is a large amount of inconsistency among genes and most of the conflict relates to the placement of turtles. We conclude that the uncertain placement of turtles is a reflection of the true state of nature. Concatenated data analysis of large and heterogeneous datasets likely suffers from systematic error and over-estimates of confidence as a consequence of a large number of characters. Using genes as characters offers an alternative for phylogenomic analysis. It has potential to reduce systematic error, such as data heterogeneity and long-branch attraction, and it can also avoid problems associated with computation time and model selection. Finally, treating genes as characters

  14. Comparison of two freshwater turtle species as monitors of radionuclide and chemical contamination: DNA damage and residue analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meyers-Schoene, L.; Shugart, L.R.; Beauchamp, J.J.; Walton, B.T.

    1993-01-01

    Two species of turtles that occupy different ecological niches were compared for their usefulness as monitors of freshwater ecosystems where both low-level radioactive and nonradioactive contaminants are present. The pond slider (Trachemys scripta) and common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) were analyzed for the presence of 90 Sr, 137 Cs, 60 Co, and Hg, radionuclides and chemicals known to be present at the contaminated site, and single-strand breaks in liver DNA. The integrity of the DNA was examined by the alkaline unwinding assay, a technique that detects strand breaks as a biological marker of possible exposure to genotoxic agents. This measure of DNA damage was significantly increased in both species of turtles at the contaminated site compared with turtles of the same species at a reference site, and shows that contaminant-exposed populations were under more severe genotoxic stress than those at the reference site. The level of strand breaks observed at the contaminated site was high and in the range reported for other aquatic species exposed to deleterious concentrations of genotoxic agents such as chemicals and ionizing radiation. Statistically significantly higher concentrations of radionuclides and Hg were detected in the turtles from the contaminated area. Mercury concentrations were significantly higher in the more carnivorous snapping turtle compared with the slider; however, both species were effective monitors of the contaminants

  15. Measuring the impact of invasive species on popular culture: a case study based on toy turtles from Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lovich, Jeffrey E.; Yamamoto, Katsuya

    2016-01-01

    The red-eared slider turtle (Trachemys scripta elegans) is native to portions of the United States of America (USA) and adjacent northeastern Mexico. The bright and colorful hatchlings have long been popular as pets globally but numerous individuals have been released into the wild establishing populations in areas well outside their native range. As a result, slider turtles are now introduced worldwide on all continents, with the exception of Antarctica, and many temperate and tropical islands, including Japan. They are very successful at establishing breeding populations in a variety of habitats, even those in proximity to human development. Once established in large populations, they compete with native turtle species sometimes to the detriment of the latter. Tin toy turtles were popular in Japan for decades, and they were an important export item after World War II. From the 1920s to the 1950s, prior to the widespread establishment of slider populations in Japan, the toys were characterized by muted earth-tone colors representative of native species of Japanese turtles. After the 1950s, toy turtles exhibited brighter combinations of yellow, red and green more typical of slider turtles. This transition may reflect demand for more colorful toys by importing countries like the USA. Alternatively, the change was coincident with the importation of large numbers of colorful slider turtles to Japan via the pet trade and their subsequent establishment and numerical dominance in Japanese wetlands. This switch in toy turtle colors may reflect a cultural transition in awareness of what constitutes the appearance of a typical turtle in Japan. Sliders appear to have been accepted by Japanese consumers as a new cultural norm in the appearance of turtles, a case of art imitating life.

  16. Thermoregulation of fish and turtles in thermally stressed habitats. Annual progress report, October 1, 1977--September 30, 1978

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spotila, J.R.

    1978-06-01

    Morphometric and heating and cooling studies on over 100 largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides, have provided the data needed to refine the time-dependent body temperature model for fish. The model can now track the changes in body temperature of a bass if its weight and water temperature are known. The model is most sensitive to body diameter, body wall thickness, and tissue conductivity. Doubling tissue conductivity is equivalent to decreasing body diameter by a factor or two. Turtles, Chrysemys scripta, living in the heated portion of a cooling reservoir facultatively exploit the warmed water (ΔT = 4 to 10 0 C) as an auxiliary heat source for behavioral thermoregulation. Turtles in the heated arm of PAR pond have a smaller home range (200 m) than turtles in an ambient portion of the reservoir (507 m). The ability of animals to thermoregulate at a high constant body temperature depends upon the constraints imposed on them by their body size and physical characteristics and those of their environment. The net heat production required to maintain a specific body temperature changes as the size of an ectotherm increases. Operative environmental temperature is an appropriate measure of environmental heat loading and can be used as a predictor of turtle behavior. This concept may become very valuable in quantifying the effect of thermal effluents on turtle and fish behavior

  17. Phyllosphere mycobiota on garden ponds plants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Kowalik

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Investigations were conducted on calamus, common cattail, soft rush, yellow iris and white water lily plants in twenty ponds in Malopolska and Podkarpacie Regions. Mycobiota existing in the phyllosphere caused discolouring and necroses of leaves and shoots. 88 species of mycobiota were identified and isolated from the diseased tissues. Dominant were Alternaria alternata, Epicoccum nigrum and Isaria farinosa. Fungi of genera: Aspergillus, Botrytis, Chaetomium, Cladosporium, Fusarium, Ilyonectria, Mortierella, Mucor, Penicillium, Phialophora, Phoma, Pleustomophora, Sordaria, Trichoderma and Umbelopsis were also numerous. The monophagous and the polyphagous were identified.

  18. Continuation of studies on thermoregulation of fish and turtles in thermally stressed habitats. Annual progress report, 1 October 1978-30 September 1979

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Spotila, J.R.

    1979-06-01

    A time dependent mathematical model accurately predicts heart, brain, and gut temperatures of largemouth bass. Body diameter, insulation thickness, and tissue thermal conductivity are controlling variables in the transfer of heat between a fish and water. Fish metabolic rate and water velocity across fish surfaces do not appreciably affect heat transfer rates. Multichannel temperature transmitters telemeter body temperatures of free swimming bass in Pond C on the Savannah River Plant while the behavior of those fish and other bass is recorded by an observer. Field studies of the home ranges and movements of turtles in Par Pond on the Savannah River Plant are completed. We have recorded the movements of 30 individuals fitted with radio transmitters. Distinct differences are apparent in the behavior of turtles in areas affected by heated effluents as compared to those in control areas. Calculations and theoretical analysis of the transient energy exchange of turtles are continuing. Laboratory experiments using /sup 133/Xe indicate that blood flow in the muscles and skin of alligators increases 2 to 6 fold during movement. Relative variation is similar in magnitude to that seen in human muscle. Evaporative water loss from alligators decreases as body size increases. The ratios of respiratory to cutaneous water loss are 1.80 at 5/sup 0/C, 1.18 at 25/sup 0/C and 0.85 at 35/sup 0/C. Boundary layer resistances to evaporative water loss are 6 fold less than predicted by calculations of aerodynamic boundary layers. Body size is a primary factor in determining the thermoregulatory strategy that is to be used by a given animal.Operative environmental temperatures (T/sub e/) are as high as 60/sup 0/C for a turtle basking on a log in the sun. In a rainstorm T/sub e/ drops to 18/sup 0/C. Experiments to measure T/sub e/ for turtles in normal and thermally affected areas are now continuing on the Savannah River Plant. (ERB)

  19. The oropharyngeal morphology in the semiaquatic giant Asian pond turtle, Heosemys grandis, and its evolutionary implications.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Monika Lintner

    Full Text Available The oropharynx as a functional entity plays a fundamental role in feeding. Transitions from aquatic to terrestrial lifestyles in vertebrates demanded major changes of the oropharynx for the required adaptations to a different feeding environment. Extant turtles evolved terrestrial feeding modes in three families (testudinids, emydids, geoemydids-independently from other amniotes-and are therefore important model organisms to reconstruct morpho-functional changes behind aquatic-terrestrial transitions. In this study we hypothesized that the oropharyngeal morphology in semiaquatic turtles of the geoemydid family shows parallels to testudinids, the only purely terrestrial extant lineage. We provide an in-depth description of the oropharynx in the semiaquatic geoemydid Heosemys grandis by using a combination of micro computed tomography (micro-CT and subsequent digital in situ 3-D reconstruction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM, and histology. We show that H. grandis has a large tongue with rough papillose surface and well-developed lingual muscles. The attachment sites of the lingual muscles on the hyolingual skeleton and their courses within the tongue are nearly identical with testudinids. The hyolingual skeleton itself is mainly cartilaginous and shows distinct-but compared to testudinids rather small-anterior extensions of the hyoid body and hypoglossum. Oral glands are well developed in H. grandis but are smaller and simpler than in testudinids. Similarly, oropharyngeal keratinization was minimal and found only in the anterior palate, regions close to the beak, and tongue tip. We conclude that H. grandis shows distinct oropharyngeal morpho-functional adaptations for a terrestrial lifestyle but still retains characters typical for aquatic forms. This makes this species an important example showing the oropharyngeal adaptations behind aquatic-terrestrial transitions in turtles.

  20. Fish Scale Evidence for Rapid Post Glacial Colonization of an Atlantic Coastal Pond

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniels, R. A.; Peteet, Dorothy

    1996-01-01

    Fish scales from the sediment of Allamuchy Pond, New Jersey, USA, indicate that fishes were present in the pond within 400 years of the time of the first deposition of organic material, at approximately 12,600 yrs BP. The earliest of the scales, from a white sucker, Catostomus commersoni, appears in sediment dated 12,260 +/- 220 yrs BP. Presence of scales in sediment deposited before I 0,000 yrs BP indicates that Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, sunfish, Lepomis sp., and yellow perch, Perca flavescens, also were early inhabitants of the pond. The timing of the arrival of each of these fishes suggests that they migrated out from Atlantic coastal refugia. A minnow scale, referred to Phoxininae, was also retrieved; it could not be matched to any cyprinid currently found in northeastern North America. The species present historically in this pond are from five families found currently in ponds throughout the Northeast and sugoest that the lentic palaeo-enviromnent was similar to present mid-elevation or high-latitude lentic systems.

  1. Continuation of studies on thermoregulation of fish and turtles in thermally stressed habitats. Summary progress report, 1 October 1977-30 September 1980

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Spotila, J.R.

    1980-05-01

    Biophysical-behavioral-ecological models have been completed to explain the behavioral thermoregulation of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) and turtles (Chrysemys scripta). Steady state and time dependent mathematical models accurately predict the body temperatures of largemouth bass. Field experiments using multichannel radio transmitters have provided temperatures of several body compartments of free ranging bass in their natural habitat. Initial studies have been completed to describe the behavioral thermoregulation of bass in a reactor cooling reservoir. Energy budgets, fundamental climate spaces, and realized climate spaces have been completed for the turtle, C. scripta. We have described the behavioral thermoregulation of C. scripta in Par Pond, S.C. and have measured its movements, home ranges and population levels in heated and unheated arms of the reservoir. Operative environmental temperature is a good predictor of the basking behavior of this turtle. A new synthesis explained the evolution of thermoregulatory strategies among animals. Laboratory experiments clarified the effects of movement, diving and temperature on the blood flow of alligators. Other experiments defined the role of boundary layers in controlling the evaporation of water from the surfaces of turtles and alligators in still and moving air. Nutritional status may be an important factor affecting the thermoregulatory behavior of turtles.

  2. Magnetic resonance imaging measurements of organs within the coelomic cavity of red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans), yellow-bellied sliders (Trachemys scripta scripta), Coastal plain cooters (Pseudemys concinna floridana), and hieroglyphic river cooters (Pseudemys concinna hieroglyphica).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mathes, Karina A; Schnack, Marcus; Rohn, Karl; Fehr, Michael

    2017-12-01

    OBJECTIVE To determine anatomic reference points for 4 turtle species and to evaluate data on relative anatomic dimensions, signal intensities (SIs), and position of selected organs within the coelomic cavity by use of MRI. ANIMALS 3 turtle cadavers (1 red-eared slider [Trachemys scripta elegans], 1 yellow-bellied slider [Trachemys scripta scripta], and 1 Coastal plain cooter [Pseudemys concinna floridana]) and 63 live adult turtles (30 red-eared sliders, 20 yellow-bellied sliders, 5 Coastal plain cooters, and 8 hieroglyphic river cooters [Pseudemys concinna hieroglyphica]). PROCEDURES MRI and necropsy were performed on the 3 turtle cadavers. Physical examination, hematologic evaluation, and whole-body radiography were performed on the 63 live turtles. Turtles were sedated, and MRI in transverse, sagittal, and dorsal planes was used to measure organ dimensions, position within the coelomic cavity, and SIs. Body positioning after sedation was standardized with the head, neck, limbs, and tail positioned in maximum extension. RESULTS Measurements of the heart, liver, gallbladder, and kidneys in sagittal, transverse, and dorsal planes; relative position of those organs within the coelom; and SIs of the kidneys and liver were obtained with MRI and provided anatomic data for these 4 turtle species. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE MRI was a valuable tool for determining the position, dimensions, and SIs of selected organs. Measurement of organs in freshwater chelonians was achievable with MRI. Further studies are needed to establish reference values for anatomic structures in turtles. Results reported here may serve as guidelines and aid in clinical interpretation of MRI images for these 4 species.

  3. Pond Hockey on Whitmore Lacus: the Formation of Ponds and Ethane Ice Deposits Following Storm Events on Titan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steckloff, Jordan; Soderblom, Jason M.

    2017-10-01

    Cassini ISS observations reveled regions, later identified as topographic low spots (Soderblom et al. 2014, DPS) on Saturn’s moon Titan become significantly darker (lower albedo) following storm events (Turtle et al. 2009, GRL; 2011, Science), suggesting pools of liquid hydrocarbon mixtures (predominantly methane-ethane-nitrogen). However, these dark ponds then significantly brighten (higher albedo relative to pre-storm albedo), before fading to their pre-storm albedos (Barnes et al. 2013 Planet. Sci; Soderblom et al. 2014, DPS). We interpret these data to be the result of ethane ice formation, which cools from evaporation of methane. The formation of ethane ices results from a unique sequence of thermophysical processes. Initially, the methane in the ternary mixture evaporates, cooling the pond. Nitrogen, dissolved primarily in the methane, exsolves, further cooling the liquid. However, because nitrogen is significantly more soluble in cooler methane-hydrocarbon mixtures, the relative concentration of nitrogen in the solution increases as it cools. This increased nitrogen fraction increases the density of the pond, as nitrogen is significantly more dense thane methane or ethane (pure ethane’s density is intermediate to that of methane and nitrogen). At around ~85 K the mixture is as dense as pure liquid ethane. Thus, further evaporative methane loss and cooling at the pond’s surface leads to a chemical stratification, with an increasingly ethane rich epilimnion (surface layer) overlying a methane rich hypolimnion (subsurface layer). Further evaporation of methane from the ethane-rich epilimnion drives its temperature and composition toward the methane-ethane-nitrogen liquidus curve, causing pure ethane ice to precipitate out of solution and settle to the bottom of the pool. This settling would obscure the ethane ice from Cassini VIMS and ISS, which would instead continue to appear as a dark pond on the surface. As the ethane precipitates out completely, a

  4. The draft genomes of soft-shell turtle and green sea turtle yield insights into the development and evolution of the turtle-specific body plan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zhuo; Pascual-Anaya, Juan; Zadissa, Amonida; Li, Wenqi; Niimura, Yoshihito; Huang, Zhiyong; Li, Chunyi; White, Simon; Xiong, Zhiqiang; Fang, Dongming; Wang, Bo; Ming, Yao; Chen, Yan; Zheng, Yuan; Kuraku, Shigehiro; Pignatelli, Miguel; Herrero, Javier; Beal, Kathryn; Nozawa, Masafumi; Li, Qiye; Wang, Juan; Zhang, Hongyan; Yu, Lili; Shigenobu, Shuji; Wang, Junyi; Liu, Jiannan; Flicek, Paul; Searle, Steve; Wang, Jun; Kuratani, Shigeru; Yin, Ye; Aken, Bronwen; Zhang, Guojie; Irie, Naoki

    2013-06-01

    The unique anatomical features of turtles have raised unanswered questions about the origin of their unique body plan. We generated and analyzed draft genomes of the soft-shell turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis) and the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas); our results indicated the close relationship of the turtles to the bird-crocodilian lineage, from which they split ∼267.9-248.3 million years ago (Upper Permian to Triassic). We also found extensive expansion of olfactory receptor genes in these turtles. Embryonic gene expression analysis identified an hourglass-like divergence of turtle and chicken embryogenesis, with maximal conservation around the vertebrate phylotypic period, rather than at later stages that show the amniote-common pattern. Wnt5a expression was found in the growth zone of the dorsal shell, supporting the possible co-option of limb-associated Wnt signaling in the acquisition of this turtle-specific novelty. Our results suggest that turtle evolution was accompanied by an unexpectedly conservative vertebrate phylotypic period, followed by turtle-specific repatterning of development to yield the novel structure of the shell.

  5. Sea Turtle Conservation on Bonaire. Sea Turtle Club Bonaire 1997. Project Report

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schuit, M.; Put, van A.L.L.M.; Valkering, N.P.; Eijck, van T.J.W.

    1998-01-01

    The Sea Turtle Club Bonaire (STCB) is a non-governmental, non-profit organization. Its main goal is the conservation of the sea turtles that occur on Bonaire. To reach this goal, annual projects are undertaken, such as research and the promotion of public awareness on sea turtle conservation. The

  6. Turtles: Freshwater

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gibbons, J. Whitfield; Lovich, Jeffrey E.; Bowden, R.M.

    2017-01-01

    With their iconic shells, turtles are morphologically distinct in being the only extant or extinct vertebrate animals to have their shoulders and hips inside their rib cages. By the time an asteroid hit the earth 65.5 million years ago, causing the extinction of dinosaurs, turtles were already an ancient lineage that was 70% through their evolutionary history to date. The remarkable evolutionary success of turtles over 220 million years is due to a combination of both conservative and effective life history traits and an essentially unchanging morphology that withstood the test of time. However, the life history traits of many species make them particularly susceptible to overharvest and habitat destruction in the modern world, and a majority of the world’s species face serious conservation challenges with several extinctions documented in modern times. The global plight of turtles is underscored by the fact that the percentage of imperiled species exceeds that of even the critically endangered primates.Freshwater turtles, with over 260 recognized species, have become a focus on a worldwide scale for many conservation issues. This article is a synthesis of a diverse body of information on the general biology of freshwater turtles, with particular emphasis on the extensive research on ecology, life history, and behavior that has been accomplished in the last half century. Much of the research has been applicable to the aforementioned conservation challenges. The studies presented include a combination of laboratory and field experiments and observational studies on this intriguing group of animals.

  7. Emydid herpesvirus 1 infection in northern map turtles (Graptemys geographica) and painted turtles (Chrysemys picta).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ossiboff, Robert J; Newton, Alisa L; Seimon, Tracie A; Moore, Robert P; McAloose, Denise

    2015-05-01

    A captive, juvenile, female northern map turtle (Graptemys geographica) was found dead following a brief period of weakness and nasal discharge. Postmortem examination identified pneumonia with necrosis and numerous epithelial, intranuclear viral inclusion bodies, consistent with herpesviral pneumonia. Similar intranuclear inclusions were also associated with foci of hepatocellular and splenic necrosis. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) screening of fresh, frozen liver for the herpesviral DNA-dependent DNA polymerase gene yielded an amplicon with 99.2% similarity to recently described emydid herpesvirus 1 (EmyHV-1). Molecular screening of turtles housed in enclosures that shared a common circulation system with the affected map turtle identified 4 asymptomatic, EmyHV-1 PCR-positive painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) and 1 asymptomatic northern map turtle. Herpesvirus transmission between painted and map turtles has been previously suggested, and our report provides the molecular characterization of a herpesvirus in asymptomatic painted turtles that can cause fatal herpesvirus-associated disease in northern map turtles. © 2015 The Author(s).

  8. Turtle Watch: Community Engagement and Action

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, Elaine; Baudains, Catherine

    2015-01-01

    Many threats face the freshwater turtle, Chelodina colliei, also known as the oblong turtle. A community education project, Turtle Watch, focused on this target species and enabled effective conservation action to be implemented. Turtle Watch was conducted in the Perth Metropolitan Area of Western Australia, as the oblong turtle inhabits the…

  9. TurtleCam: A “Smart” Autonomous Underwater Vehicle for Investigating Behaviors and Habitats of Sea Turtles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kara L. Dodge

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Sea turtles inhabiting coastal environments routinely encounter anthropogenic hazards, including fisheries, vessel traffic, pollution, dredging, and drilling. To support mitigation of potential threats, it is important to understand fine-scale sea turtle behaviors in a variety of habitats. Recent advancements in autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs now make it possible to directly observe and study the subsurface behaviors and habitats of marine megafauna, including sea turtles. Here, we describe a “smart” AUV capability developed to study free-swimming marine animals, and demonstrate the utility of this technology in a pilot study investigating the behaviors and habitat of leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea. We used a Remote Environmental Monitoring UnitS (REMUS-100 AUV, designated “TurtleCam,” that was modified to locate, follow and film tagged turtles for up to 8 h while simultaneously collecting environmental data. The TurtleCam system consists of a 100-m depth rated vehicle outfitted with a circular Ultra-Short BaseLine receiver array for omni-directional tracking of a tagged animal via a custom transponder tag that we attached to the turtle with two suction cups. The AUV collects video with six high-definition cameras (five mounted in the vehicle nose and one mounted aft and we added a camera to the animal-borne transponder tag to record behavior from the turtle's perspective. Since behavior is likely a response to habitat factors, we collected concurrent in situ oceanographic data (bathymetry, temperature, salinity, chlorophyll-a, turbidity, currents along the turtle's track. We tested the TurtleCam system during 2016 and 2017 in a densely populated coastal region off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA, where foraging leatherbacks overlap with fixed fishing gear and concentrated commercial and recreational vessel traffic. Here we present example data from one leatherback turtle to demonstrate the utility of TurtleCam. The

  10. Turtle Photograph Collection

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Photos collected in marine turtle research programs are diverse, ranging from isolated observations of incidental encounters with turtles on the high-seas to...

  11. Specific accumulation of arsenic compounds in green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) from Ishigaki Island, Japan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Agusa, Tetsuro; Takagi, Kozue [Center for Marine Environmental Studies (CMES), Ehime University, Bunkyo-cho 2-5, Matsuyama 790-8577 (Japan); Kubota, Reiji [Division of Environmental Chemistry, National Institute of Health Sciences, Kamiyoga 1-18-1, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 158-8501 (Japan); Anan, Yasumi [Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chiba University, Inohana 1-8-1, Chuo-ku, Chiba 260-8675 (Japan); Iwata, Hisato [Center for Marine Environmental Studies (CMES), Ehime University, Bunkyo-cho 2-5, Matsuyama 790-8577 (Japan); Tanabe, Shinsuke [Center for Marine Environmental Studies (CMES), Ehime University, Bunkyo-cho 2-5, Matsuyama 790-8577 (Japan)], E-mail: shinsuke@agr.ehime-u.ac.jp

    2008-05-15

    Concentrations of total arsenic (As) and individual compounds were determined in green and hawksbill turtles from Ishigaki Island, Japan. In both species, total As concentrations were highest in muscle among the tissues. Arsenobetaine was a major compound in most tissues of both turtles. High concentrations of trimethylarsine oxide were detected in hawksbill turtles. A significant negative correlation between standard carapace length (SCL), an indicator of age, and total As levels in green turtles was found. In contrast, the levels increased with SCL of hawksbill turtles. Shifts in feeding habitats with growth may account for such a growth-dependent accumulation of As. Although concentrations of As in marine sponges, the major food of hawksbill turtles are not high compared to those in algae eaten by green turtles, As concentrations in hawksbill turtles were higher than those in green turtles, indicating that hawksbill turtles may have a specific accumulation mechanism for As. - Green turtles and hawksbill turtles have specific accumulation features of arsenic.

  12. Specific accumulation of arsenic compounds in green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) from Ishigaki Island, Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Agusa, Tetsuro; Takagi, Kozue; Kubota, Reiji; Anan, Yasumi; Iwata, Hisato; Tanabe, Shinsuke

    2008-01-01

    Concentrations of total arsenic (As) and individual compounds were determined in green and hawksbill turtles from Ishigaki Island, Japan. In both species, total As concentrations were highest in muscle among the tissues. Arsenobetaine was a major compound in most tissues of both turtles. High concentrations of trimethylarsine oxide were detected in hawksbill turtles. A significant negative correlation between standard carapace length (SCL), an indicator of age, and total As levels in green turtles was found. In contrast, the levels increased with SCL of hawksbill turtles. Shifts in feeding habitats with growth may account for such a growth-dependent accumulation of As. Although concentrations of As in marine sponges, the major food of hawksbill turtles are not high compared to those in algae eaten by green turtles, As concentrations in hawksbill turtles were higher than those in green turtles, indicating that hawksbill turtles may have a specific accumulation mechanism for As. - Green turtles and hawksbill turtles have specific accumulation features of arsenic

  13. Turtle Girls

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nelson, Charles; Ponder, Jennifer

    2010-01-01

    The day the Turtle Girls received Montel's adoption papers, piercing screams ricocheted across the school grounds instantaneously and simultaneously--in that moment, each student felt the joy of civic stewardship. Read on to find out how a visit to The Turtle Hospital inspired a group of elementary students to create a club devoted to supporting…

  14. Modelling Favourability for Invasive Species Encroachment to Identify Areas of Native Species Vulnerability

    OpenAIRE

    Romero, David; Báez, José C.; Ferri-Yáñez, Francisco; Bellido, Jesús J.; Real, Raimundo

    2014-01-01

    We assessed the vulnerability of the native Mediterranean pond turtle to encroachment by the invasive red-eared slider in southern Spain. We first obtained an ecogeographical favourability model for the Mediterranean pond turtle. We then modelled the presence/absence of the red-eared slider in the Mediterranean pond turtle range and obtained an encroachment favourability model. We also obtained a favourability model for the red-eared slider using the ecogeographical favourability for the Medi...

  15. Modeling neck mobility in fossil turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Werneburg, Ingmar; Hinz, Juliane K; Gumpenberger, Michaela; Volpato, Virginie; Natchev, Nikolay; Joyce, Walter G

    2015-05-01

    Turtles have the unparalleled ability to retract their heads and necks within their shell but little is known about the evolution of this trait. Extensive analysis of neck mobility in turtles using radiographs, CT scans, and morphometry reveals that basal turtles possessed less mobility in the neck relative to their extant relatives, although the anatomical prerequisites for modern mobility were already established. Many extant turtles are able to achieve hypermobility by dislocating the central articulations, which raises cautions about reconstructing the mobility of fossil vertebrates. A 3D-model of the Late Triassic turtle Proganochelys quenstedti reveals that this early stem turtle was able to retract its head by tucking it sideways below the shell. The simple ventrolateral bend seen in this stem turtle, however, contrasts with the complex double-bend of extant turtles. The initial evolution of neck retraction therefore occurred in a near-synchrony with the origin of the turtle shell as a place to hide the unprotected neck. In this early, simplified retraction mode, the conical osteoderms on the neck provided further protection. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  16. Turtle riders: remoras on marine turtles in Southwest Atlantic

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivan Sazima

    Full Text Available An overview is presented for a poorly documented relationship between reef vertebrates in Southwest Atlantic: remoras (Echeneidae associated with marine turtles. Two remora species (Echeneis naucrates and Remora remora and four turtle species (Caretta caretta, Chelonia mydas, Eretmochelys imbricata, and Dermochelys coriacea are here recorded in symbiotic associations in the SW Atlantic. Echeneis naucrates was recorded both on the coast and on oceanic islands, whereas R. remora was recorded only at oceanic islands and in the open sea. The remora-turtle association is usually regarded as an instance of phoresis (hitchhiking, albeit feeding by the fish is also involved in this symbiosis type. This association seems to be rare in SW Atlantic.

  17. Accumulation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and evaluation of hematological and immunological effects of PCB exposure on turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Shuangying; Halbrook, Richard S; Sparling, Donald W

    2012-06-01

    Concentrations of total polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), Aroclor 1260, and 26 congeners were measured in liver, fat, and eggs of red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans) collected from ponds near or on the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP), Kentucky, USA. Concentrations of total PCBs (wet mass) ranged from 0.002 to 0.480 mg/kg, 0.028 to 0.839 mg/kg, and 0.001 to 0.011 mg/kg in liver, fat, and eggs, respectively. Concentrations of Arochlor 1260 did not exceed 0.430, 0.419, and 0.007 mg/kg in liver, fat, and eggs, respectively. Exposure to PCBs in red-eared sliders collected from the PGDP is characterized by low concentrations of moderately chlorinated mono-ortho and di-ortho congeners (PCB 153, 180, and 118). Although PCB concentrations measured in the current study were low, chronic exposure to PCBs may have altered hematology and immunity of the turtles examined. Total white blood cell count and number of heterophils were negatively correlated with concentrations of total PCBs and Arochlor 1260, respectively. However, disease and other contaminants in the study area may influence the results. Because little is known regarding the influence of PCBs on hematology and immune function in turtles, additional study is needed to better evaluate results observed in the current study.

  18. Archeological Testing at Fort St. Leon (16PL35), Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1983-05-01

    Bend which is nebulous at best. 3. Test excavations downriver from the American fort (BHT 12, 13, 14, 15) (Figure 24b) encountered disturbed strata...unidentifiable 3 Unit 1, 2.07-1.82 m Plastron fragments (pond slider turtle ) 3 Unit 1, 2.02-1.82 m Plastron and carapace fragments (pond slider turtle ) 2 Unit...trench walls less than 1 m below the surface. The same is true for the pond slider turtle bones from Units 1 and 2. 160 . . . .. . . . . . . o Nutria

  19. Helminth communities of the exotic introduced turtle, Trachemys scripta elegans in southwestern Spain: Transmission from native turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hidalgo-Vila, J; Díaz-Paniagua, C; Ribas, A; Florencio, M; Pérez-Santigosa, N; Casanova, J C

    2009-06-01

    We report the prevalence and diversity of helminth parasites found in native turtles Mauremys leprosa and Emys orbicularis from three localities in southwestern Spain and we describe the helminth communities of exotic turtles Trachemys scripta elegans coexisting in the wild with both native turtle species. Five nematodes species were identified, of which Serpinema microcephalus was the only species common between two localities, although infection parameters were different between them. This is the first report of cross transmission of S. microcephalus and Falcaustra donanaensis from native to exotic turtles and the first report of genus Physaloptera in turtles of the Palearctic Region. Continuous releasing of exotic pet turtles in wildlife ecosystems increases the risk of parasite introductions and, consequently, potential transmission to native species, and highlights the impending need for regulation of pet turtle trade in Europe.

  20. "Sea Turtles" and "Ground Beetles" [Land Turtles] Should Shake Hands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kan, Da

    2004-01-01

    This article talks about those who come back to China after studies abroad, characterized as "sea turtles" and those scholars who have remained in China to arduously pursue their studies, characterized as "ground beetles". " Sea turtles" are those foreign MBAs and Ph.D.s who are objects of praise, admiration and are…

  1. Turtles for tessellations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Feijs, L.M.G.; Hu, J.

    2013-01-01

    We developed an approach to creating vector graphics representations of tessellations for purposes of teaching creative programming and laser cutting. The approach is based on turtle graphics. The lines of the turtle’s trail define the tiles of the tessellation. The turtle is defined in an

  2. 78 FR 44915 - Turtles Intrastate and Interstate Requirements

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-07-25

    .... FDA-2013-N-0639] Turtles Intrastate and Interstate Requirements AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration... turtle eggs and live turtles with a carapace length of less than 4 inches to remove procedures for... viable turtle eggs and turtles with a carapace length of less than 4 inches to stop the spread of turtle...

  3. Turtle Hearing Capability Based on ABR Signal assessment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raja Bidin Raja Hassan

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available Sea turtles have existed for millions of years. International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN has reported that the Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata is classified as critically endangered. Turtle excluder device (TED deployment on shrimpnet fisheries is needed for turtle conservation.TED using sound technique is challenge method in fisheries development.The knowledge on turtle hearing capability is limited. The auditory brainstem response (ABR assessment is method to determine turtle hearing capability. Turtle hearing assessment is basis to design TED. The objective of this paper is to determine turtle hearing cability by analyze its ABR spectral.The subject is Hawksbill turtle with number 2 turtles ie: 3 and 2 years. The measurement was taken at Pusat Pengurusan Penyu (Turtle Management Centre Padang Kemunting Masjid Tanah Melaka Malaysia. The results shows that turtle 3 years have peak power frequencies 50.78, 101.6, 152.3, 304.7, 355.5, 457, and 507.8Hz respectively whereas the spectral amplitude is ranging 0.03-32.44% spectral. Turtle 2 years has peak power at 457Hz in whole stimulus frequencies while the spectral amplitude is ranging 0.01-2.5% spectral.

  4. The origin of turtles: a paleontological perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joyce, Walter G

    2015-05-01

    The origin of turtles and their unusual body plan has fascinated scientists for the last two centuries. Over the course of the last decades, a broad sample of molecular analyses have favored a sister group relationship of turtles with archosaurs, but recent studies reveal that this signal may be the result of systematic biases affecting molecular approaches, in particular sampling, non-randomly distributed rate heterogeneity among taxa, and the use of concatenated data sets. Morphological studies, by contrast, disfavor archosaurian relationships for turtles, but the proposed alternative topologies are poorly supported as well. The recently revived paleontological hypothesis that the Middle Permian Eunotosaurus africanus is an intermediate stem turtle is now robustly supported by numerous characters that were previously thought to be unique to turtles and that are now shown to have originated over the course of tens of millions of years unrelated to the origin of the turtle shell. Although E. africanus does not solve the placement of turtles within Amniota, it successfully extends the stem lineage of turtles to the Permian and helps resolve some questions associated with the origin of turtles, in particular the non-composite origin of the shell, the slow origin of the shell, and the terrestrial setting for the origin of turtles. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  5. Reptilian prey of the sonora mud turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense) with comments on saurophagy and ophiophagy in North American Turtles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lovich, J.; Drost, C.; Monatesti, A.J.; Casper, D.; Wood, D.A.; Girard, M.

    2010-01-01

    We detected evidence of predation by the Sonora mud turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense) on the Arizona alligator lizard (Elgaria kingii nobilis) and the ground snake (Sonora semiannulata) at Montezuma Well, Yavapai County, Arizona. Lizards have not been reported in the diet of K. sonoriense, and saurophagy is rare in turtles of the United States, having been reported previously in only two other species:, the false map turtle (Graptemys pseudogeographica) and the eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina). While the diet of K. sonoriense includes snakes, ours is the first record of S. semiannulata as food of this turtle. Ophiophagy also is rare in turtles of the United States with records for only five other species of turtles. Given the opportunistic diets of many North American turtles, including K. sonoriense, the scarcity of published records of saurophagy and ophiophagy likely represents a shortage of observations, not rarity of occurrence.

  6. Community involvement works where enforcement fails: conservation success through community-based management of Amazon river turtle nests

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Darren Norris

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Law enforcement is widely regarded as a cornerstone to effective natural resource management. Practical guidelines for the optimal use of enforcement measures are lacking particularly in areas protected under sustainable and/or mixed use management regimes and where legal institution are weak. Focusing on the yellow-spotted river turtles (Podocnemis unifilis along 33 km of river that runs between two sustainable–use reserves in the Brazilian Amazon as an illustrative example, we show that two years of patrols to enforce lawful protection regulations had no effect on nest harvesting. In contrast, during one year when community-based management approaches were enacted harvest levels dropped nearly threefold to a rate (26% that is likely sufficient for river turtle population recovery. Our findings support previous studies that show how community participation, if appropriately implemented, can facilitate effective natural resource management where law enforcement is limited or ineffective.

  7. Modeling neck mobility in fossil turtles

    OpenAIRE

    Werneburg, Ingmar; Hinz, Juliane K.; Gumpenberger, Michaela; Volpato, Virginie; Natchev, Nikolay; Joyce, Walter G.

    2014-01-01

    Turtles have the unparalleled ability to retract their heads and necks within their shell but little is known about the evolution of this trait. Extensive analysis of neck mobility in turtles using radiographs, CT scans, and morphometry reveals that basal turtles possessed less mobility in the neck relative to their extant relatives, although the anatomical prerequisites for modern mobility were already established. Many extant turtles are able to achieve hypermobility by dislocating the cent...

  8. Waste Stabilisation Ponds

    OpenAIRE

    Von Sperling, Marcos

    2007-01-01

    "Waste Stabilisation Ponds is the third volume in the series Biological Wastewater Treatment. The major variants of pond systems are fully covered, namely: facultative ponds anaerobic ponds aerated lagoons maturation ponds The book presents in a clear and informative way the main concepts, working principles, expected removal efficiencies, design criteria, design examples, construction aspects, operational guidelines and sludge managment for pond systems. About the series: The series is...

  9. The Classroom Animal: Box Turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kramer, David C.

    1986-01-01

    Provides basic information on the anatomy, physiology, behaviors, and distribution patterns of the box turtle. Offers suggestions for the turtle's care and maintenance in a classroom environment. (ML)

  10. Molecular identification of a yellow perch viral disease associated with exposure to oil sands process affected waters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hogan, N.; Van den Heuvel, M.; Phalen, L.

    2010-01-01

    Large volumes of tailings and process affected water are generated as a result of oil sand mining processes. This presentation discussed the safe incorporation of these wastes into the terrestrial and aquatic landscape. A study was conducted in which yellow perch were stocked into experimental ponds, namely Demonstration Pond and South Bison Pond, during the periods of 1995-1997 and 2008-2010. Demonstration Pond was comprised of mature fine tailings capped with natural surface water, while South Bison Pond was formed at a site surrounded by overburden or lean oil sands. Disease surveys were conducted at these experimental ponds and also at Mildred, Sucker, and Kimowin Lakes. External white nodular lesions, characteristic of lymphocystis disease were observed on perch at all sites except Kimowin Lake. The identity of the virus was confirmed by DNA extraction and PCR with genotype generic major capsid protein gene primers. The presence of lymphocystis disease virus in perch was confirmed through sequencing of PCR results. The viral genotype appeared to be different from any previously isolated viral genotype. During the course of the study, there was an increasing incidence of the disease at Demonstration Pond and a decreasing incidence at the South Bison Pond. The intensity of the disease was found to be proportional to the incidence, which was positively correlated with changes in naphthenic acid concentration.

  11. Status of marine turtle rehabilitation in Queensland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jaylene Flint

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Rehabilitation of marine turtles in Queensland has multifaceted objectives. It treats individual animals, serves to educate the public, and contributes to conservation. We examined the outcome from rehabilitation, time in rehabilitation, and subsequent recapture and restranding rates of stranded marine turtles between 1996 and 2013 to determine if the benefits associated with this practice are cost-effective as a conservation tool. Of 13,854 marine turtles reported as stranded during this 18-year period, 5,022 of these turtles were stranded alive with the remainder verified as dead or of unknown condition. A total of 2,970 (59% of these live strandings were transported to a rehabilitation facility. Overall, 1,173/2,970 (39% turtles were released over 18 years, 101 of which were recaptured: 77 reported as restrandings (20 dead, 13 alive subsequently died, 11 alive subsequently euthanized, 33 alive and 24 recaptured during normal marine turtle population monitoring or fishing activities. Of the turtles admitted to rehabilitation exhibiting signs of disease, 88% of them died, either unassisted or by euthanasia and 66% of turtles admitted for unknown causes of stranding died either unassisted or by euthanasia. All turtles recorded as having a buoyancy disorder with no other presenting problem or disorder recorded, were released alive. In Queensland, rehabilitation costs approximately $1,000 per animal per year admitted to a center, $2,583 per animal per year released, and $123,750 per animal per year for marine turtles which are presumably successfully returned to the functional population. This practice may not be economically viable in its present configuration, but may be more cost effective as a mobile response unit. Further there is certainly benefit giving individual turtles a chance at survival and educating the public in the perils facing marine turtles. As well, rehabilitation can provide insight into the diseases and environmental

  12. Status of marine turtle rehabilitation in Queensland.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flint, Jaylene; Flint, Mark; Limpus, Colin James; Mills, Paul

    2017-01-01

    Rehabilitation of marine turtles in Queensland has multifaceted objectives. It treats individual animals, serves to educate the public, and contributes to conservation. We examined the outcome from rehabilitation, time in rehabilitation, and subsequent recapture and restranding rates of stranded marine turtles between 1996 and 2013 to determine if the benefits associated with this practice are cost-effective as a conservation tool. Of 13,854 marine turtles reported as stranded during this 18-year period, 5,022 of these turtles were stranded alive with the remainder verified as dead or of unknown condition. A total of 2,970 (59%) of these live strandings were transported to a rehabilitation facility. Overall, 1,173/2,970 (39%) turtles were released over 18 years, 101 of which were recaptured: 77 reported as restrandings (20 dead, 13 alive subsequently died, 11 alive subsequently euthanized, 33 alive) and 24 recaptured during normal marine turtle population monitoring or fishing activities. Of the turtles admitted to rehabilitation exhibiting signs of disease, 88% of them died, either unassisted or by euthanasia and 66% of turtles admitted for unknown causes of stranding died either unassisted or by euthanasia. All turtles recorded as having a buoyancy disorder with no other presenting problem or disorder recorded, were released alive. In Queensland, rehabilitation costs approximately $1,000 per animal per year admitted to a center, $2,583 per animal per year released, and $123,750 per animal per year for marine turtles which are presumably successfully returned to the functional population. This practice may not be economically viable in its present configuration, but may be more cost effective as a mobile response unit. Further there is certainly benefit giving individual turtles a chance at survival and educating the public in the perils facing marine turtles. As well, rehabilitation can provide insight into the diseases and environmental stressors causing

  13. Status of marine turtle rehabilitation in Queensland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flint, Mark; Limpus, Colin James; Mills, Paul

    2017-01-01

    Rehabilitation of marine turtles in Queensland has multifaceted objectives. It treats individual animals, serves to educate the public, and contributes to conservation. We examined the outcome from rehabilitation, time in rehabilitation, and subsequent recapture and restranding rates of stranded marine turtles between 1996 and 2013 to determine if the benefits associated with this practice are cost-effective as a conservation tool. Of 13,854 marine turtles reported as stranded during this 18-year period, 5,022 of these turtles were stranded alive with the remainder verified as dead or of unknown condition. A total of 2,970 (59%) of these live strandings were transported to a rehabilitation facility. Overall, 1,173/2,970 (39%) turtles were released over 18 years, 101 of which were recaptured: 77 reported as restrandings (20 dead, 13 alive subsequently died, 11 alive subsequently euthanized, 33 alive) and 24 recaptured during normal marine turtle population monitoring or fishing activities. Of the turtles admitted to rehabilitation exhibiting signs of disease, 88% of them died, either unassisted or by euthanasia and 66% of turtles admitted for unknown causes of stranding died either unassisted or by euthanasia. All turtles recorded as having a buoyancy disorder with no other presenting problem or disorder recorded, were released alive. In Queensland, rehabilitation costs approximately $1,000 per animal per year admitted to a center, $2,583 per animal per year released, and $123,750 per animal per year for marine turtles which are presumably successfully returned to the functional population. This practice may not be economically viable in its present configuration, but may be more cost effective as a mobile response unit. Further there is certainly benefit giving individual turtles a chance at survival and educating the public in the perils facing marine turtles. As well, rehabilitation can provide insight into the diseases and environmental stressors causing

  14. Checklist of sea turtles endohelminth in Neotropical region

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Werneck M. R.

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a list of parasites described in sea turtles from the Neotropical region. Through the review of literature the occurrence of 79 taxa of helminthes parasites were observed, mostly consisting of the Phylum Platyhelminthes with 76 species distributed in 14 families and 2 families of the Phylum Nematoda within 3 species. Regarding the parasite records, the most studied host was the green turtle (Chelonia mydas followed by the hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata, olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea, loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta and leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea. Overall helminths were reported in 12 countries and in the Caribbean Sea region. This checklist is the largest compilation of data on helminths found in sea turtles in the Neotropical region.

  15. Marine turtle mitogenome phylogenetics and evolution

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Duchene, Sebastián; Frey, Amy; Alfaro-Núñez, Luis Alonso

    2012-01-01

    The sea turtles are a group of cretaceous origin containing seven recognized living species: leatherback, hawksbill, Kemp's ridley, olive ridley, loggerhead, green, and flatback. The leatherback is the single member of the Dermochelidae family, whereas all other sea turtles belong in Cheloniidae...... distributions, shedding light on complex migration patterns and possible geographic or climatic events as driving forces of sea-turtle distribution. We have sequenced complete mitogenomes for all sea-turtle species, including samples from their geographic range extremes, and performed phylogenetic analyses...... to assess sea-turtle evolution with a large molecular dataset. We found variation in the length of the ATP8 gene and a highly variable site in ND4 near a proton translocation channel in the resulting protein. Complete mitogenomes show strong support and resolution for phylogenetic relationships among all...

  16. Honest sexual signaling in turtles: experimental evidence of a trade-off between immune response and coloration in red-eared sliders Trachemys scripta elegans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ibáñez, Alejandro; Polo-Cavia, Nuria; López, Pilar; Martín, José

    2014-10-01

    Sexual signals can be evolutionarily stable if they are honest and condition dependent or costly to the signaler. One possible cost is the existence of a trade-off between maintaining the immune system and the elaboration of ornaments. This hypothesis has been experimentally tested in some groups of animals but not in others such as turtles. We experimentally challenged the immune system of female red-eared sliders Trachemys scripta elegans, with a bacterial antigen (lipopolysaccharide (LPS)) without pathogenic effects to explore whether the immune activation affected visual colorful ornaments of the head. The LPS injection altered the reflectance patterns of color ornaments. In comparison to the control animals, the yellow chin stripes of injected animals exhibited (1) reduced brightness, (2) lower long wavelength (>470 nm) reflectance, and (3) lower values for carotenoid chroma. The postorbital patches of injected individuals also showed reduced very long wavelength (>570 nm) reflectance but did not change in carotenoid chroma. Thus, experimental turtles showed darker and less "yellowish" chin stripes and less "reddish" postorbital patches at the end of the experiment, whereas control turtles did not change their coloration. This is the first experimental evidence supporting the existence of a trade-off between the immune system and the expression of visual ornaments in turtles. We suggest that this trade-off may allow turtles to honestly signal individual quality via characteristics of coloration, which may have an important role in intersexual selection processes.

  17. Honest sexual signaling in turtles: experimental evidence of a trade-off between immune response and coloration in red-eared sliders Trachemys scripta elegans

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ibáñez, Alejandro; Polo-Cavia, Nuria; López, Pilar; Martín, José

    2014-10-01

    Sexual signals can be evolutionarily stable if they are honest and condition dependent or costly to the signaler. One possible cost is the existence of a trade-off between maintaining the immune system and the elaboration of ornaments. This hypothesis has been experimentally tested in some groups of animals but not in others such as turtles. We experimentally challenged the immune system of female red-eared sliders Trachemys scripta elegans, with a bacterial antigen (lipopolysaccharide (LPS)) without pathogenic effects to explore whether the immune activation affected visual colorful ornaments of the head. The LPS injection altered the reflectance patterns of color ornaments. In comparison to the control animals, the yellow chin stripes of injected animals exhibited (1) reduced brightness, (2) lower long wavelength (>470 nm) reflectance, and (3) lower values for carotenoid chroma. The postorbital patches of injected individuals also showed reduced very long wavelength (>570 nm) reflectance but did not change in carotenoid chroma. Thus, experimental turtles showed darker and less "yellowish" chin stripes and less "reddish" postorbital patches at the end of the experiment, whereas control turtles did not change their coloration. This is the first experimental evidence supporting the existence of a trade-off between the immune system and the expression of visual ornaments in turtles. We suggest that this trade-off may allow turtles to honestly signal individual quality via characteristics of coloration, which may have an important role in intersexual selection processes.

  18. Evolutionary origin of the turtle skull.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bever, G S; Lyson, Tyler R; Field, Daniel J; Bhullar, Bhart-Anjan S

    2015-09-10

    Transitional fossils informing the origin of turtles are among the most sought-after discoveries in palaeontology. Despite strong genomic evidence indicating that turtles evolved from within the diapsid radiation (which includes all other living reptiles), evidence of the inferred transformation between an ancestral turtle with an open, diapsid skull to the closed, anapsid condition of modern turtles remains elusive. Here we use high-resolution computed tomography and a novel character/taxon matrix to study the skull of Eunotosaurus africanus, a 260-million-year-old fossil reptile from the Karoo Basin of South Africa, whose distinctive postcranial skeleton shares many unique features with the shelled body plan of turtles. Scepticism regarding the status of Eunotosaurus as the earliest stem turtle arises from the possibility that these shell-related features are the products of evolutionary convergence. Our phylogenetic analyses indicate strong cranial support for Eunotosaurus as a critical transitional form in turtle evolution, thus fortifying a 40-million-year extension to the turtle stem and moving the ecological context of its origin back onto land. Furthermore, we find unexpected evidence that Eunotosaurus is a diapsid reptile in the process of becoming secondarily anapsid. This is important because categorizing the skull based on the number of openings in the complex of dermal bone covering the adductor chamber has long held sway in amniote systematics, and still represents a common organizational scheme for teaching the evolutionary history of the group. These discoveries allow us to articulate a detailed and testable hypothesis of fenestral closure along the turtle stem. Our results suggest that Eunotosaurus represents a crucially important link in a chain that will eventually lead to consilience in reptile systematics, paving the way for synthetic studies of amniote evolution and development.

  19. A toothed turtle from the Late Jurassic of China and the global biogeographic history of turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joyce, Walter G; Rabi, Márton; Clark, James M; Xu, Xing

    2016-10-28

    Turtles (Testudinata) are a successful lineage of vertebrates with about 350 extant species that inhabit all major oceans and landmasses with tropical to temperate climates. The rich fossil record of turtles documents the adaptation of various sub-lineages to a broad range of habitat preferences, but a synthetic biogeographic model is still lacking for the group. We herein describe a new species of fossil turtle from the Late Jurassic of Xinjiang, China, Sichuanchelys palatodentata sp. nov., that is highly unusual by plesiomorphically exhibiting palatal teeth. Phylogenetic analysis places the Late Jurassic Sichuanchelys palatodentata in a clade with the Late Cretaceous Mongolochelys efremovi outside crown group Testudines thereby establishing the prolonged presence of a previously unrecognized clade of turtles in Asia, herein named Sichuanchelyidae. In contrast to previous hypotheses, M. efremovi and Kallokibotion bajazidi are not found within Meiolaniformes, a clade that is here reinterpreted as being restricted to Gondwana. A revision of the global distribution of fossil and recent turtle reveals that the three primary lineages of derived, aquatic turtles, including the crown, Paracryptodira, Pan-Pleurodira, and Pan-Cryptodira can be traced back to the Middle Jurassic of Euramerica, Gondwana, and Asia, respectively, which resulted from the primary break up of Pangaea at that time. The two primary lineages of Pleurodira, Pan-Pelomedusoides and Pan-Chelidae, can similarly be traced back to the Cretaceous of northern and southern Gondwana, respectively, which were separated from one another by a large desert zone during that time. The primary divergence of crown turtles was therefore driven by vicariance to the primary freshwater aquatic habitat of these lineages. The temporally persistent lineages of basal turtles, Helochelydridae, Meiolaniformes, Sichuanchelyidae, can similarly be traced back to the Late Mesozoic of Euramerica, southern Gondwana, and Asia. Given

  20. Effects of pond draining on biodiversity and water quality of farm ponds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Usio, Nisikawa; Imada, Miho; Nakagawa, Megumi; Akasaka, Munemitsu; Takamura, Noriko

    2013-12-01

    Farm ponds have high conservation value because they contribute significantly to regional biodiversity and ecosystem services. In Japan pond draining is a traditional management method that is widely believed to improve water quality and eradicate invasive fish. In addition, fishing by means of pond draining has significant cultural value for local people, serving as a social event. However, there is a widespread belief that pond draining reduces freshwater biodiversity through the extirpation of aquatic animals, but scientific evaluation of the effectiveness of pond draining is lacking. We conducted a large-scale field study to evaluate the effects of pond draining on invasive animal control, water quality, and aquatic biodiversity relative to different pond-management practices, pond physicochemistry, and surrounding land use. The results of boosted regression-tree models and analyses of similarity showed that pond draining had little effect on invasive fish control, water quality, or aquatic biodiversity. Draining even facilitated the colonization of farm ponds by invasive red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii), which in turn may have detrimental effects on the biodiversity and water quality of farm ponds. Our results highlight the need for reconsidering current pond management and developing management plans with respect to multifunctionality of such ponds. Efectos del Drenado de Estanques sobre la Biodiversidad y la Calidad del Agua en Estanques de Cultivo. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

  1. Hydrogeochemical signatures and evolution of groundwater impacted by the Bayan Obo tailing pond in northwest China

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Huang, Xiang [Institute of Water Sciences and College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing (China); Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Comprehensive Utilization of Tailing Resources, Shangluo University, Shaanxi (China); Deng, Hailin, E-mail: hailin.deng@gmail.com [CSIRO Land and Water, Private Bag No. 5, Wembley, WA 6913 (Australia); Zheng, Chunmiao [Institute of Water Sciences and College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing (China); School of Environmental Science and Engineering, South University of Science and Technology of China, Shenzhen (China); Department of Geological Science, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (United States); Cao, Guoliang [Institute of Water Sciences and College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing (China)

    2016-02-01

    Uncontrolled leakage from mine tailing ponds can pose a serious environmental threat. Groundwater quality in a semi-arid region with extensive worries about the leakage from one of world's largest tailing ponds is studied herein through an integrated hydrogeochemical analysis and multivariate statistical analysis. Results show that elevated concentrations of NO{sub 2}{sup −}, B, Mn, NH{sub 4}{sup +}, F{sup −}, and SO{sub 4}{sup 2−} in groundwater were probably caused by leakage from the tailing pond and transported with the regional groundwater flow towards downstream Yellow River. While NO{sub 2}{sup −} contamination is only limited to areas close to the pond, high B concentrations persist within the contaminated plume originating from the tailing pond. Our current study shows that there is no geochemical evidence for U and Th contamination in groundwater due to leakage from the Bayan Obo tailing pond. Combining effects which includes regional variations, pond leaking and downstream mixing, mineral precipitation and dissolution, redox processes, ion exchange processes and agricultural activities, controlled groundwater hydrogeochemical signatures in the studied area. This study demonstrate that an increase in knowledge of evolution of groundwater quality by integrating field hydrochemical data and multivariate statistical analysis will help understand major water–rock interactions and provide a scientific basis for protection and rational utilization of groundwater resources in this and other tailing-impacted areas. - Highlights: • Combining hydrogeochemical methods and multivariate statistical analysis. • First reporting geochemical processes in aquifers nearby Bayan Obo REE tailing pond. • No geochemical evidence for uranium and thorium contamination in shallow groundwater.

  2. 50 CFR 223.205 - Sea turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 7 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Sea turtles. 223.205 Section 223.205... Threatened Marine and Anadromous Species § 223.205 Sea turtles. (a) The prohibitions of section 9 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1538) relating to endangered species apply to threatened species of sea turtle, except as...

  3. 42 CFR 71.52 - Turtles, tortoises, and terrapins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Turtles, tortoises, and terrapins. 71.52 Section 71..., INSPECTION, LICENSING FOREIGN QUARANTINE Importations § 71.52 Turtles, tortoises, and terrapins. (a) Definitions. As used in this section the term: Turtles includes all animals commonly known as turtles...

  4. The Classroom Animal: Snapping Turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kramer, David C.

    1987-01-01

    Describes the distinctive features of the common snapping turtle. Discusses facts and misconceptions held about the turtle. Provides guidelines for proper care and treatment of a young snapper in a classroom environment. (ML)

  5. Captive sea turtle rearing inventory, feeding, and water chemistry in sea turtle rearing tanks at NOAA Galveston 1995-present

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The database contains daily records of sea turtle inventories by species feeding rates type of food fed sick sea turtles sea turtles that have died log of tanks...

  6. Sea Turtle Radio Telemetry Data

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Radio transmitters attached to sea turtles captured in various fishing gear enabled us to track and measure surfacing time of each turtle. Determining location of...

  7. Sea Turtle Stranding Network Reports

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network (STSSN) was formally established in 1980 to collect information on and document the stranding of marine turtles along...

  8. The Biophysical Characteristics Of Hatching Habitat Of Lekang Turtle (Lepidhochelys olivacea) Eggs In Turtle Conservation And Education Center, Bali

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suryono; Ario, R.; Wibowo, E.; Handoyo, G.

    2018-02-01

    Lekang turtle (Lepidhochelys olivacea) is one of the fauna that is protected as an endangered population. This marine reptile was able to migrate in great distance along the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and South East Asia. Its existence has long been threatened, either by nature or human activities that endangered the population directly or indirectly. The decreasing number of sea turtle population that nest in Bali area is one indication of the reducing number of Lekang turtle in Indonesia. If left unchecked, it will result in the loss of Lekang turtle. This study aims to determine the successful percentage of conservation techniques and Lekang turtle hatching eggs (olive ridley sea turtle) in TCEC, Bali. The method used in this research is the method of observation or direct observation done in the field. Data collection is done by direct observation in the field. The results showed that the turtle breeding site is located in an area that is less strategic because too far from the sea, so that the temperature and humidity cannot be stable. Water content is most an important factor in the growth of embryo and egg hatching. This will lead to the decrease of hatching percentage of turtle eggs.

  9. 78 FR 44878 - Turtles Intrastate and Interstate Requirements

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-07-25

    .... FDA-2013-N-0639] Turtles Intrastate and Interstate Requirements AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration... turtle eggs and live turtles with a carapace length of less than 4 inches to remove procedures for... 21 CFR 1240.62 on May 23, 1975 (40 FR 22543), that ban the sale and distribution of viable turtle...

  10. Sea turtle photo-identification database

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The ability to correctly and consistently identify sea turtles over time was evaluated using digital imagery of the turtles dorsal and side views of their heads and...

  11. INTEGRATION OF SOCIAL TECHNOLOGIES MICRO DAMS AND MULTIPLE-USE PONDS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luciano Cordoval de Barros

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available The integration of Social Technologies Micro Dams and Multiple-Use Ponds has guaranteed to farmers their water sustainability, allowing the creation of fish farms and the irrigation of gardens. In Araçaí, Minas Gerais State, in the community Pai José Farms, in a dry soil under Cerrado vegetation, predominantly yellow and red, porous, deep latosoils was built 96 micro dams in 2008 and 90 in 2009 to collect surface runoff water from rainfall, after meetings with the community. Since the water is contained, were also reduced the erosion and the silting. The micro dams are loaded and unloaded eight to 12 times a year, infiltrating water and raising the groundwater, moistening the soil around them and on lowlands, mitigating droughts and revitalizing streams. Increase in the level of tanks from four to 10 or 11 meters of water was observed, resulting in farmers' feeling of abundance. This enabled the construction of ponds sealed with common plastic tarpaulins for water storage during the dry season by pumping water from the tanks, which enabled fish farming and also irrigation of gardens. As a complement, in the rainy season, the ponds are also supplied with water collected from roofs. The experiment has been replicated successfully in two more neighboring towns and may be applied in states of central Brazil, where similar soils and conditions prevail.

  12. A Middle Triassic stem-turtle and the evolution of the turtle body plan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schoch, Rainer R; Sues, Hans-Dieter

    2015-07-30

    The origin and early evolution of turtles have long been major contentious issues in vertebrate zoology. This is due to conflicting character evidence from molecules and morphology and a lack of transitional fossils from the critical time interval. The ∼220-million-year-old stem-turtle Odontochelys from China has a partly formed shell and many turtle-like features in its postcranial skeleton. Unlike the 214-million-year-old Proganochelys from Germany and Thailand, it retains marginal teeth and lacks a carapace. Odontochelys is separated by a large temporal gap from the ∼260-million-year-old Eunotosaurus from South Africa, which has been hypothesized as the earliest stem-turtle. Here we report a new reptile, Pappochelys, that is structurally and chronologically intermediate between Eunotosaurus and Odontochelys and dates from the Middle Triassic period (∼240 million years ago). The three taxa share anteroposteriorly broad trunk ribs that are T-shaped in cross-section and bear sculpturing, elongate dorsal vertebrae, and modified limb girdles. Pappochelys closely resembles Odontochelys in various features of the limb girdles. Unlike Odontochelys, it has a cuirass of robust paired gastralia in place of a plastron. Pappochelys provides new evidence that the plastron partly formed through serial fusion of gastralia. Its skull has small upper and ventrally open lower temporal fenestrae, supporting the hypothesis of diapsid affinities of turtles.

  13. A sinemydid turtle from the Jehol Biota provides insights into the basal divergence of crown turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Chang-Fu; Rabi, Márton

    2015-11-10

    Morphological phylogenies stand in a major conflict with molecular hypotheses regarding the phylogeny of Cryptodira, the most diverse and widely distributed clade of extant turtles. However, molecular hypotheses are often considered a better estimate of phylogeny given that it is more consistent with the stratigraphic and geographic distribution of extinct taxa. That morphology fails to reproduce the molecular topology partly originates from problematic character polarization due to yet another contradiction around the composition of the cryptodiran stem lineage. Extinct sinemydids are one of these problematic clades: they have been either placed among stem-cryptodires, stem-chelonioid sea turtles, or even stem-turtles. A new sinemydid from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota (Yixian Formation, Barremian-Early Aptian) of China, Xiaochelys ningchengensis gen. et sp. nov., allows for a reassessment of the phylogenetic position of Sinemydidae. Our analysis indicates that sinemydids mostly share symplesiomorphies with sea turtles and their purported placement outside the crown-group of turtles is an artefact of previous datasets. The best current phylogenetic estimate is therefore that sinemydids are part of the stem lineage of Cryptodira together with an array of other Jurassic to Cretaceous taxa. Our study further emphasises the importance of using molecular scaffolds in global turtle analyses.

  14. Transitional fossils and the origin of turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lyson, Tyler R; Bever, Gabe S; Bhullar, Bhart-Anjan S; Joyce, Walter G; Gauthier, Jacques A

    2010-12-23

    The origin of turtles is one of the most contentious issues in systematics with three currently viable hypotheses: turtles as the extant sister to (i) the crocodile-bird clade, (ii) the lizard-tuatara clade, or (iii) Diapsida (a clade composed of (i) and (ii)). We reanalysed a recent dataset that allied turtles with the lizard-tuatara clade and found that the inclusion of the stem turtle Proganochelys quenstedti and the 'parareptile' Eunotosaurus africanus results in a single overriding morphological signal, with turtles outside Diapsida. This result reflects the importance of transitional fossils when long branches separate crown clades, and highlights unexplored issues such as the role of topological congruence when using fossils to calibrate molecular clocks.

  15. Transitional fossils and the origin of turtles

    OpenAIRE

    Lyson, Tyler R.; Bever, Gabe S.; Bhullar, Bhart-Anjan S.; Joyce, Walter G.; Gauthier, Jacques A.

    2010-01-01

    The origin of turtles is one of the most contentious issues in systematics with three currently viable hypotheses: turtles as the extant sister to (i) the crocodile–bird clade, (ii) the lizard–tuatara clade, or (iii) Diapsida (a clade composed of (i) and (ii)). We reanalysed a recent dataset that allied turtles with the lizard–tuatara clade and found that the inclusion of the stem turtle Proganochelys quenstedti and the ‘parareptile’ Eunotosaurus africanus results in a single overriding morph...

  16. The endoskeletal origin of the turtle carapace

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hirasawa, Tatsuya; Nagashima, Hiroshi; Kuratani, Shigeru

    2013-01-01

    The turtle body plan, with its solid shell, deviates radically from those of other tetrapods. The dorsal part of the turtle shell, or the carapace, consists mainly of costal and neural bony plates, which are continuous with the underlying thoracic ribs and vertebrae, respectively. Because of their superficial position, the evolutionary origins of these costo-neural elements have long remained elusive. Here we show, through comparative morphological and embryological analyses, that the major part of the carapace is derived purely from endoskeletal ribs. We examine turtle embryos and find that the costal and neural plates develop not within the dermis, but within deeper connective tissue where the rib and intercostal muscle anlagen develop. We also examine the fossils of an outgroup of turtles to confirm that the structure equivalent to the turtle carapace developed independently of the true osteoderm. Our results highlight the hitherto unravelled evolutionary course of the turtle shell. PMID:23836118

  17. Coastal leatherback turtles reveal conservation hotspot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, Nathan J.; Morreale, Stephen J.; Nel, Ronel; Paladino, Frank V.

    2016-01-01

    Previous studies have shown that the world’s largest reptile – the leatherback turtle Dermochelys coriacea – conducts flexible foraging migrations that can cover thousands of kilometres between nesting sites and distant foraging areas. The vast distances that may be travelled by migrating leatherback turtles have greatly complicated conservation efforts for this species worldwide. However, we demonstrate, using a combination of satellite telemetry and stable isotope analysis, that approximately half of the nesting leatherbacks from an important rookery in South Africa do not migrate to distant foraging areas, but rather, forage in the coastal waters of the nearby Mozambique Channel. Moreover, this coastal cohort appears to remain resident year-round in shallow waters (turtles Caretta caretta. The rare presence of a resident coastal aggregation of leatherback turtles not only presents a unique opportunity for conservation, but alongside the presence of loggerhead turtles and other endangered marine megafauna in the Mozambique Channel, highlights the importance of this area as a marine biodiversity hotspot. PMID:27886262

  18. Modern turtle origins: the oldest known cryptodire.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaffney, E S; Hutchison, J H; Jenkins, F A; Meeker, L J

    1987-07-17

    The discovery of a turtle in the Early Jurassic(185 million years before present) Kayenta Formation of northeastern Arizona provides significant evidence about the origin of modern turtles. This new taxon possesses many of the primitive features expected in the hypothetical common ancestor of pleurodires and cryptodires, the two groups of modern turtles. It is identified as the oldest known cryptodire because of the presence of a distinctive cryptodiran jaw mechanism consisting of a trochlea over the otic chamber that redirects the line of action of the adductor muscle. Aquatic habits appear to have developed very early in turtle evolution. Kayentachelys extends the known record of cryptodires back at least 45 million years and documents a very early stage in the evolution of modern turtles.

  19. The girdles of the oldest fossil turtle, Proterochersis robusta, and the age of the turtle crown

    OpenAIRE

    Joyce, Walter G; Schoch, Rainer R; Lyson, Tyler R

    2013-01-01

    Background: Proterochersis robusta from the Late Triassic (Middle Norian) of Germany is the oldest known fossil turtle (i.e. amniote with a fully formed turtle shell), but little is known about its anatomy. A newly prepared, historic specimen provides novel insights into the morphology of the girdles and vertebral column of this taxon and the opportunity to reassess its phylogenetic position.Results: The anatomy of the pectoral girdle of P. robusta is similar to that of other primitive turtle...

  20. Vibrio cholerae Colonization of Soft-Shelled Turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Jiazheng; Yan, Meiying; Gao, He; Lu, Xin; Kan, Biao

    2017-07-15

    Vibrio cholerae is an important human pathogen and environmental microflora species that can both propagate in the human intestine and proliferate in zooplankton and aquatic organisms. Cholera is transmitted through food and water. In recent years, outbreaks caused by V. cholerae -contaminated soft-shelled turtles, contaminated mainly with toxigenic serogroup O139, have been frequently reported, posing a new foodborne disease public health problem. In this study, the colonization by toxigenic V. cholerae on the body surfaces and intestines of soft-shelled turtles was explored. Preferred colonization sites on the turtle body surfaces, mainly the carapace and calipash of the dorsal side, were observed for the O139 and O1 strains. Intestinal colonization was also found. The colonization factors of V. cholerae played different roles in the colonization of the soft-shelled turtle's body surface and intestine. Mannose-sensitive hemagglutinin (MSHA) of V. cholerae was necessary for body surface colonization, but no roles were found for toxin-coregulated pili (TCP) or N -acetylglucosamine-binding protein A (GBPA). Both TCP and GBPA play important roles for colonization in the intestine, whereas the deletion of MSHA revealed only a minor colonization-promoting role for this factor. Our study demonstrated that V. cholerae can colonize the surfaces and the intestines of soft-shelled turtles and indicated that the soft-shelled turtles played a role in the transmission of cholera. In addition, this study showed that the soft-shelled turtle has potential value as an animal model in studies of the colonization and environmental adaption mechanisms of V. cholerae in aquatic organisms. IMPORTANCE Cholera is transmitted through water and food. Soft-shelled turtles contaminated with Vibrio cholerae (commonly the serogroup O139 strains) have caused many foodborne infections and outbreaks in recent years, and they have become a foodborne disease problem. Except for epidemiological

  1. Shell bone histology indicates terrestrial palaeoecology of basal turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheyer, Torsten M; Sander, P Martin

    2007-08-07

    The palaeoecology of basal turtles from the Late Triassic was classically viewed as being semi-aquatic, similar to the lifestyle of modern snapping turtles. Lately, this view was questioned based on limb bone proportions, and a terrestrial palaeoecology was suggested for the turtle stem. Here, we present independent shell bone microstructural evidence for a terrestrial habitat of the oldest and basal most well-known turtles, i.e. the Upper Triassic Proterochersis robusta and Proganochelys quenstedti. Comparison of their shell bone histology with that of extant turtles preferring either aquatic habitats or terrestrial habitats clearly reveals congruence with terrestrial turtle taxa. Similarities in the shell bones of these turtles are a diploe structure with well-developed external and internal cortices, weak vascularization of the compact bone layers and a dense nature of the interior cancellous bone with overall short trabeculae. On the other hand, 'aquatic' turtles tend to reduce cortical bone layers, while increasing overall vascularization of the bone tissue. In contrast to the study of limb bone proportions, the present study is independent from the uncommon preservation of appendicular skeletal elements in fossil turtles, enabling the palaeoecological study of a much broader range of incompletely known turtle taxa in the fossil record.

  2. Hierarchical, quantitative biogeographic provinces for all North American turtles and their contribution to the biogeography of turtles and the continent

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ennen, Joshua R.; Matamoros, Wilfredo A.; Agha, Mickey; Lovich, Jeffrey E.; Sweat, Sarah C.; Hoagstrom, Christopher W.

    2017-01-01

    Our study represents the first attempt to describe biogeographic provinces for North American (México, United States, and Canada) turtles. We analyzed three nested data sets separately: (1) all turtles, (2) freshwater turtles, and (3) aquatic turtles. We georeferenced North American turtle distributions, then we created presence–absence matrices for each of the three data sets. We used watershed unit as biogeographic units. We conducted an unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic mean clustering analysis on each Jaccard index distance matrix from our watershed species matrices to delineate biogeographic provinces. Provinces were then tested for significant differences in species compositions in a global model with the use of a one-way analysis of similarity. We conducted a best subset of environmental variables with maximum (rank) correlation with community dissimilarities that determined the best model of abiotic variables explaining province delineation (i.e., climate, topography, and stream channel). To identify which species contributed the most to province delineations, we conducted an indicator species analysis and a similarity-percentage analysis. There were 16 all-turtle provinces, 15 freshwater provinces, and 13 aquatic provinces. Species compositions delineating the provinces were explained by abiotic variables, including mean annual precipitation, mean precipitation seasonality, and diversity of streams. Province delineations correspond closely with geographical boundaries, many of which have Pleistocene origins. For example, rivers with a history of carrying glacial runoff (e.g., Arkansas, Mississippi) sometimes dissect upland provinces, especially for aquatic and semiaquatic turtles. Compared with freshwater fishes, turtles show greater sensitivity to decreased temperature with restriction of most taxa south of the last permafrost maximum. Turtles also exhibit higher sensitivity to climatic, geomorphic, and tectonic instability, with richness

  3. Hox code in embryos of Chinese soft-shelled turtle Pelodiscus sinensis correlates with the evolutionary innovation in the turtle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ohya, Yoshie Kawashima; Kuraku, Shigehiro; Kuratani, Shigeru

    2005-03-15

    Turtles have the most unusual body plan of the amniotes, with a dorsal shell consisting of modified ribs. Because this morphological change in the ribs can be described as an axial-level specific alteration, the evolution of the turtle carapace should depend on changes in the Hox code. To identify turtle-specific changes in developmental patterns, we cloned several Hox genes from the Chinese soft-shelled turtle, Pelodiscus sinensis, examined their expression patterns during embryogenesis, and compared them with those of chicken and mouse embryos. We detected possibly turtle-specific derived traits in Hoxc-6 expression, which is restricted to the paraxial part of the embryo; in the expression of Hoxa-5 and Hoxb-5, the transcripts of which were detected only at the cervical level; and in Hoxc-8 and Hoxa-7 expression, which is shifted anteriorly relative to that of the other two amniote groups. From the known functions of the Hox orthologs in model animals, these P. sinensis-specific changes apparently correlate with specializations in the turtle-specific body plan. Copyright 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  4. Tracking sea turtles in the Everglades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hart, Kristin M.

    2008-01-01

    The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has a long history of conducting research on threatened, endangered, and at-risk species inhabiting both terrestrial and marine environments, particularly those found within national parks and protected areas. In the coastal Gulf of Mexico region, for example, USGS scientist Donna Shaver at Padre Island National Seashore in Texas has focused on “headstarting” hatchlings of the rare Kemp’s ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii). She is also analyzing trends in sea turtle strandings onshore and interactions with Gulf shrimp fisheries. Along south Florida’s Gulf coast, the USGS has focused on research and monitoring for managing the greater Everglades ecosystem. One novel project involves the endangered green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas). The ecology and movements of adult green turtles are reasonably well understood, largely due to decades of nesting beach monitoring by a network of researchers and volunteers. In contrast, relatively little is known about the habitat requirements and movements of juvenile and subadult sea turtles of any species in their aquatic environment.

  5. Sea Turtle Research Program Summary Report

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    1997-01-01

    The USACE Sea Turtle Research Program (STRP) was conducted to minimize the risk to sea turtle populations in channels along the southeast Atlantic region of the United States from hopper-dredging activities...

  6. Modeling Nitrogen Decrease in Water Lettuce Ponds from Waste Stabilization Ponds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Putri, Gitta Agnes; Sunarsih

    2018-02-01

    This paper presents about the dynamic modeling of the Water Lettuce ponds as a form of improvement from the Water Hyacinth ponds. The purpose of this paper is to predict nitrogen decrease and nitrogen transformation in Water Lettuce ponds integrated with Waste Stabilization Ponds. The model consists of 4 mass balances, namely Dissolved Organic Nitrogen (DON), Particulate Organic Nitrogen (PON), ammonium (NH4+), Nitrate and Nitrite (NOx). The process of nitrogen transformation which considered in a Water Lettuce ponds, namely hydrolysis, mineralization, nitrification, denitrification, plant and bacterial uptake processes. Numerical simulations are performed by giving the values of parameters and the initial values of nitrogen compounds based on a review of previous studies. Numerical results show that the rate of change in the concentration of nitrogen compounds in the integration ponds of waste stabilization and water lettuce decreases and reaches stable at different times.

  7. The draft genomes of soft–shell turtle and green sea turtle yield insights into the development and evolution of the turtle–specific body plan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niimura, Yoshihito; Huang, Zhiyong; Li, Chunyi; White, Simon; Xiong, Zhiqiang; Fang, Dongming; Wang, Bo; Ming, Yao; Chen, Yan; Zheng, Yuan; Kuraku, Shigehiro; Pignatelli, Miguel; Herrero, Javier; Beal, Kathryn; Nozawa, Masafumi; Li, Qiye; Wang, Juan; Zhang, Hongyan; Yu, Lili; Shigenobu, Shuji; Wang, Junyi; Liu, Jiannan; Flicek, Paul; Searle, Steve; Wang, Jun; Kuratani, Shigeru; Yin, Ye; Aken, Bronwen; Zhang, Guojie; Irie, Naoki

    2014-01-01

    The unique anatomical features of turtles have raised unanswered questions about the origin of their unique body plan. We generated and analyzed draft genomes of the soft-shell turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis) and the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas); our results indicated the close relationship of the turtles to the bird-crocodilian lineage, from which they split ~267.9–248.3 million years ago (Upper Permian to Triassic). We also found extensive expansion of olfactory receptor genes in these turtles. Embryonic gene expression analysis identified an hourglass-like divergence of turtle and chicken embryogenesis, with maximal conservation around the vertebrate phylotypic period, rather than at later stages that show the amniote-common pattern. Wnt5a expression was found in the growth zone of the dorsal shell, supporting the possible co-option of limb-associated Wnt signaling in the acquisition of this turtle-specific novelty. Our results suggest that turtle evolution was accompanied by an unexpectedly conservative vertebrate phylotypic period, followed by turtle-specific repatterning of development to yield the novel structure of the shell. PMID:23624526

  8. Assessment of MEGA BORG impacts on sea turtles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gitschlag, G.

    1993-01-01

    Studies were conducted to assess the impacts of the MEGA BORG oil spill on sea turtles in the path of the oil plume. Aerial surveys were performed to determine the presence of turtles and provide a gross visual assessment of potential impacts. Although extensive efforts were made to capture sea turtles around oil and gas platforms only one loggerhead sea turtle, Caretta caretta, was captured. Neither external visual inspection nor laboratory fecal analysis showed evidence of petroleum contamination

  9. Sea turtles sightings in North Carolina

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Sea turtles sightings are reported to the NMFS Beaufort Laboratory sea turtle program by the general public as they are fishing, boating, etc. These sightings...

  10. Body burdens of heavy metals in Lake Michigan wetland turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Dayna L; Cooper, Matthew J; Kosiara, Jessica M; Lamberti, Gary A

    2016-02-01

    Tissue heavy metal concentrations in painted (Chrysemys picta) and snapping (Chelydra serpentina) turtles from Lake Michigan coastal wetlands were analyzed to determine (1) whether turtles accumulated heavy metals, (2) if tissue metal concentrations were related to environmental metal concentrations, and (3) the potential for non-lethal sampling techniques to be used for monitoring heavy metal body burdens in freshwater turtles. Muscle, liver, shell, and claw samples were collected from painted and snapping turtles and analyzed for cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, lead, magnesium, manganese, and zinc. Turtle tissues had measurable quantities of all eight metals analyzed. Statistically significant correlations between tissue metal concentrations and sediment metal concentrations were found for a subset of metals. Metals were generally found in higher concentrations in the larger snapping turtles than in painted turtles. In addition, non-lethal samples of shell and claw were found to be possible alternatives to lethal liver and muscle samples for some metals. Human consumption of snapping turtles presents potential health risks if turtles are harvested from contaminated areas. Overall, our results suggest that turtles could be a valuable component of contaminant monitoring programs for wetland ecosystems.

  11. Global sea turtle conservation successes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mazaris, Antonios D; Schofield, Gail; Gkazinou, Chrysoula; Almpanidou, Vasiliki; Hays, Graeme C

    2017-09-01

    We document a tendency for published estimates of population size in sea turtles to be increasing rather than decreasing across the globe. To examine the population status of the seven species of sea turtle globally, we obtained 299 time series of annual nesting abundance with a total of 4417 annual estimates. The time series ranged in length from 6 to 47 years (mean, 16.2 years). When levels of abundance were summed within regional management units (RMUs) for each species, there were upward trends in 12 RMUs versus downward trends in 5 RMUs. This prevalence of more upward than downward trends was also evident in the individual time series, where we found 95 significant increases in abundance and 35 significant decreases. Adding to this encouraging news for sea turtle conservation, we show that even small sea turtle populations have the capacity to recover, that is, Allee effects appear unimportant. Positive trends in abundance are likely linked to the effective protection of eggs and nesting females, as well as reduced bycatch. However, conservation concerns remain, such as the decline in leatherback turtles in the Eastern and Western Pacific. Furthermore, we also show that, often, time series are too short to identify trends in abundance. Our findings highlight the importance of continued conservation and monitoring efforts that underpin this global conservation success story.

  12. North American box turtles: A natural history

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dodd, C. Kenneth

    2002-01-01

    Once a familiar backyard visitor in many parts of the United States and Mexico, the box turtle is losing the battle against extinction. In North American Box Turtles, C. Kenneth Dodd, Jr., has written the first book-length natural history of the twelve species and subspecies of this endangered animal. This volume includes comprehensive information on the species’ evolution, behavior, courtship and reproduction, habitat use, diet, population structure, systematics, and disease. Special features include color photos of all species, subspecies, and their habitats; a simple identification guide to both living and fossil species; and a summary of information on fossil Terrapene and Native uses of box turtles. End-of-chapter sections highlight future research directions, including the need for long-term monitoring and observation of box turtles within their natural habitat and conservation applications. A glossary and a bibliography of literature on box turtles accompany the text.

  13. Effects of the herbicide metazachlor on macrophytes and ecosystem function in freshwater pond and stream mesocosms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohr, S; Berghahn, R; Feibicke, M; Meinecke, S; Ottenströer, T; Schmiedling, I; Schmiediche, R; Schmidt, R

    2007-05-01

    The chloroacetamide metazachlor is a commonly used pre-emergent herbicide to inhibit growth of plants especially in rape culture. It occurs in surface and ground water due to spray-drift or run-off in concentrations up to 100 microgL(-1). Direct and indirect effects of metazachlor on aquatic macrophytes were investigated at oligo- to mesotrophic nutrient levels employing eight stream and eight pond indoor mesocosms. Five systems of each type were dosed once with 5, 20, 80, 200 and 500 microgL(-1) metazachlor and three ponds and three streams served as controls. Pronounced direct negative effects on macrophyte biomass of Potamogeton natans, Myriophyllum verticillatum and filamentous green algae as well as associated changes in water chemistry were detected in the course of the summer 2003 in both pond and stream mesocosms. Filamentous green algae dominated by Cladophora glomerata were the most sensitive organisms in both pond and stream systems with EC(50) ranging from 3 (streams) to 9 (ponds) microgL(-1) metazachlor. In the contaminated pond mesocosms with high toxicant concentrations (200 and 500 microgL(-1)), a species shift from filamentous green algae to the yellow-green alga Vaucheria spec. was detected. The herbicide effects for the different macrophyte species were partly masked by interspecific competition. No recovery of macrophytes was observed at the highest metazachlor concentrations in both pond and stream mesocosms until the end of the study after 140 and 170 days. Based on the lowest EC(50) value of 4 microgL(-1) for total macrophyte biomass, it is argued that single exposure of aquatic macrophytes to metazachlor to nominal concentrations >5 microgL(-1) is likely to have pronounced long-term effects on aquatic biota and ecosystem function.

  14. Origin of the unique ventilatory apparatus of turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lyson, Tyler R; Schachner, Emma R; Botha-Brink, Jennifer; Scheyer, Torsten M; Lambertz, Markus; Bever, G S; Rubidge, Bruce S; de Queiroz, Kevin

    2014-11-07

    The turtle body plan differs markedly from that of other vertebrates and serves as a model system for studying structural and developmental evolution. Incorporation of the ribs into the turtle shell negates the costal movements that effect lung ventilation in other air-breathing amniotes. Instead, turtles have a unique abdominal-muscle-based ventilatory apparatus whose evolutionary origins have remained mysterious. Here we show through broadly comparative anatomical and histological analyses that an early member of the turtle stem lineage has several turtle-specific ventilation characters: rigid ribcage, inferred loss of intercostal muscles and osteological correlates of the primary expiratory muscle. Our results suggest that the ventilation mechanism of turtles evolved through a division of labour between the ribs and muscles of the trunk in which the abdominal muscles took on the primary ventilatory function, whereas the broadened ribs became the primary means of stabilizing the trunk. These changes occurred approximately 50 million years before the evolution of the fully ossified shell.

  15. Determining sex ratios of turtle hatchlings

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Previous status assessments of marine turtles have assumed that the natural sex ratio of a marine turtle population is 1:1 (e.g. Conant et al. 2009). However, this...

  16. Turtles as hopeful monsters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rieppel, O

    2001-11-01

    A recently published study on the development of the turtle shell highlights the important role that development plays in the origin of evolutionary novelties. The evolution of the highly derived adult anatomy of turtles is a prime example of a macroevolutionary event triggered by changes in early embryonic development. Early ontogenetic deviation may cause patterns of morphological change that are not compatible with scenarios of gradualistic, stepwise transformation. Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

  17. Patterning of the turtle shell.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moustakas-Verho, Jacqueline E; Cebra-Thomas, Judith; Gilbert, Scott F

    2017-08-01

    Interest in the origin and evolution of the turtle shell has resulted in a most unlikely clade becoming an important research group for investigating morphological diversity in developmental biology. Many turtles generate a two-component shell that nearly surrounds the body in a bony exoskeleton. The ectoderm covering the shell produces epidermal scutes that form a phylogenetically stable pattern. In some lineages, the bones of the shell and their ectodermal covering become reduced or lost, and this is generally associated with different ecological habits. The similarity and diversity of turtles allows research into how changes in development create evolutionary novelty, interacting modules, and adaptive physiology and anatomy. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Intermediate pond sizes contain the highest density, richness, and diversity of pond-breeding amphibians.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raymond D Semlitsch

    Full Text Available We present data on amphibian density, species richness, and diversity from a 7140-ha area consisting of 200 ponds in the Midwestern U.S. that represents most of the possible lentic aquatic breeding habitats common in this region. Our study includes all possible breeding sites with natural and anthropogenic disturbance processes that can be missing from studies where sampling intensity is low, sample area is small, or partial disturbance gradients are sampled. We tested whether pond area was a significant predictor of density, species richness, and diversity of amphibians and if values peaked at intermediate pond areas. We found that in all cases a quadratic model fit our data significantly better than a linear model. Because small ponds have a high probability of pond drying and large ponds have a high probability of fish colonization and accumulation of invertebrate predators, drying and predation may be two mechanisms driving the peak of density and diversity towards intermediate values of pond size. We also found that not all intermediate sized ponds produced many larvae; in fact, some had low amphibian density, richness, and diversity. Further analyses of the subset of ponds represented in the peak of the area distribution showed that fish, hydroperiod, invertebrate density, and canopy are additional factors that drive density, richness and diversity of ponds up or down, when extremely small or large ponds are eliminated. Our results indicate that fishless ponds at intermediate sizes are more diverse, produce more larvae, and have greater potential to recruit juveniles into adult populations of most species sampled. Further, hylid and chorus frogs are found predictably more often in ephemeral ponds whereas bullfrogs, green frogs, and cricket frogs are found most often in permanent ponds with fish. Our data increase understanding of what factors structure and maintain amphibian diversity across large landscapes.

  19. The role of turtles as coral reef macroherbivores

    KAUST Repository

    Goatley, Christopher H. R.

    2012-06-29

    Herbivory is widely accepted as a vital function on coral reefs. To date, the majority of studies examining herbivory in coral reef environments have focused on the roles of fishes and/or urchins, with relatively few studies considering the potential role of macroherbivores in reef processes. Here, we introduce evidence that highlights the potential role of marine turtles as herbivores on coral reefs. While conducting experimental habitat manipulations to assess the roles of herbivorous reef fishes we observed green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) showing responses that were remarkably similar to those of herbivorous fishes. Reducing the sediment load of the epilithic algal matrix on a coral reef resulted in a forty-fold increase in grazing by green turtles. Hawksbill turtles were also observed to browse transplanted thalli of the macroalga Sargassum swartzii in a coral reef environment. These responses not only show strong parallels to herbivorous reef fishes, but also highlight that marine turtles actively, and intentionally, remove algae from coral reefs. When considering the size and potential historical abundance of marine turtles we suggest that these potentially valuable herbivores may have been lost from many coral reefs before their true importance was understood. © 2012 Goatley et al.

  20. The role of turtles as coral reef macroherbivores

    KAUST Repository

    Goatley, Christopher H. R.; Hoey, Andrew; Bellwood, David R.

    2012-01-01

    Herbivory is widely accepted as a vital function on coral reefs. To date, the majority of studies examining herbivory in coral reef environments have focused on the roles of fishes and/or urchins, with relatively few studies considering the potential role of macroherbivores in reef processes. Here, we introduce evidence that highlights the potential role of marine turtles as herbivores on coral reefs. While conducting experimental habitat manipulations to assess the roles of herbivorous reef fishes we observed green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) showing responses that were remarkably similar to those of herbivorous fishes. Reducing the sediment load of the epilithic algal matrix on a coral reef resulted in a forty-fold increase in grazing by green turtles. Hawksbill turtles were also observed to browse transplanted thalli of the macroalga Sargassum swartzii in a coral reef environment. These responses not only show strong parallels to herbivorous reef fishes, but also highlight that marine turtles actively, and intentionally, remove algae from coral reefs. When considering the size and potential historical abundance of marine turtles we suggest that these potentially valuable herbivores may have been lost from many coral reefs before their true importance was understood. © 2012 Goatley et al.

  1. The role of turtles as coral reef macroherbivores.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christopher H R Goatley

    Full Text Available Herbivory is widely accepted as a vital function on coral reefs. To date, the majority of studies examining herbivory in coral reef environments have focused on the roles of fishes and/or urchins, with relatively few studies considering the potential role of macroherbivores in reef processes. Here, we introduce evidence that highlights the potential role of marine turtles as herbivores on coral reefs. While conducting experimental habitat manipulations to assess the roles of herbivorous reef fishes we observed green turtles (Chelonia mydas and hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata showing responses that were remarkably similar to those of herbivorous fishes. Reducing the sediment load of the epilithic algal matrix on a coral reef resulted in a forty-fold increase in grazing by green turtles. Hawksbill turtles were also observed to browse transplanted thalli of the macroalga Sargassum swartzii in a coral reef environment. These responses not only show strong parallels to herbivorous reef fishes, but also highlight that marine turtles actively, and intentionally, remove algae from coral reefs. When considering the size and potential historical abundance of marine turtles we suggest that these potentially valuable herbivores may have been lost from many coral reefs before their true importance was understood.

  2. Decline of the Sea Turtles: Causes and Prevention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    National Academy of Sciences - National Research Council, Washington, DC. Commission on Life Sciences.

    A report submitted by the Committee on Sea Turtle Conservation, addresses threats to the world's sea turtle populations to fulfill a mandate of the Endangered Species Act Amendments of 1988. It presents information on the populations, biology, ecology, and behavior of five endangered or threatened turtle species: the Kemp's ridley, loggerhead,…

  3. Status of marine turtle rehabilitation in Queensland

    OpenAIRE

    Jaylene Flint; Mark Flint; Colin James Limpus; Paul Mills

    2017-01-01

    Rehabilitation of marine turtles in Queensland has multifaceted objectives. It treats individual animals, serves to educate the public, and contributes to conservation. We examined the outcome from rehabilitation, time in rehabilitation, and subsequent recapture and restranding rates of stranded marine turtles between 1996 and 2013 to determine if the benefits associated with this practice are cost-effective as a conservation tool. Of 13,854 marine turtles reported as stranded during this 18-...

  4. Phylogenetic relationships among extinct and extant turtles: the position of Pleurodira and the effects of the fossils on rooting crown-group turtles

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sterli, J.

    2010-01-01

    The origin and evolution of the crown-group of turtles (Cryptodira + Pleurodira) is one of the most interesting topics in turtle evolution, second perhaps only to the phylogenetic position of turtles among amniotes. The present contribution focuses on the former problem, exploring the phylogenetic

  5. Shell bone histology indicates terrestrial palaeoecology of basal turtles

    OpenAIRE

    Scheyer, Torsten; Sander, P. Martin

    2009-01-01

    The palaeoecology of basal turtles from the Late Triassic was classically viewed as being semi-aquatic, similar to the lifestyle of modern snapping turtles. Lately, this view was questioned based on limb bone proportions, and a terrestrial palaeoecology was suggested for the turtle stem. Here, we present independent shell bone microstructural evidence for a terrestrial habitat of the oldest and basal most well-known turtles, i.e. the Upper Triassic Proterochersis robusta and Proganochelys que...

  6. Sea Turtle Conservation on Bonaire. Sea Turtle Club Bonaire 1995 Project Report and Long Term Proposal

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Valkering, N.P.; Nugteren, Van P.; Eijck, Van T.J.W.

    1996-01-01

    Bonaire (12°12’N, 68°77’W), Netherlands Antilles, is famous for its unspoiled coral reefs. Reefs and lush sea grass provide forage and refuge for two species of endangered sea turtle, the green turtle ( Chelonia mydas) and the hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata). Loggerhead ( Caretta caretta ) and

  7. Geometry and self-righting of turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Domokos, Gábor; Várkonyi, Péter L

    2008-01-07

    Terrestrial animals with rigid shells face imminent danger when turned upside down. A rich variety of righting strategies of beetle and turtle species have been described, but the exact role of the shell's geometry in righting is so far unknown. These strategies are often based on active mechanisms, e.g. most beetles self-right via motion of their legs or wings; flat, aquatic turtles use their muscular neck to flip back. On the other hand, highly domed, terrestrial turtles with short limbs and necks have virtually no active control: here shape itself may serve as a fundamental tool. Based on field data gathered on a broad spectrum of aquatic and terrestrial turtle species we develop a geometric model of the shell. Inspired by recent mathematical results, we demonstrate that a simple mechanical classification of the model is closely linked to the animals' righting strategy. Specifically, we show that the exact geometry of highly domed terrestrial species is close to optimal for self-righting, and the shell's shape is the predominant factor of their ability to flip back. Our study illustrates how evolution solved a far-from-trivial geometrical problem and equipped some turtles with monostatic shells: beautiful forms, which rarely appear in nature otherwise.

  8. Evolutionary origin of the turtle shell.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lyson, Tyler R; Bever, Gabe S; Scheyer, Torsten M; Hsiang, Allison Y; Gauthier, Jacques A

    2013-06-17

    The origin of the turtle shell has perplexed biologists for more than two centuries. It was not until Odontochelys semitestacea was discovered, however, that the fossil and developmental data could be synthesized into a model of shell assembly that makes predictions for the as-yet unestablished history of the turtle stem group. We build on this model by integrating novel data for Eunotosaurus africanus-a Late Guadalupian (∼260 mya) Permian reptile inferred to be an early stem turtle. Eunotosaurus expresses a number of relevant characters, including a reduced number of elongate trunk vertebrae (nine), nine pairs of T-shaped ribs, inferred loss of intercostal muscles, reorganization of respiratory muscles to the ventral side of the ribs, (sub)dermal outgrowth of bone from the developing perichondral collar of the ribs, and paired gastralia that lack both lateral and median elements. These features conform to the predicted sequence of character acquisition and provide further support that E. africanus, O. semitestacea, and Proganochelys quenstedti represent successive divergences from the turtle stem lineage. The initial transformations of the model thus occurred by the Middle Permian, which is congruent with molecular-based divergence estimates for the lineage, and remain viable whether turtles originated inside or outside crown Diapsida. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Impacts of sea cucumber farming on biogeochemical characteristics in the Yellow River estuary, Northern China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fu, Jing; Yokoyama, Hisashi; Cui, Baoshan; Zhou, Jin; Yan, Jiaguo; Ma, Xu; Shibata, Shozo

    2017-02-01

    To investigate the potential environmental effects of pond farming for Apostichopus japonicas in Yellow River estuary, we examined discrepancies of distance-based typical pollution indicators (TOC, TN, NO3-, NH4+, NO2- and PO43-) and biochemical tracers (δ13C and δ15N) in water column and sediment, as well as dietary characteristics of dominant macrobenthos between farming and non-farming areas. The results revealed that studied variables in water column showed no uniform spatial differences. Meanwhile, those in sediment displayed similar decrease tendencies from farming pond to the adjacent tidal flat, which was considered to represent the environmental effects of farming. Biochemical tracers (δ13C and δ15N) in both water column and sediment confirmed the origin of organic matters from the aquaculture waste. The detectable dispersion distance of aquaculture waste was restricted to an area within 50 m distance as determined by most variables in sediment (TOC, TN, NO3- and NH4+), particularly by C:N ratio and δ13C with which origins of the wastes were traced. Bayesian mixing models indicated that in the farming area BMA had a larger contribution, while POM(marine) showed a smaller contribution to the diets of Helice tridens and Macrophthalmus abbreviates compared to those in the non-farming area. The overall results showed that pond farming for Apostichopus japonicus in the Yellow River estuary altered the local environment to a certain extent. For methodological consideration, sediment biogeochemical characteristics as a historical recorder much more effectively reflected aquaculture waste accumulation, and stable isotope approaches are efficient in tracing the origin and extent of various allogenous sources.

  10. Observations of sea turtles nesting on Misali islan, Pemba | Pharoah ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    A nest-recording programme has collected data over five years from turtles nesting on Misali Island, off the West coast of Pemba, Tanzania. Five species of sea turtle are known to occur in Zanzibar waters, two of these species nested regularly on the island, with green turtle nests outnumbering hawksbill turtle nests by a ...

  11. Par Pond water balance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hiergesell, R.A.; Dixon, K.L.

    1996-06-01

    A water budget for the Par Pond hydrologic system was established in order to estimate the rate of groundwater influx to Par Pond. This estimate will be used in modeling exercises to predict Par Pond reservoir elevation and spillway discharge in the scenario where Savannah River water is no longer pumped and discharged into Par Pond. The principal of conservation of mass was used to develop the water budget, where water inflow was set equal to water outflow. Components of the water budget were identified, and the flux associated with each was determined. The water budget was considered balanced when inflow and outflow summed to zero. The results of this study suggest that Par Pond gains water from the groundwater system in the upper reaches of the reservoir, but looses water to the groundwater system near the dam. The rate of flux of groundwater from the water table aquifer into Par Pond was determined to be 13 cfs. The rate of flux from Par Pond to the water table aquifer near the dam was determined to be 7 cfs

  12. An ancestral turtle from the Late Triassic of southwestern China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Chun; Wu, Xiao-Chun; Rieppel, Olivier; Wang, Li-Ting; Zhao, Li-Jun

    2008-11-27

    The origin of the turtle body plan remains one of the great mysteries of reptile evolution. The anatomy of turtles is highly derived, which renders it difficult to establish the relationships of turtles with other groups of reptiles. The oldest known turtle, Proganochelys from the Late Triassic period of Germany, has a fully formed shell and offers no clue as to its origin. Here we describe a new 220-million-year-old turtle from China, somewhat older than Proganochelys, that documents an intermediate step in the evolution of the shell and associated structures. A ventral plastron is fully developed, but the dorsal carapace consists of neural plates only. The dorsal ribs are expanded, and osteoderms are absent. The new species shows that the plastron evolved before the carapace and that the first step of carapace formation is the ossification of the neural plates coupled with a broadening of the ribs. This corresponds to early embryonic stages of carapace formation in extant turtles, and shows that the turtle shell is not derived from a fusion of osteoderms. Phylogenetic analysis places the new species basal to all known turtles, fossil and extant. The marine deposits that yielded the fossils indicate that this primitive turtle inhabited marginal areas of the sea or river deltas.

  13. Three novel herpesviruses of endangered Clemmys and Glyptemys turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ossiboff, Robert J; Raphael, Bonnie L; Ammazzalorso, Alyssa D; Seimon, Tracie A; Newton, Alisa L; Chang, Tylis Y; Zarate, Brian; Whitlock, Alison L; McAloose, Denise

    2015-01-01

    The rich diversity of the world's reptiles is at risk due to significant population declines of broad taxonomic and geographic scope. Significant factors attributed to these declines include habitat loss, pollution, unsustainable collection and infectious disease. To investigate the presence and significance of a potential pathogen on populations of critically endangered bog turtles (Glyptemys muhlenbergii) as well sympatric endangered wood (G. insculpta) and endangered spotted (Clemmys guttata) turtles in the northeastern United States, choanal and cloacal swabs collected from 230 turtles from 19 sites in 5 states were screened for herpesvirus by polymerase chain reaction. We found a high incidence of herpesvirus infection in bog turtles (51.5%; 105/204) and smaller numbers of positive wood (5) and spotted (1) turtles. Sequence and phylogenetic analysis revealed three previously uncharacterized alphaherpesviruses. Glyptemys herpesvirus 1 was the predominant herpesvirus detected and was found exclusively in bog turtles in all states sampled. Glyptemys herpesvirus 2 was found only in wood turtles. Emydid herpesvirus 2 was found in a small number of bog turtles and a single spotted turtle from one state. Based on these findings, Glyptemys herpesvirus 1 appears to be a common infection in the study population, whereas Glyptemys herpesvirus 2 and Emydid herpesvirus 2 were not as frequently detected. Emydid herpesvirus 2 was the only virus detected in more than one species. Herpesviruses are most often associated with subclinical or mild infections in their natural hosts, and no sampled turtles showed overt signs of disease at sampling. However, infection of host-adapted viruses in closely related species can result in significant disease. The pathogenic potential of these viruses, particularly Emydid herpesvirus 2, in sympatric chelonians warrants additional study in order to better understand the relationship of these viruses with their endangered hosts.

  14. Three Novel Herpesviruses of Endangered Clemmys and Glyptemys Turtles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ossiboff, Robert J.; Raphael, Bonnie L.; Ammazzalorso, Alyssa D.; Seimon, Tracie A.; Newton, Alisa L.; Chang, Tylis Y.; Zarate, Brian; Whitlock, Alison L.; McAloose, Denise

    2015-01-01

    The rich diversity of the world’s reptiles is at risk due to significant population declines of broad taxonomic and geographic scope. Significant factors attributed to these declines include habitat loss, pollution, unsustainable collection and infectious disease. To investigate the presence and significance of a potential pathogen on populations of critically endangered bog turtles (Glyptemys muhlenbergii) as well sympatric endangered wood (G. insculpta) and endangered spotted (Clemmys guttata) turtles in the northeastern United States, choanal and cloacal swabs collected from 230 turtles from 19 sites in 5 states were screened for herpesvirus by polymerase chain reaction. We found a high incidence of herpesvirus infection in bog turtles (51.5%; 105/204) and smaller numbers of positive wood (5) and spotted (1) turtles. Sequence and phylogenetic analysis revealed three previously uncharacterized alphaherpesviruses. Glyptemys herpesvirus 1 was the predominant herpesvirus detected and was found exclusively in bog turtles in all states sampled. Glyptemys herpesvirus 2 was found only in wood turtles. Emydid herpesvirus 2 was found in a small number of bog turtles and a single spotted turtle from one state. Based on these findings, Glyptemys herpesvirus 1 appears to be a common infection in the study population, whereas Glyptemys herpesvirus 2 and Emydid herpesvirus 2 were not as frequently detected. Emydid herpesvirus 2 was the only virus detected in more than one species. Herpesviruses are most often associated with subclinical or mild infections in their natural hosts, and no sampled turtles showed overt signs of disease at sampling. However, infection of host-adapted viruses in closely related species can result in significant disease. The pathogenic potential of these viruses, particularly Emydid herpesvirus 2, in sympatric chelonians warrants additional study in order to better understand the relationship of these viruses with their endangered hosts. PMID

  15. Three novel herpesviruses of endangered Clemmys and Glyptemys turtles.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert J Ossiboff

    Full Text Available The rich diversity of the world's reptiles is at risk due to significant population declines of broad taxonomic and geographic scope. Significant factors attributed to these declines include habitat loss, pollution, unsustainable collection and infectious disease. To investigate the presence and significance of a potential pathogen on populations of critically endangered bog turtles (Glyptemys muhlenbergii as well sympatric endangered wood (G. insculpta and endangered spotted (Clemmys guttata turtles in the northeastern United States, choanal and cloacal swabs collected from 230 turtles from 19 sites in 5 states were screened for herpesvirus by polymerase chain reaction. We found a high incidence of herpesvirus infection in bog turtles (51.5%; 105/204 and smaller numbers of positive wood (5 and spotted (1 turtles. Sequence and phylogenetic analysis revealed three previously uncharacterized alphaherpesviruses. Glyptemys herpesvirus 1 was the predominant herpesvirus detected and was found exclusively in bog turtles in all states sampled. Glyptemys herpesvirus 2 was found only in wood turtles. Emydid herpesvirus 2 was found in a small number of bog turtles and a single spotted turtle from one state. Based on these findings, Glyptemys herpesvirus 1 appears to be a common infection in the study population, whereas Glyptemys herpesvirus 2 and Emydid herpesvirus 2 were not as frequently detected. Emydid herpesvirus 2 was the only virus detected in more than one species. Herpesviruses are most often associated with subclinical or mild infections in their natural hosts, and no sampled turtles showed overt signs of disease at sampling. However, infection of host-adapted viruses in closely related species can result in significant disease. The pathogenic potential of these viruses, particularly Emydid herpesvirus 2, in sympatric chelonians warrants additional study in order to better understand the relationship of these viruses with their endangered hosts.

  16. TURTLE 24.0 diffusion depletion code

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Altomare, S.; Barry, R.F.

    1971-09-01

    TURTLE is a two-group, two-dimensional (x-y, x-z, r-z) neutron diffusion code featuring a direct treatment of the nonlinear effects of xenon, enthalpy, and Doppler. Fuel depletion is allowed. TURTLE was written for the study of azimuthal xenon oscillations, but the code is useful for general analysis. The input is simple, fuel management is handled directly, and a boron criticality search is allowed. Ten thousand space points are allowed (over 20,000 with diagonal symmetry). TURTLE is written in FORTRAN IV and is tailored for the present CDC-6600. The program is core-contained. Provision is made to save data on tape for future reference. (auth)

  17. 77 FR 75999 - 2013 Annual Determination for Sea Turtle Observer Requirement

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-12-26

    ... to implement programs to conserve marine life listed as endangered or threatened. All sea turtles... (Dermochelys coriacea), and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) sea turtles are listed as endangered. Loggerhead... turtles endangered wherever they occur in U.S. waters. While some sea turtle populations have shown signs...

  18. 21 CFR 1240.62 - Turtles intrastate and interstate requirements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Turtles intrastate and interstate requirements....62 Turtles intrastate and interstate requirements. (a) Definition. As used in this section the term “turtles” includes all animals commonly known as turtles, tortoises, terrapins, and all other animals of...

  19. 77 FR 27411 - Sea Turtle Conservation; Shrimp Trawling Requirements

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-05-10

    ... imbricata) turtles are listed as endangered. The loggerhead (Caretta caretta; Northwest Atlantic distinct... populations of green turtles in Florida and on the Pacific coast of Mexico, which are listed as endangered... regulations (50 CFR 223.206) are followed. The same conservation measures also apply to endangered sea turtles...

  20. 77 FR 474 - 2012 Annual Determination for Sea Turtle Observer Requirement

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-05

    ... listed as endangered or threatened. All sea turtles found in U.S. waters are listed as either endangered... (Dermochelys coriacea), and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) sea turtles are listed as endangered. Loggerhead... ridley turtles away from the nesting beach, NMFS considers these turtles endangered wherever they occur...

  1. 78 FR 77428 - 2014 Annual Determination for Sea Turtle Observer Requirement

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-12-23

    ... listed as endangered or threatened. All sea turtles found in U.S. waters are listed as either endangered... imbricata) sea turtles are listed as endangered. Loggerhead (Caretta caretta; Northwest Atlantic distinct... and olive ridley turtles away from the nesting beach, NMFS considers these turtles endangered wherever...

  2. The girdles of the oldest fossil turtle, Proterochersis robusta, and the age of the turtle crown.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joyce, Walter G; Schoch, Rainer R; Lyson, Tyler R

    2013-12-06

    Proterochersis robusta from the Late Triassic (Middle Norian) of Germany is the oldest known fossil turtle (i.e. amniote with a fully formed turtle shell), but little is known about its anatomy. A newly prepared, historic specimen provides novel insights into the morphology of the girdles and vertebral column of this taxon and the opportunity to reassess its phylogenetic position. The anatomy of the pectoral girdle of P. robusta is similar to that of other primitive turtles, including the Late Triassic (Carnian) Proganochelys quenstedti, in having a vertically oriented scapula, a large coracoid foramen, a short acromion process, and bony ridges that connect the acromion process with the dorsal process, glenoid, and coracoid, and by being able to rotate along a vertical axis. The pelvic elements are expanded distally and suturally attached to the shell, but in contrast to modern pleurodiran turtles the pelvis is associated with the sacral ribs. The primary homology of the character "sutured pelvis" is unproblematic between P. robusta and extant pleurodires. However, integration of all new observations into the most complete phylogenetic analysis that support the pleurodiran nature of P. robusta reveals that this taxon is more parsimoniously placed along the phylogenetic stem of crown Testudines. All current phylogenetic hypotheses therefore support the basal placement of this taxon, imply that the sutured pelvis of this taxon developed independently from that of pleurodires, and conclude that the age of the turtle crown is Middle Jurassic.

  3. Global analysis of anthropogenic debris ingestion by sea turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schuyler, Qamar; Hardesty, Britta Denise; Wilcox, Chris; Townsend, Kathy

    2014-02-01

    Ingestion of marine debris can have lethal and sublethal effects on sea turtles and other wildlife. Although researchers have reported on ingestion of anthropogenic debris by marine turtles and implied incidences of debris ingestion have increased over time, there has not been a global synthesis of the phenomenon since 1985. Thus, we analyzed 37 studies published from 1985 to 2012 that report on data collected from before 1900 through 2011. Specifically, we investigated whether ingestion prevalence has changed over time, what types of debris are most commonly ingested, the geographic distribution of debris ingestion by marine turtles relative to global debris distribution, and which species and life-history stages are most likely to ingest debris. The probability of green (Chelonia mydas) and leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) ingesting debris increased significantly over time, and plastic was the most commonly ingested debris. Turtles in nearly all regions studied ingest debris, but the probability of ingestion was not related to modeled debris densities. Furthermore, smaller, oceanic-stage turtles were more likely to ingest debris than coastal foragers, whereas carnivorous species were less likely to ingest debris than herbivores or gelatinovores. Our results indicate oceanic leatherback turtles and green turtles are at the greatest risk of both lethal and sublethal effects from ingested marine debris. To reduce this risk, anthropogenic debris must be managed at a global level. © 2013 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., on behalf of the Society for Conservation Biology.

  4. The status of marine turtles in Montserrat (Eastern Caribbean

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martin, C. S.

    2005-12-01

    Full Text Available The status of marine turtles in Montserrat (Eastern Caribbean is reviewed following five years of monitoring (1999-2003. The mean number of nests recorded during the annual nesting season (June-October was 53 (± 24.9 SD; range: 13-43. In accordance with earlier reports, the nesting of hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata and green (Chelonia mydas turtles was confirmed on several beaches around the island. Only non-nesting emergences were documented for loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta and there was no evidence of nesting by leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea; however, it is possible that additional survey effort would reveal low density nesting by these species. Officially reported turtle capture data for 1993-2003 suggest that a mean of 0.9 turtle per year (±1.2 SD; range: 0-4 were landed island-wide, with all harvest having occurred during the annual open season (1 October to 31 May. Informed observers believe that the harvest is significantly under-reported and that fishermen avoid declaring their catch by butchering turtles at sea (both during and outside the open season. Of concern is the fact that breeding adults are potentially included in the harvest, and that the open season partially coincides with the breeding season. The present study has shown that although Montserrat is not a major nesting site for sea turtles, it remains important on a regional basis for the Eastern Caribbean.

  5. Turtle cleaners: reef fishes foraging on epibionts of sea turtles in the tropical Southwestern Atlantic, with a summary of this association type

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristina Sazima

    Full Text Available In the present study we record several instances of reef fish species foraging on epibionts of sea turtles (cleaning symbiosis at the oceanic islands of Fernando de Noronha Archipelago and near a shipwreck, both off the coast of Pernambuco State, northeast Brazil. Nine reef fish species and three turtle species involved in cleaning are herein recorded. Besides our records, a summary of the literature on this association type is presented. Postures adopted by turtles during the interaction are related to the habits of associated fishes. Feeding associations between fishes and turtles seem a localized, albeit common, phenomenon.

  6. The feeding habit of sea turtles influences their reaction to artificial marine debris

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fukuoka, Takuya; Yamane, Misaki; Kinoshita, Chihiro; Narazaki, Tomoko; Marshall, Greg J.; Abernathy, Kyler J.; Miyazaki, Nobuyuki; Sato, Katsufumi

    2016-01-01

    Ingestion of artificial debris is considered as a significant stress for wildlife including sea turtles. To investigate how turtles react to artificial debris under natural conditions, we deployed animal-borne video cameras on loggerhead and green turtles in addition to feces and gut contents analyses from 2007 to 2015. Frequency of occurrences of artificial debris in feces and gut contents collected from loggerhead turtles were 35.7% (10/28) and 84.6% (11/13), respectively. Artificial debris appeared in all green turtles in feces (25/25) and gut contents (10/10), and green turtles ingested more debris (feces; 15.8 ± 33.4 g, gut; 39.8 ± 51.2 g) than loggerhead turtles (feces; 1.6 ± 3.7 g, gut; 9.7 ± 15.0 g). In the video records (60 and 52.5 hours from 10 loggerhead and 6 green turtles, respectively), turtles encountered 46 artificial debris and ingested 23 of them. The encounter-ingestion ratio of artificial debris in green turtles (61.8%) was significantly higher than that in loggerhead turtles (16.7%). Loggerhead turtles frequently fed on gelatinous prey (78/84), however, green turtles mainly fed marine algae (156/210), and partly consumed gelatinous prey (10/210). Turtles seemed to confuse solo drifting debris with their diet, and omnivorous green turtles were more attracted by artificial debris. PMID:27305858

  7. Marine turtles use geomagnetic cues during open-sea homing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luschi, Paolo; Benhamou, Simon; Girard, Charlotte; Ciccione, Stephane; Roos, David; Sudre, Joël; Benvenuti, Silvano

    2007-01-23

    Marine turtles are renowned long-distance navigators, able to reach remote targets in the oceanic environment; yet the sensory cues and navigational mechanisms they employ remain unclear [1, 3]. Recent arena experiments indicated an involvement of magnetic cues in juvenile turtles' homing ability after simulated displacements [4, 5], but the actual role of geomagnetic information in guiding turtles navigating in their natural environment has remained beyond the reach of experimental investigations. In the present experiment, twenty satellite-tracked green turtles (Chelonia mydas) were transported to four open-sea release sites 100-120 km from their nesting beach on Mayotte island in the Mozambique Channel; 13 of them had magnets attached to their head either during the outward journey or during the homing trip. All but one turtle safely returned to Mayotte to complete their egg-laying cycle, albeit with indirect routes, and showed a general inability to take into account the deflecting action of ocean currents as estimated through remote-sensing oceanographic measurements [7]. Magnetically treated turtles displayed a significant lengthening of their homing paths with respect to controls, either when treated during transportation or when treated during homing. These findings represent the first field evidence for the involvement of geomagnetic cues in sea-turtle navigation.

  8. The comparative kinetics of Ca, Sr, And Ra in a freshwater turtle, Trachemys scripta

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hinton, T.G.

    1989-01-01

    The accumulation of 45 Ca, 47 Ca, 88 Sr, and 226 Ra was studied in the yellow-bellied slider, a common freshwater turtle of the Southeastern US. The author was particularly interested in testing the hypothesis of competitive inhibition, a concept whereby decreasing the intake of a stable dietary element increases the absorption and retention of chemically similar radionuclides. He established four specific hypotheses and examined the processes of absorption and elimination as a function of stable dietary calcium (2 and 20 mg g -1 ), season (summer, fall, winter and spring), and age and sex of the animals (hatchlings, juveniles, adult males, adult females, and gravid females). Turtles were gavaged with radionuclides and the gamma-emitting isotopes were detected during serial whole-body counts performed on the live animals for up to 480 d. The analysis of the beta-emitting 45 Ca was accomplished by chemical separation procedures. Data were fit to a two-component exponential retention model by nonlinear regression. The 10-fold reduction in dietary Ca did not affect the elimination rate constants, and increased the assimilation of Sr and Ra only within juveniles. For all animals the absorption of Ca was significantly greater than Sr, and likewise, Sr was greater than Ra. Mean absorptions were generally higher than values reported for other organisms. Unlike many other organisms, absorption rates did not decline at maturity. He suspects that high Ca demands in constructing and maintaining the massive shell, necessitated by the turtle's survival strategy, may contribute to the high absorption, as well as the lack of a decline at maturity. Elimination rate constants were greatest in the summer and declined to levels that were generally not distinguishable from zero in the spring, winter, and fall seasons

  9. Survival and behavior of freshwater turtles after rehabilitation from an oil spill

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saba, V.S.; Spotila, J.R.

    2003-01-01

    An oil spill in February 2000 at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Pennsylvania affected four species of freshwater turtles including painted turtles (Chrysemys picta), snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina), red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta), and red-bellied turtles (Pseudemys rubriventris). In the summer and fall of 2000, there were no differences in survival, home range, and temperature preference of 16 oil exposed/rehabilitated (OER) turtles, 18 possibly exposed (PE) turtles, and 32 non-exposed (NE) turtles as measured with temperature sensitive radio transmitters. Post-release mortality or transmitter loss was not correlated to oil exposure (OER=25%, PE=22%, NE=31%). There were no statistically significant differences in home range minimum convex polygon area, (0.28 o C±6.9 (female C. serpentina) to 22.3 o C±8.5 (female C. picta). Rehabilitation of oil exposed freshwater turtles is effective in restoring these animals to normal behavior in nature.(author)

  10. Epibiotic Diatoms Are Universally Present on All Sea Turtle Species

    Science.gov (United States)

    Majewska, Roksana; Lazo-Wasem, Eric A.; Nel, Ronel; Paladino, Frank V.; Rojas, Lourdes; Zardus, John D.; Pinou, Theodora

    2016-01-01

    The macro-epibiotic communities of sea turtles have been subject to growing interest in recent years, yet their micro-epibiotic counterparts are almost entirely unknown. Here, we provide the first evidence that diatoms are epibionts for all seven extant species of sea turtle. Using Scanning Electron Microscopy, we inspected superficial carapace or skin samples from a single representative of each turtle species. We distinguished 18 diatom taxa from these seven individuals, with each sea turtle species hosting at least two diatom taxa. We recommend that future research is undertaken to confirm whether diatom communities vary between sea turtle species and whether these diatom taxa are facultative or obligate commensals. PMID:27257972

  11. Epibiotic Diatoms Are Universally Present on All Sea Turtle Species

    OpenAIRE

    Robinson, Nathan J.; Majewska, Roksana; Lazo-Wasem, Eric A.; Nel, Ronel; Paladino, Frank V.; Rojas, Lourdes; Zardus, John D.; Pinou, Theodora

    2016-01-01

    The macro-epibiotic communities of sea turtles have been subject to growing interest in recent years, yet their micro-epibiotic counterparts are almost entirely unknown. Here, we provide the first evidence that diatoms are epibionts for all seven extant species of sea turtle. Using Scanning Electron Microscopy, we inspected superficial carapace or skin samples from a single representative of each turtle species. We distinguished 18 diatom taxa from these seven individuals, with each sea turtl...

  12. The draft genomes of soft–shell turtle and green sea turtle yield insights into the development and evolution of the turtle–specific body plan

    OpenAIRE

    Wang, Zhuo; Pascual-Anaya, Juan; Zadissa, Amonida; Li, Wenqi; Niimura, Yoshihito; Huang, Zhiyong; Li, Chunyi; White, Simon; Xiong, Zhiqiang; Fang, Dongming; Wang, Bo; Ming, Yao; Chen, Yan; Zheng, Yuan; Kuraku, Shigehiro

    2013-01-01

    The unique anatomical features of turtles have raised unanswered questions about the origin of their unique body plan. We generated and analyzed draft genomes of the soft-shell turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis) and the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas); our results indicated the close relationship of the turtles to the bird-crocodilian lineage, from which they split ~267.9–248.3 million years ago (Upper Permian to Triassic). We also found extensive expansion of olfactory receptor genes in these tu...

  13. uG-LilyPond - Floating Plant Pond for Microgravity, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The proposed μG-LilyPond is an autonomous environmentally controlled floating plant cultivation system for use in microgravity. The μG-LilyPond concept expands the...

  14. Tourists and turtles: Searching for a balance in Tortuguero, Costa Rica

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Meletis Zoe

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Tourism is seen as an important part of the turtle conservation ′toolbox′ that can be used to (1 raise awareness about sea turtles, (2 provide funding for conservation and management, and (3 create ′alternative livelihoods′ and revenues for communities who engage(d in direct consumption or sale of sea turtle products. With some exceptions, however, few studies of sea turtle tourism dedicate adequate attention to the wants, needs, and perceptions of tourists (exceptions include Wilson & Tisdell 2001; Smith 2002; Gray 2003; Meletis 2007; Ballantyne et al. 2009. In this paper, we focus on tourist perceptions of turtle tours in Tortuguero, Costa Rica, home to Tortuguero National Park (TNP; est. 1975 and among the oldest turtle tour systems in the world. In 2004, the tour system was changed to mitigate potential negative impacts of tourist activity on nesting turtles. Whereas tourists and their guides once walked the beach ′looking′ for nesting turtles, they now wait behind the beach and are radioed by TNP-affiliated ′turtle spotters′ when turtles are ′ready′ to be viewed. Impact mitigation was the primary motivation for this alteration to the tour system; resulting changes in the nature of the tour were not central considerations. Are the tourists enjoying the new tour format? Do they like/dislike the more passive waiting? Do the tourists know about, and understand the new tour system? In this paper, we address questions such as these, using a sample of 147 tourist surveys collected in 2008. We designed our survey to (1 add to the existing data on tourism in Tortuguero, (2 collect data on tourist perceptions of the (new tour system, and (3 gauge tourist awareness of the Turtle Spotter Program (TSP and the reasons for the new turtle tour system. The main purpose of this study was to collect data requested by interested stakeholders, and to consider the results with respect to implications for the future of turtle tour management

  15. AMAPPS turtle data

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Satellite tags were deployed on 60 loggerhead turtles to assess dive behavior to improve estimates of abundance in aerial surveys

  16. Induction of oviposition by the administration of oxytocin in hawksbill turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kawazu, Isao; Kino, Masakatsu; Maeda, Konomi; Yamaguchi, Yasuhiro; Sawamukai, Yutaka

    2014-12-01

    We set out to develop an oviposition induction technique for captive female hawksbill turtles Eretmochelys imbricata. The infertile eggs of nine females were induced to develop by the administration of follicle-stimulating hormone, after which we investigated the effects of administering oxytocin on oviposition. Seven of the turtles were held in a stationary horizontal position on a retention stand, and then oxytocin was administrated (0.6-0.8 units/kg of body weight; 5 mL). The seven turtles were retained for a mandatory 2 h period after oxytocin administration, and were then returned to the holding tanks. As the control, normal saline (5 mL) was administered to the other two turtles, followed by the administration of oxytocin after 24 h. The eggs in oviducts of all nine turtles were observed by ultrasonography at 24 h after oxytocin administration. The control experiment validated that stationary retention and normal saline administration had no effect on egg oviposition. Eight of the turtles began ovipositing eggs at 17-43 min after oxytocin administration, while one began ovipositing in the holding tank immediately after retention. All turtles finished ovipositing eggs within 24 h of oxytocin administration. This report is the first to demonstrate successful induced oviposition in sea turtles. We suggest that the muscles in the oviducts of hawksbill turtles may respond to relatively lower doses of oxytocin (inducing contractions) compared to land and freshwater turtles (4-40 units/kg) based on existing studies.

  17. NWHI Basking Green Turtle Data (Turtle Sightings from Seal Surveys)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains records of green turtle sightings in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) since 1982 at Lisianski Island, and since 1983 for most other...

  18. Predaceous ants, beach replenishment, and nest placement by sea turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wetterer, James K; Wood, Lawrence D; Johnson, Chris; Krahe, Holly; Fitchett, Stephanie

    2007-10-01

    Ants known for attacking and killing hatchling birds and reptiles include the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta Buren), tropical fire ant [Solenopsis geminata (Fabr.)], and little fire ant [Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger)]. We tested whether sea turtle nest placement influenced exposure to predaceous ants. In 2000 and 2001, we surveyed ants along a Florida beach where green turtles (Chelonia mydas L.), leatherbacks (Dermochelys coriacea Vandelli), and loggerheads (Caretta caretta L.) nest. Part of the beach was artificially replenished between our two surveys. As a result, mean beach width experienced by nesting turtles differed greatly between the two nesting seasons. We surveyed 1,548 sea turtle nests (2000: 909 nests; 2001: 639 nests) and found 22 ant species. S. invicta was by far the most common species (on 431 nests); S. geminata and W. auropunctata were uncommon (on 3 and 16 nests, respectively). In 2000, 62.5% of nests had ants present (35.9% with S. invicta), but in 2001, only 30.5% of the nests had ants present (16.4% with S. invicta). Turtle nests closer to dune vegetation had significantly greater exposure to ants. Differences in ant presence on turtle nests between years and among turtle species were closely related to differences in nest placement relative to dune vegetation. Beach replenishment significantly lowered exposure of nests to ants because on the wider beaches turtles nested farther from the dune vegetation. Selective pressures on nesting sea turtles are altered both by the presence of predaceous ants and the practice of beach replenishment.

  19. Body plan of turtles: an anatomical, developmental and evolutionary perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagashima, Hiroshi; Kuraku, Shigehiro; Uchida, Katsuhisa; Kawashima-Ohya, Yoshie; Narita, Yuichi; Kuratani, Shigeru

    2012-03-01

    The evolution of the turtle shell has long been one of the central debates in comparative anatomy. The turtle shell consists of dorsal and ventral parts: the carapace and plastron, respectively. The basic structure of the carapace comprises vertebrae and ribs. The pectoral girdle of turtles sits inside the carapace or the rib cage, in striking contrast to the body plan of other tetrapods. Due to this topological change in the arrangement of skeletal elements, the carapace has been regarded as an example of evolutionary novelty that violates the ancestral body plan of tetrapods. Comparing the spatial relationships of anatomical structures in the embryos of turtles and other amniotes, we have shown that the topology of the musculoskeletal system is largely conserved even in turtles. The positional changes seen in the ribs and pectoral girdle can be ascribed to turtle-specific folding of the lateral body wall in the late developmental stages. Whereas the ribs of other amniotes grow from the axial domain to the lateral body wall, turtle ribs remain arrested axially. Marginal growth of the axial domain in turtle embryos brings the morphologically short ribs in to cover the scapula dorsocaudally. This concentric growth appears to be induced by the margin of the carapace, which involves an ancestral gene expression cascade in a new location. These comparative developmental data allow us to hypothesize the gradual evolution of turtles, which is consistent with the recent finding of a transitional fossil animal, Odontochelys, which did not have the carapace but already possessed the plastron.

  20. Epibiotic Diatoms Are Universally Present on All Sea Turtle Species.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nathan J Robinson

    Full Text Available The macro-epibiotic communities of sea turtles have been subject to growing interest in recent years, yet their micro-epibiotic counterparts are almost entirely unknown. Here, we provide the first evidence that diatoms are epibionts for all seven extant species of sea turtle. Using Scanning Electron Microscopy, we inspected superficial carapace or skin samples from a single representative of each turtle species. We distinguished 18 diatom taxa from these seven individuals, with each sea turtle species hosting at least two diatom taxa. We recommend that future research is undertaken to confirm whether diatom communities vary between sea turtle species and whether these diatom taxa are facultative or obligate commensals.

  1. Yellow perch embryo-larval survival and growth in surface waters associated with oil-sands mining

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peters, L.E.; Heuvel, M.R. van den; Dixon, D.G.; Power, M.; Boerger, H.; MacKinnon, M.D.; Meer, T. Van

    1995-01-01

    As part of their land reclamation strategy, Syncrude Canada Ltd. is currently developing environmentally acceptable tailings disposal methods. Fine tailings, a suspension of clay and residual bitumen, is the waste product from oil sands extraction. Fine-tailings contain naphthenic acids, a group of saturated aliphatic and alicyclic carboxylic acids, which occur naturally in petroleum and are partly responsible for the toxicity of process water. The wet landscape method involves covering fine tails with a layer of water such that a self-sustaining ecosystem can be established. A 5 ha demonstration pond with a bottom of fine-tailings was constructed and stocked with yellow perch for experimental purposes. Two other reclaimed ponds formed with oil-sands overburden material were also stocked with perch. Adult perch sampled in the fall of 1995 from the experimental and reclaimed ponds exhibited a 2-fold induction of MFO activity compared to the source lake; indicating organic compound exposure. Perch from one of the reclaimed ponds showed significantly reduced circulating reproductive hormone levels, gonad size and smaller ovarian follicles. Reproductive parameters were not different between the source lake and the remaining ponds. Paired lab and field experiments were conducted to determine if contaminants present would be detrimental to egg viability and development of larvae either through direct exposure of spawned eggs or indirectly by effecting oogenesis. An early life stage toxicity test was also performed using commercially available naphthenic acid standard. Endpoints measured were percent fertilization, percent hatch, mortality, deformities, timing of developmental periods and larval growth

  2. Measuring Energy Expenditure in Sub-Adult and Hatchling Sea Turtles via Accelerometry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Halsey, Lewis G.; Jones, T. Todd; Jones, David R.; Liebsch, Nikolai; Booth, David T.

    2011-01-01

    Measuring the metabolic of sea turtles is fundamental to understanding their ecology yet the presently available methods are limited. Accelerometry is a relatively new technique for estimating metabolic rate that has shown promise with a number of species but its utility with air-breathing divers is not yet established. The present study undertakes laboratory experiments to investigate whether rate of oxygen uptake ( o 2) at the surface in active sub-adult green turtles Chelonia mydas and hatchling loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta correlates with overall dynamic body acceleration (ODBA), a derivative of acceleration used as a proxy for metabolic rate. Six green turtles (25–44 kg) and two loggerhead turtles (20 g) were instrumented with tri-axial acceleration logging devices and placed singly into a respirometry chamber. The green turtles were able to submerge freely within a 1.5 m deep tank and the loggerhead turtles were tethered in water 16 cm deep so that they swam at the surface. A significant prediction equation for mean o 2 over an hour in a green turtle from measures of ODBA and mean flipper length (R2 = 0.56) returned a mean estimate error across turtles of 8.0%. The range of temperatures used in the green turtle experiments (22–30°C) had only a small effect on o 2. A o 2-ODBA equation for the loggerhead hatchling data was also significant (R2 = 0.67). Together these data indicate the potential of the accelerometry technique for estimating energy expenditure in sea turtles, which may have important applications in sea turtle diving ecology, and also in conservation such as assessing turtle survival times when trapped underwater in fishing nets. PMID:21829613

  3. Sea Turtle Bycatch Mitigation in U.S. Longline Fisheries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yonat Swimmer

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Capture of sea turtles in longline fisheries has been implicated in population declines of loggerhead (Caretta caretta and leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea turtles. Since 2004, United States (U.S. longline vessels targeting swordfish and tunas in the Pacific and regions in the Atlantic Ocean have operated under extensive fisheries regulations to reduce the capture and mortality of endangered and threatened sea turtles. We analyzed 20+ years of longline observer data from both ocean basins during periods before and after the regulations to assess the effectiveness of the regulations. Using generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs, we investigated relationships between the probability of expected turtle interactions and operational components such as fishing location, hook type, bait type, sea surface temperature, and use of light sticks. GAMMs identified a two to three-fold lower probability of expected capture of loggerhead and leatherback turtle bycatch in the Atlantic and Pacific when circle hooks are used (vs. J hook. Use of fish bait (vs. squid was also found to significantly reduce the capture probability of loggerheads in both ocean basins, and for leatherbacks in the Atlantic only. Capture probabilities are lowest when using a combination of circle hook and fish bait. Influences of light sticks, hook depth, geographic location, and sea surface temperature are discussed specific to species and regions. Results confirmed that in two U.S.-managed longline fisheries, rates of sea turtle bycatch significantly declined after the regulations. In the Atlantic (all regions, rates declined by 40 and 61% for leatherback and loggerhead turtles, respectively, after the regulations. Within the NED area alone, where additional restrictions include a large circle hook (18/0 and limited use of squid bait, rates declined by 64 and 55% for leatherback and loggerhead turtles, respectively. Gains were even more pronounced for the Pacific shallow set fishery

  4. European Atlantic Turtles

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Brongersma, L.D.

    1972-01-01

    CONTENTS Preface ................... 3 Introduction .................. 5 Identification.................. 13 The records................... 25 I. Dermochelys coriacea (L.), Leathery Turtle......... 30 IA. List of records of Dermochelys coriacea (L.)......... 31 IB. List of records of unidentified

  5. 216-B-3 expansion ponds closure plan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-10-01

    This document describes the activities for clean closure under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA) of the 216-B-3 Expansion Ponds. The 216-B-3 Expansion Ponds are operated by the US Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office (DOE-RL) and co-operated by Westinghouse Hanford Company (Westinghouse Hanford). The 216-B-3 Expansion Ponds consists of a series of three earthen, unlined, interconnected ponds that receive waste water from various 200 East Area operating facilities. The 3A, 3B, and 3C ponds are referred to as Expansion Ponds because they expanded the capability of the B Pond System. Waste water (primarily cooling water, steam condensate, and sanitary water) from various 200 East Area facilities is discharged to the Bypass pipe (Project X-009). Water discharged to the Bypass pipe flows directly into the 216-B-3C Pond. The ponds were operated in a cascade mode, where the Main Pond overflowed into the 3A Pond and the 3A Pond overflowed into the 3C Pond. The 3B Pond has not received waste water since May 1985; however, when in operation, the 3B Pond received overflow from the 3A Pond. In the past, waste water discharges to the Expansion Ponds had the potential to have contained mixed waste (radioactive waste and dangerous waste). The radioactive portion of mixed waste has been interpreted by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to be regulated under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954; the dangerous waste portion of mixed waste is regulated under RCRA

  6. 216-B-3 expansion ponds closure plan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1994-10-01

    This document describes the activities for clean closure under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA) of the 216-B-3 Expansion Ponds. The 216-B-3 Expansion Ponds are operated by the US Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office (DOE-RL) and co-operated by Westinghouse Hanford Company (Westinghouse Hanford). The 216-B-3 Expansion Ponds consists of a series of three earthen, unlined, interconnected ponds that receive waste water from various 200 East Area operating facilities. The 3A, 3B, and 3C ponds are referred to as Expansion Ponds because they expanded the capability of the B Pond System. Waste water (primarily cooling water, steam condensate, and sanitary water) from various 200 East Area facilities is discharged to the Bypass pipe (Project X-009). Water discharged to the Bypass pipe flows directly into the 216-B-3C Pond. The ponds were operated in a cascade mode, where the Main Pond overflowed into the 3A Pond and the 3A Pond overflowed into the 3C Pond. The 3B Pond has not received waste water since May 1985; however, when in operation, the 3B Pond received overflow from the 3A Pond. In the past, waste water discharges to the Expansion Ponds had the potential to have contained mixed waste (radioactive waste and dangerous waste). The radioactive portion of mixed waste has been interpreted by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to be regulated under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954; the dangerous waste portion of mixed waste is regulated under RCRA.

  7. Helminth fauna of a turtle species introduced in Japan, the red-eared slider turtle (Trachemys scripta elegans).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oi, M; Araki, J; Matsumoto, J; Nogami, S

    2012-10-01

    The red-eared slider turtle (Trachemys scripta elegans) was intentionally introduced from the United States to Japan as a pet in the 1950s and has become established throughout much of the country. We examined red-eared slider turtles from two localities in Japan for foreign parasitic helminths. Consequently, a total of seven species of helminths were found: two monogeneans (Neopolystoma exhamatum and Polystomoides japonicum), three digeneans (Spirorchisartericola, Spi.elegans and Telorchis clemmydis) and two nematodes (Serpinema microcephalum and Falcaustra wardi). Of these, three helminths are alien to Japan-Spi.artericola, Spi. elegans and F. wardi-which represent the first report of their presence in the red-eared slider turtle from Japan. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Populations and home range relationships of the box turtle, Terrapene carolina (Linnaeus)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stickel, L.F.

    1949-01-01

    A population study of Terrapene carolina (Linnaeus) was made at the Patuxent Research Refuge, Maryland, from 1944 to 1947. A thirty acre area in bottomland forest was selected for intensive study. Turtles were marked by filing notches in marginal scutes according to a code. Turtles make extensive use of brushy shelter during the day as well.as at night. Gully banks and woods openings are used for sunning. Nights are usually spent in a 'form,' constructed by the turtle in leaves, debris, or earth. A form may be used once or it may be used repeatedly by the same or different turtles. Weather conditions most favorable to turtle activity are high humidity, warm sunny days, and frequent rains. Periods of activity are alternated with periods of quiet, even in favorable weather. There is no evidence for territorialism. Ranges of turtles of all ages and both sexes overlap grossly. Turtles are frequently found near each other but no antagonistic behavior has been observed. Adult turtles occupy specific home ranges which they maintain from year to year. Turtles retained their ranges even though a flood that completely covered the study area. Maximum home range diameters were determined by measurements of the mapped ranges of individual turtles. There was no significant difference between sizes of male and female ranges: males 33O+ 26 feet, females 37O+29 feet. A trail-laying device was used in following travel routes for 456 turtle days. Normal movements within the home range are characterized by (1) turns, doublings, detours, and criss-crossing paths, (2) interspersion of fairly direct traverses of the home range, (3) frequently repeated travels over certain routes. Maximum limits of the home range are ordinarily reached within a few days or weeks, although some turtles cover only one portion of the range at a time. Some turtles have two home ranges. One of these turtles was followed with a trailer for 161 days in 1946 and 1947. Trips outside the home range are made by

  9. The role of geomagnetic cues in green turtle open sea navigation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simon Benhamou

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Laboratory and field experiments have provided evidence that sea turtles use geomagnetic cues to navigate in the open sea. For instance, green turtles (Chelonia mydas displaced 100 km away from their nesting site were impaired in returning home when carrying a strong magnet glued on the head. However, the actual role of geomagnetic cues remains unclear, since magnetically treated green turtles can perform large scale (>2000 km post-nesting migrations no differently from controls. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In the present homing experiment, 24 green turtles were displaced 200 km away from their nesting site on an oceanic island, and tracked, for the first time in this type of experiment, with Global Positioning System (GPS, which is able to provide much more frequent and accurate locations than previously used tracking methods. Eight turtles were magnetically treated for 24-48 h on the nesting beach prior to displacement, and another eight turtles had a magnet glued on the head at the release site. The last eight turtles were used as controls. Detailed analyses of water masses-related (i.e., current-corrected homing paths showed that magnetically treated turtles were able to navigate toward their nesting site as efficiently as controls, but those carrying magnets were significantly impaired once they arrived within 50 km of home. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: While green turtles do not seem to need geomagnetic cues to navigate far from the goal, these cues become necessary when turtles get closer to home. As the very last part of the homing trip (within a few kilometers of home likely depends on non-magnetic cues, our results suggest that magnetic cues play a key role in sea turtle navigation at an intermediate scale by bridging the gap between large and small scale navigational processes, which both appear to depend on non-magnetic cues.

  10. Dispersion of radioactively contamination turtles on the SRP: research and reconnaissance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lamb, T.; Taylor, B.; Gibbons, J.W.

    1986-01-01

    Although SREL continued long-term studies on turtles during 1986, much research effort centered on contaminated turtle dispersion. The problem of radionuclide contamination in turtles and their dispersal through aquatic sites on and off the Savannah River Plant (SRP) was approached along three fronts. The first involved site reconnaissance, where aquatic habitats, adjacent to contaminated areas on the SRP were identified and surveyed for contaminated turtles. The second approach involved the development of a dispersal model. Third, mitochondrial DNA analysis was conducted to assess genetic differentiation between turtle populations inhabiting either side of the Savannah River near SRP. 1 figures, 2 tables

  11. Factors influencing survivorship of rehabilitating green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) with fibropapillomatosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Page-Karjian, Annie; Norton, Terry M; Krimer, Paula; Groner, Maya; Nelson, Steven E; Gottdenker, Nicole L

    2014-09-01

    Marine turtle fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a debilitating, infectious neoplastic disease that has reached epizootic proportions in several tropical and subtropical populations of green turtles (Chelonia mydas). FP represents an important health concern in sea turtle rehabilitation facilities. The objectives of this study were to describe the observed epidemiology, biology, and survival rates of turtles affected by FP (FP+ turtles) in a rehabilitation environment; to evaluate clinical parameters as predictors of survival in affected rehabilitating turtles; and to provide information about case progression scenarios and potential outcomes for FP+ sea turtle patients. A retrospective case series analysis was performed using the medical records of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center (GSTC), Jekyll Island, Georgia, USA, during 2009-2013. Information evaluated included signalment, morphometrics, presenting complaint, time to FP onset, tumor score (0-3), co-morbid conditions, diagnostic test results, therapeutic interventions, and case outcomes. Overall, FP was present in 27/362 (7.5%) of all sea turtles admitted to the GSTC for rehabilitation, either upon admittance or during their rehabilitation. Of these, 25 were green and 2 were Kemp's ridley turtles. Of 10 turtles that had only plaque-like FP lesions, 60% had natural tumor regression, all were released, and they were significantly more likely to survive than those with classic FP (P = 0.02 [0.27-0.75, 95% CI]). Turtles without ocular FP were eight times more likely to survive than those with ocular FP (odds ratio = 8.75, P = 0.032 [1.21-63.43, 95% CI]). Laser-mediated tumor removal surgery is the treatment of choice for FP+ patients at the GSTC; number of surgeries was not significantly related to case outcome.

  12. Impacts of plastic ingestion on post-hatchling loggerhead turtles off South Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ryan, Peter G; Cole, Georgina; Spiby, Kevin; Nel, Ronel; Osborne, Alexis; Perold, Vonica

    2016-06-15

    Twenty-four of 40 (60%) loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta post-hatchlings (carapaceTurtles selected for white (38%) and blue (19%) items, but translucent items (23%) were under-represented compared to beach mesodebris. Ingested loads did not decrease up to 52days in captivity, indicating long retention times. Plastic killed 11 turtles by blocking their digestive tracts or bladders, and contributed to the deaths of five other turtles. Our results indicate that the amount and diversity of plastic ingested by post-hatchling loggerhead turtles off South Africa have increased over the last four decades, and now kill some turtles. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Columbia River ESI: REPTILES (Reptile and Amphibian Polygons)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains sensitive biological resource data for western pond turtles and western painted turtles in Columbia River. Vector polygons in this data set...

  14. Heavy metal composition in stormwater and retention in ponds dependent on pond age, design and catchment type

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Egemose, Sara; Sønderup, Melanie J.; Grudinina, Anna

    2015-01-01

    Heavy metals have toxic effects on flora and fauna in the aquatic environments and are of great concern in stormwater. Heavy metal runoff was studied in 37 stormwater ponds in Denmark with varying heavy metal load, catchment type and pond design. The studied metals were Cu, Cr, Cd, Pb, Ni and Zn...... difficult to retain. The removal efficiency in the ponds varied considerably, with the highest retention of Pb, Ni and Zn due to higher particulate fraction. The retention increased with increased pond volume-to-reduced catchment area ratio. In addition, the pond age affected the efficiency; whereas ponds...... less than 1-2 years efficiently removed all metals, 30-40-year-old ponds only removed Pb, Ni and Zn, but steeply decreasing over the years. Physical parameters such as pond size, age and sedimentation patterns were found to play a more significant role in the removal compared with chemical parameters...

  15. The aquatic turtle assemblage inhabiting a highly altered landscape in southeast Missouri

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glorioso, Brad M.; Vaughn, Allison J.; Waddle, J. Hardin

    2010-01-01

    Turtles are linked to energetic food webs as both consumers of plants and animals and prey for many species. Turtle biomass in freshwater systems can be an order of magnitude greater than that of endotherms. Therefore, declines in freshwater turtle populations can change energy transfer in freshwater systems. Here we report on a mark–recapture study at a lake and adjacent borrow pit in a relict tract of bottomland hardwood forest in the Mississippi River floodplain in southeast Missouri, which was designed to gather baseline data, including sex ratio, size structure, and population size, density, and biomass, for the freshwater turtle population. Using a variety of capture methods, we captured seven species of freshwater turtles (snapping turtle Chelydra serpentina; red-eared slider Trachemys scripta; southern painted turtle Chrysemys dorsalis; river cooter Pseudemys concinna; false map turtle Graptemys pseudogeographica; eastern musk turtle Sternotherus odoratus; spiny softshell Apalone spinifera) comprising four families (Chelydridae, Emydidae, Kinosternidae, Trinoychidae). With the exception of red-eared sliders, nearly all individuals captured were adults. Most turtles were captured by baited hoop-nets, and this was the only capture method that caught all seven species. The unbaited fyke net was very successful in the borrow pit, but only captured four of the seven species. Basking traps and deep-water crawfish nets had minimal success. Red-eared sliders had the greatest population estimate (2,675), density (205/ha), and biomass (178 kg/ha). Two species exhibited a sex-ratio bias: snapping turtles C. serpentina in favor of males, and spiny softshells A. spinifera in favor of females.

  16. Morphological study of the plastron of the African sideneck turtle ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The morphological analysis of the plastron of the African sideneck turtle (Pelusios castaneus) was carried out using fifty adult turtles comprising twenty female and thirty male turtles picked up at different times from various river banks in Ibadan, Nigeria. The aim of the study was to provide baseline information that could be ...

  17. To eat or not to eat? Debris selectivity by marine turtles.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qamar Schuyler

    Full Text Available Marine debris is a growing problem for wildlife, and has been documented to affect more than 267 species worldwide. We investigated the prevalence of marine debris ingestion in 115 sea turtles stranded in Queensland between 2006-2011, and assessed how the ingestion rates differ between species (Eretmochelys imbricata vs. Chelonia mydas and by turtle size class (smaller oceanic feeders vs. larger benthic feeders. Concurrently, we conducted 25 beach surveys to estimate the composition of the debris present in the marine environment. Based on this proxy measurement of debris availability, we modeled turtles' debris preferences (color and type using a resource selection function, a method traditionally used for habitat and food selection. We found no significant difference in the overall probability of ingesting debris between the two species studied, both of which have similar life histories. Curved carapace length, however, was inversely correlated with the probability of ingesting debris; 54.5% of pelagic sized turtles had ingested debris, whereas only 25% of benthic feeding turtles were found with debris in their gastrointestinal system. Benthic and pelagic sized turtles also exhibited different selectivity ratios for debris ingestion. Benthic phase turtles had a strong selectivity for soft, clear plastic, lending support to the hypothesis that sea turtles ingest debris because it resembles natural prey items such as jellyfish. Pelagic turtles were much less selective in their feeding, though they showed a trend towards selectivity for rubber items such as balloons. Most ingested items were plastic and were positively buoyant. This study highlights the need to address increasing amounts of plastic in the marine environment, and provides evidence for the disproportionate ingestion of balloons by marine turtles.

  18. Health implications associated with exposure to farmed and wild sea turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warwick, Clifford; Arena, Phillip C; Steedman, Catrina

    2013-01-01

    Exposure to sea turtles may be increasing with expanding tourism, although reports of problems arising from interaction with free-living animals appear of negligible human health and safety concern. Exposure both to wild-caught and captive-housed sea turtles, including consumption of turtle products, raises several health concerns for the public, including: microbiological (bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi), macrobiological (macroparasites), and organic and inorganic toxic contaminants (biotoxins, organochlorines and heavy metals). We conducted a review of sea turtle associated human disease and its causative agents as well as a case study of the commercial sea turtle facility known as the Cayman Turtle Farm (which receives approximately 240,000 visitors annually) including the use of water sampling and laboratory microbial analysis which identified Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Aeromonas spp., Vibrio spp. and Salmonella spp. Our assessment is that pathogens and toxic contaminants may be loosely categorized to represent the following levels of potential risk: viruses and fungi = very low; protozoan parasites = very low to low; metazoan parasites, bacteria and environmental toxic contaminants = low or moderate to high; and biotoxin contaminant = moderate to very high. Farmed turtles and their consumable products may constitute a significant reservoir of potential human pathogen and toxin contamination. Greater awareness among health-care professionals regarding both potential pathogens and toxic contaminants from sea turtles, as well as key signs and symptoms of sea turtle-related human disease, is important for the prevention and control of salient disease.

  19. Emerging from the rib: resolving the turtle controversies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rice, Ritva; Riccio, Paul; Gilbert, Scott F; Cebra-Thomas, Judith

    2015-05-01

    Two of the major controversies in the present study of turtle shell development involve the mechanism by which the carapacial ridge initiates shell formation and the mechanism by which each rib forms the costal bones adjacent to it. This paper claims that both sides of each debate might be correct-but within the species examined. Mechanism is more properly "mechanisms," and there is more than one single way to initiate carapace formation and to form the costal bones. In the initiation of the shell, the rib precursors may be kept dorsal by either "axial displacement" (in the hard-shell turtles) or "axial arrest" (in the soft-shell turtle Pelodiscus), or by a combination of these. The former process would deflect the rib into the dorsal dermis and allow it to continue its growth there, while the latter process would truncate rib growth. In both instances, though, the result is to keep the ribs from extending into the ventral body wall. Our recent work has shown that the properties of the carapacial ridge, a key evolutionary innovation of turtles, differ greatly between these two groups. Similarly, the mechanism of costal bone formation may differ between soft-shell and hard-shell turtles, in that the hard-shell species may have both periosteal flattening as well as dermal bone induction, while the soft-shelled turtles may have only the first of these processes. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  20. Potential adverse health effects of persistent organic pollutants on sea turtles: evidences from a cross-sectional study on Cape Verde loggerhead sea turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Camacho, María; Luzardo, Octavio P; Boada, Luis D; López Jurado, Luis F; Medina, María; Zumbado, Manuel; Orós, Jorge

    2013-08-01

    The Cape Verde nesting population of loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) is the third largest population of this species in the world. For conservation purposes, it is essential to determine how these reptiles respond to different types of anthropogenic contaminants. We evaluated the presence of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the plasma of adult nesting loggerheads from Boa Vista Island, Cape Verde, and studied the effects of the contaminants on the health status of the turtles using hematological and biochemical parameters. All turtles had detectable levels of non-dioxin like PCBs, whereas dioxin-like congeners (DL-PCBs) were detected in only 30% of the turtles. Packed cell volume decreased with higher concentrations of PCBs, which suggests that PCB exposure could result in anemia in sea turtles. In addition, a negative association between some OCPs and white blood cells (WBC) and thrombocyte estimate was noted. The DDT-metabolite, p,p'-DDE was negatively correlated with the Na/K ratio and, additionally, a number of correlations between certain PAHs and electrolyte balances were found, which suggest that exposure to these environmental contaminants could affect the kidneys and salt glands in sea turtles. Additionally, several correlations were observed between these environmental pollutants (OCPs and PAHs) and enzyme activity (GGT, ALT, ALP and amylase) and serum protein levels, pointing to the possibility that these contaminants could induce adverse metabolic effects in sea turtles. Our results indicate that anthropogenic pollutants are present in the Cape Verde loggerhead turtle nesting population and could exert negative effects on several health parameters. Because of the importance of this loggerhead nesting population, protective regulations at national and international levels as well as international action are necessary for assuring the conservation of this population

  1. Survival and behavior of freshwater turtles after rehabilitation from an oil spill

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Saba, V S; Spotila, J R [Drexel Univ., Philadelphia, PA (United States). School of Environmental Science, Engineering and Policy

    2003-11-01

    An oil spill in February 2000 at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Pennsylvania affected four species of freshwater turtles including painted turtles (Chrysemys picta), snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina), red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta), and red-bellied turtles (Pseudemys rubriventris). In the summer and fall of 2000, there were no differences in survival, home range, and temperature preference of 16 oil exposed/rehabilitated (OER) turtles, 18 possibly exposed (PE) turtles, and 32 non-exposed (NE) turtles as measured with temperature sensitive radio transmitters. Post-release mortality or transmitter loss was not correlated to oil exposure (OER=25%, PE=22%, NE=31%). There were no statistically significant differences in home range minimum convex polygon area, (0.28turtles is effective in restoring these animals to normal behavior in nature.(author)

  2. Deep time perspective on turtle neck evolution: chasing the Hox code by vertebral morphology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Böhmer, Christine; Werneburg, Ingmar

    2017-08-21

    The unparalleled ability of turtle neck retraction is possible in three different modes, which characterize stem turtles, living side-necked (Pleurodira), and hidden-necked (Cryptodira) turtles, respectively. Despite the conservatism in vertebral count among turtles, there is significant functional and morphological regionalization in the cervical vertebral column. Since Hox genes play a fundamental role in determining the differentiation in vertebra morphology and based on our reconstruction of evolutionary genetics in deep time, we hypothesize genetic differences among the turtle groups and between turtles and other land vertebrates. We correlated anterior Hox gene expression and the quantifiable shape of the vertebrae to investigate the morphological modularity in the neck across living and extinct turtles. This permitted the reconstruction of the hypothetical ancestral Hox code pattern of the whole turtle clade. The scenario of the evolution of axial patterning in turtles indicates shifts in the spatial expression of HoxA-5 in relation to the reduction of cervical ribs in modern turtles and of HoxB-5 linked with a lower morphological differentiation between the anterior cervical vertebrae observed in cryptodirans. By comparison with the mammalian pattern, we illustrate how the fixed count of eight cervical vertebrae in turtles resulted from the emergence of the unique turtle shell.

  3. Turtle bycatch in the pelagic longline fishery off southern Africa ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Capture by pelagic longline fisheries has been identified as a key threat to turtle populations. This study is the first assessment of turtle bycatch in the South African pelagic longline fishery for tunas Thunnus spp. and swordfish Xiphias gladius. A total of 181 turtles was caught on observed sets between 1998 and 2005, at a ...

  4. Yellow Fever

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Testing Vaccine Information Testing for Vaccine Adverse Events Yellow fever Vaccine Continuing Education Course Yellow Fever Home Prevention Vaccine Vaccine Recommendations Reactions to Yellow Fever Vacine Yellow Fever Vaccine, Pregnancy, & ... Transmission Symptoms, Diagnosis, & Treatment Maps Africa ...

  5. Comparison between field data and ultimate heat-sink cooling-pond and spray-pond models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Codell, R.

    1982-09-01

    Two previously published reports, NUREG-0693 and NUREG-0733, presented models and methods by which ultimate heat sink cooling ponds and spray ponds used for safety-related water supplies in nuclear power plants could be analyzed for design-basis conditions of heat load and meteorology. These models were only partially verified with field data. The present report compares the NRC models to data collected for NRC by Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories on the performance of small geothermally heated ponds and spray ponds. These comparisons generally support the conclusion that the NRC models are useful tools in predicting ultimate heat sink performance

  6. Pond-aquifer flow and water availability in the vicinity of two coastal area seepage ponds, Glynn and Bulloch Counties, Georgia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clarke, John S.; Rumman, Malek Abu

    2005-01-01

    Pond-aquifer flow and water availability at excavated seepage pond sites in Glynn County and in southern Bulloch County, Georgia, were evaluated to determine their potential as sources of water supply for irrigation. Excavated seepage ponds derive water primarily from ground water seeping into the pond, in a manner similar to a dug well completed in a surficial aquifer. The availability of water from seepage ponds is controlled by the permeability of surficial deposits, the amount of precipitation recharging the ground-water system, and the volume of water stored in the pond. The viability of seepage ponds as supplies for irrigation is limited by low seepage rates and high dependence on climatic conditions. Ponds will not refill unless there is adequate precipitation to recharge the surficial aquifer, which subsequently drains (seeps) into the pond. Ground-water seepage was estimated using a water-budget approach that utilized on-site climatic and hydrologic measurements, computing pond-volume changes during pond pumping tests, and by digital simulation using steady-state and transient ground-water flow models. From August 1999 to May 2000, the Glynn County pond was mostly losing water (as indicated by negative net seepage); whereas from October 2000 to June 2001, the Bulloch County pond was mostly gaining water. At both sites, most ground-water seepage entered the pond following major rainfall events that provided recharge to the surficial aquifer. Net ground-water seepage, estimated using water-budget analysis and simulation, ranged from -11.5 to 15 gallons per minute (gal/min) at the Glynn County pond site and from -55 to 31 gal/min at the Bulloch County pond site. Simulated values during pumping tests indicate that groundwater seepage to both ponds increases with decreased pond stage. At the Glynn County pond, simulated net ground-water seepage varied between 7.8 gal/min at the beginning of the test (high pond stage and low hydraulic gradient) and 103 gal

  7. Endangered species: where leatherback turtles meet fisheries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferraroli, Sandra; Georges, Jean-Yves; Gaspar, Philippe; Le Maho, Yvon

    2004-06-03

    The dramatic worldwide decline in populations of the leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) is largely due to the high mortality associated with their interaction with fisheries, so a reduction of this overlap is critical to their survival. The discovery of narrow migration corridors used by the leatherbacks in the Pacific Ocean raised the possibility of protecting the turtles by restricting fishing in these key areas. Here we use satellite tracking to show that there is no equivalent of these corridors in the North Atlantic Ocean, because the turtles disperse actively over the whole area. But we are able to identify a few 'hot spots' where leatherbacks meet fisheries and where conservation efforts should be focused.

  8. Lake or Pond WBID

    Data.gov (United States)

    Vermont Center for Geographic Information — The VT DEC (Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation) manages an inventory of lake and pond information. The "Lakes and Ponds Inventory" stores the Water...

  9. South Bay Salt Pond Tidal Marsh Restoration at Pond A17 Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Information about the SFBWQP South Bay Salt Pond Tidal Marsh Restoration at Pond A17 Project, part of an EPA competitive grant program to improve SF Bay water quality focused on restoring impaired waters and enhancing aquatic resources.

  10. Changes in tundra pond limnology: re-sampling Alaskan ponds after 40 years.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lougheed, Vanessa L; Butler, Malcolm G; McEwen, Daniel C; Hobbie, John E

    2011-09-01

    The arctic tundra ponds at the International Biological Program (IBP) site in Barrow, AK, were studied extensively in the 1970s; however, very little aquatic research has been conducted there for over three decades. Due to the rapid climate changes already occurring in northern Alaska, identifying any changes in the ponds' structure and function over the past 30-40 years can help identify any potential climate-related impacts. Current research on the IBP ponds has revealed significant changes in the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of these ponds over time. These changes include increased water temperatures, increased water column nutrient concentrations, the presence of at least one new chironomid species, and increased macrophyte cover. However, we have also observed significant annual variation in many measured variables and caution that this variation must be taken into account when attempting to make statements about longer-term change. The Barrow IBP tundra ponds represent one of the very few locations in the Arctic where long-term data are available on freshwater ecosystem structure and function. Continued monitoring and protection of these invaluable sites is required to help understand the implications of climate change on freshwater ecosystems in the Arctic.

  11. Effects of environmental contaminants on snapping turtles of a tidal wetland

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Albers, P H; Sileo, L; Mulhern, B M

    1986-01-01

    Snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) were collected from a brackish-water and a nearly freshwater area in the contaminated Hackensack Meadowlands of New Jersey and an uncontaminated freshwater area in Maryland to determine the effects of environmental contaminants on a resident wetland species. No turtles were observed or caught in Meadowlands at two trapping sites that were the most heavily contaminated by metals. Snapping turtles from the brackish-water area had an unusually low lipid content of body fat and reduced growth compared to turtles from the freshwater areas in New Jersey and Maryland. Despite the serious metal contamination of the Hackensack Meadowlands, the metal content of kidneys and livers from New Jersey turtles was low and not greatly different from that of the Maryland turtles. Organochlorine pesticide concentrations in body fat were generally low at all three study areas. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) concentrations in fat were highest in male turtles from the New Jersey brackish-water area. Analysis of blood for amino-levulinic acid dehydratase, albumin, glucose, hemoglobin, osmolatility, packed cell volume, total protein, triglycerides, and uric acid failed to reveal any differences among groups that would indicated physiological impairment related to contaminants.

  12. Effects of environmental contaminants on snapping turtles of a tidal wetland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albers, P.H.; Sileo, L.; Mulhern, B.M.

    1986-01-01

    Snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) were collected from a brackish-water and a nearly freshwater area in the contaminated Hackensack Meadowlands of New Jersey and an uncontaminated freshwater area in Maryland to determine the effects of environmental contaminants on a resident wetland species. No turtles were observed or caught in the Meadowlands at two trapping sites that were the most heavily contaminated by metals. Snapping turtles from the brackish-water area had an unusually low lipid content of body fat and reduced growth compared to turtles from the fresh-water areas in New Jersey and Maryland. Despite the serious metal contamination of the Hackensack Meadowlands, the metal content of kidneys and livers from New Jersey turtles was low and not greatly different from that of the Maryland turtles. Organochlorine pesticide concentrations in body fat were generally low at all three study areas. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) concentrations in fat were highest in male turtles from the New Jersey brackish-water area. Analysis of blood for amino-levulinic acid dehydratase, albumin, glucose, hemoglobin, osmolality, packed cell volume, total protein, triglycerides, and uric acid failed to reveal any differences among groups that would indicate physiological impairment related to contaminants.

  13. One foot out the door: limb function during swimming in terrestrial versus aquatic turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, Vanessa K Hilliard; Vest, Kaitlyn G; Rivera, Angela R V; Espinoza, Nora R; Blob, Richard W

    2017-01-01

    Specialization for a new habitat often entails a cost to performance in the ancestral habitat. Although aquatic lifestyles are ancestral among extant cryptodiran turtles, multiple lineages, including tortoises (Testudinidae) and emydid box turtles (genus Terrapene), independently specialized for terrestrial habitats. To what extent is swimming function retained in such lineages despite terrestrial specialization? Because tortoises diverged from other turtles over 50 Ma, but box turtles did so only 5 Ma, we hypothesized that swimming kinematics for box turtles would more closely resemble those of aquatic relatives than those of tortoises. To test this prediction, we compared high-speed video of swimming Russian tortoises (Testudo horsfieldii), box turtles (Terrapene carolina) and two semi-aquatic emydid species: sliders (Trachemys scripta) and painted turtles (Chrysemys picta). We identified different kinematic patterns between limbs. In the forelimb, box turtle strokes most resemble those of tortoises; for the hindlimb, box turtles are more similar to semi-aquatic species. Such patterns indicate functional convergence of the forelimb of terrestrial species, whereas the box turtle hindlimb exhibits greater retention of ancestral swimming motions. © 2017 The Author(s).

  14. High incidence of deformity in aquatic turtles in the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bell, Barbara [Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Spotila, James R [Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Congdon, Justin [Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Drawer E., Aiken, SC (United States)

    2006-08-15

    The John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge is subject to pollution from multiple sources. We studied development of snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) and painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) embryos from the refuge from 2000 through 2003. Mean annual deformity rate of pooled painted turtle clutches over four years ranged from 45 to 71%, while that of snapping turtle clutches ranged from 13 to 19%. Lethal deformities were more common than minor or moderate deformities in embryos of both species. Adult painted turtles had a higher deformity rate than adult snapping turtles. Snapping turtles at JHNWR had high levels of PAH contamination in their fat. This suggests that PAHs are involved in the high level of deformities. Other contaminants may also play a role. Although the refuge offers many advantages to resident turtle populations, pollution appears to place a developmental burden on the life history of these turtles. - This paper presents findings on the prevalence of developmental abnormalities in turtles at a national wildlife refuge that have direct relevance to studies on the effects of contamination on development and morphology of vertebrates.

  15. High incidence of deformity in aquatic turtles in the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bell, Barbara; Spotila, James R.; Congdon, Justin

    2006-01-01

    The John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge is subject to pollution from multiple sources. We studied development of snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) and painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) embryos from the refuge from 2000 through 2003. Mean annual deformity rate of pooled painted turtle clutches over four years ranged from 45 to 71%, while that of snapping turtle clutches ranged from 13 to 19%. Lethal deformities were more common than minor or moderate deformities in embryos of both species. Adult painted turtles had a higher deformity rate than adult snapping turtles. Snapping turtles at JHNWR had high levels of PAH contamination in their fat. This suggests that PAHs are involved in the high level of deformities. Other contaminants may also play a role. Although the refuge offers many advantages to resident turtle populations, pollution appears to place a developmental burden on the life history of these turtles. - This paper presents findings on the prevalence of developmental abnormalities in turtles at a national wildlife refuge that have direct relevance to studies on the effects of contamination on development and morphology of vertebrates

  16. Prevalence of antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria associated with the red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Dandan; Wilson, Cailin; Hearlson, Jodie; Singleton, Jennifer; Thomas, R Brent; Crupper, Scott S

    2013-09-01

    Free-ranging Red-eared Sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans) were captured from farm ponds located in the Flint Hills of Kansas and a zoo pond in Emporia, Kansas, USA, to evaluate their enteric bacterial flora and associated antibiotic resistance. Bacteria obtained from cloacal swabs were composed of six different Gram-negative genera. Although antibiotic resistance was present in turtles captured from both locations, 40 and 49% of bacteria demonstrated multiple antibiotic resistance to four of the antibiotics tested from the zoo captured and Flint Hills ponds turtles, respectively. These data illustrate environmental antibiotic resistance is widespread in the bacterial flora obtained from Red-eared Sliders in east central Kansas.

  17. 50 CFR 648.126 - Protection of threatened and endangered sea turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... sea turtles. 648.126 Section 648.126 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT... sea turtles. This section supplements existing regulations issued to regulate incidental take of sea turtles under authority of the Endangered Species Act under 50 CFR parts 222 and 223. In addition to the...

  18. Conservation genomics of the endangered Burmese roofed turtle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Çilingir, F Gözde; Rheindt, Frank E; Garg, Kritika M; Platt, Kalyar; Platt, Steven G; Bickford, David P

    2017-12-01

    The Burmese roofed turtle (Batagur trivittata) is one of the world's most endangered turtles. Only one wild population remains in Myanmar. There are thought to be 12 breeding turtles in the wild. Conservation efforts for the species have raised >700 captive turtles since 2002, predominantly from eggs collected in the wild. We collected tissue samples from 445 individuals (approximately 40% of the turtles' remaining global population), applied double-digest restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (ddRAD-Seq), and obtained approximately 1500 unlinked genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms. Individuals fell into 5 distinct genetic clusters, 4 of which represented full-sib families. We inferred a low effective population size (≤10 individuals) but did not detect signs of severe inbreeding, possibly because the population bottleneck occurred recently. Two groups of 30 individuals from the captive pool that were the most genetically diverse were reintroduced to the wild, leading to an increase in the number of fertile eggs (n = 27) in the wild. Another 25 individuals, selected based on the same criteria, were transferred to the Singapore Zoo as an assurance colony. Our study demonstrates that the research-to-application gap in conservation can be bridged through application of cutting-edge genomic methods. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

  19. Pond and Irrigation Model (PIM): a tool for simultaneously evaluating pond water availability and crop irrigation demand

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ying Ouyang; Gary Feng; Theodor D. Leininger; John Read; Johnie N. Jenkins

    2018-01-01

    Agricultural ponds are an important alternative source of water for crop irrigation to conserve surface and ground water resources. In recent years more such ponds have been constructed in Mississippi and around the world. There is currently, however, a lack of a tool to simultaneously estimate crop irrigation demand and pond water availability. In this study, a Pond-...

  20. Global distribution of Chelonid fibropapilloma-associated herpesvirus among clinically healthy sea turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alfaro-Núñez, Alonzo; Frost Bertelsen, Mads; Bojesen, Anders Miki; Rasmussen, Isabel; Zepeda-Mendoza, Lisandra; Tange Olsen, Morten; Gilbert, Marcus Thomas Pius

    2014-10-25

    Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a neoplastic disease characterized by cutaneous tumours that has been documented to infect all sea turtle species. Chelonid fibropapilloma-associated herpesvirus (CFPHV) is believed to be the aetiological agent of FP, based principally on consistent PCR-based detection of herpesvirus DNA sequences from FP tumours. We used a recently described PCR-based assay that targets 3 conserved CFPHV genes, to survey 208 green turtles (Chelonia mydas). This included both FP tumour exhibiting and clinically healthy individuals. An additional 129 globally distributed clinically healthy individual sea turtles; representing four other species were also screened. CFPHV DNA sequences were obtained from 37/37 (100%) FP exhibiting green turtles, and 45/300 (15%) clinically healthy animals spanning all five species. Although the frequency of infected individuals per turtle population varied considerably, most global populations contained at least one CFPHV positive individual, with the exception of various turtle species from the Arabian Gulf, Northern Indian Ocean and Puerto Rico. Haplotype analysis of the different gene markers clustered the CFPHV DNA sequences for two of the markers (UL18 and UL22) in turtles from Turks and Caicos separate to all others, regardless of host species or geographic origin. Presence of CFPHV DNA within globally distributed samples for all five species of sea turtle was confirmed. While 100% of the FP exhibiting green turtles yielded CFPHV sequences, surprisingly, so did 15% of the clinically healthy turtles. We hypothesize that turtle populations with zero (0%) CFPHV frequency may be attributed to possible environmental differences, diet and/or genetic resistance in these individuals. Our results provide first data on the prevalence of CFPHV among seemingly healthy turtles; a factor that may not be directly correlated to the disease incidence, but may suggest of a long-term co-evolutionary latent infection interaction between

  1. Hydrodynamic role of longitudinal ridges in a leatherback turtle swimming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bang, Kyeongtae; Kim, Jooha; Lee, Sang-Im; Choi, Haecheon

    2015-11-01

    The leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), the fastest swimmer and the deepest diver among marine turtles, has five longitudinal ridges on its carapace. These ridges are the most remarkable morphological features distinguished from other marine turtles. To investigate the hydrodynamic role of these ridges in the leatherback turtle swimming, we model a carapace with and without ridges by using three dimensional surface data of a stuffed leatherback turtle in the National Science Museum, Korea. The experiment is conducted in a wind tunnel in the ranges of the real leatherback turtle's Reynolds number (Re) and angle of attack (α). The longitudinal ridges function differently according to the flow condition (i.e. Re and α). At low Re and negative α that represent the swimming condition of hatchlings and juveniles, the ridges significantly decrease the drag by generating streamwise vortices and delaying the main separation. On the other hand, at high Re and positive α that represent the swimming condition of adults, the ridges suppress the laminar separation bubble near the front part by generating streamwise vortices and enhance the lift and lift-to-drag ratio. Supported by the NRF program (2011-0028032).

  2. 2101-M pond closure plan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1993-06-01

    This document describes activities for the closure of a surface impoundment (2101-M Pond) at the Hanford Site. The 2101-H Pond was initially constructed in 1953 to serve as a drainage collection area for the 2101-H Building. (Until the Basalt Waste Isolation Project (BWIP) Laboratory was constructed in the 2101-M Building in 1979--1981, the only source contributing discharge to the pond was condensate water from the 2101-H Building heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system. The drains for the BWIP Laboratory rooms were plumbed into a 4-in., cast-iron, low-pressure drain pipe that carries waste water from the HVAC system to the pond. During the active life of the BWIP Laboratory, solutions of dissolved barium in groundwater samples were discharged to the 2101-M Pond via the laboratory drains. As a result of the discharges, a Part A permit application was initially submitted to the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) in August 1986 which designates the 2101-M Pond as a surface impoundment

  3. The Use of Green Turtles in Bali, When Conservation Meets Culture

    OpenAIRE

    Westerlaken, Rodney

    2016-01-01

    The use of green turtles in ceremonies, as delicacy or for the use of the shell has been a vast problem in history and recent years on Bali. The number of turtles living in the waters surrounding Bali is decreasing and the illegal trade is vivid.   Several projects are fighting for conservation of turtles and the Parisada Hindu Dharma Indonesia (the highest Hindu council) issued a decree against the use of turtles in ceremonies, but illegal trade remains. On April 7, 2016 40 green ...

  4. To Eat or Not to Eat? Debris Selectivity by Marine Turtles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schuyler, Qamar; Hardesty, Britta Denise; Wilcox, Chris; Townsend, Kathy

    2012-01-01

    Marine debris is a growing problem for wildlife, and has been documented to affect more than 267 species worldwide. We investigated the prevalence of marine debris ingestion in 115 sea turtles stranded in Queensland between 2006–2011, and assessed how the ingestion rates differ between species (Eretmochelys imbricata vs. Chelonia mydas) and by turtle size class (smaller oceanic feeders vs. larger benthic feeders). Concurrently, we conducted 25 beach surveys to estimate the composition of the debris present in the marine environment. Based on this proxy measurement of debris availability, we modeled turtles’ debris preferences (color and type) using a resource selection function, a method traditionally used for habitat and food selection. We found no significant difference in the overall probability of ingesting debris between the two species studied, both of which have similar life histories. Curved carapace length, however, was inversely correlated with the probability of ingesting debris; 54.5% of pelagic sized turtles had ingested debris, whereas only 25% of benthic feeding turtles were found with debris in their gastrointestinal system. Benthic and pelagic sized turtles also exhibited different selectivity ratios for debris ingestion. Benthic phase turtles had a strong selectivity for soft, clear plastic, lending support to the hypothesis that sea turtles ingest debris because it resembles natural prey items such as jellyfish. Pelagic turtles were much less selective in their feeding, though they showed a trend towards selectivity for rubber items such as balloons. Most ingested items were plastic and were positively buoyant. This study highlights the need to address increasing amounts of plastic in the marine environment, and provides evidence for the disproportionate ingestion of balloons by marine turtles. PMID:22829894

  5. An Immunohistochemical Approach to Identify the Sex of Young Marine Turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tezak, Boris M; Guthrie, Kathleen; Wyneken, Jeanette

    2017-08-01

    Marine turtles exhibit temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD). During critical periods of embryonic development, the nest's thermal environment directs whether an embryo will develop as a male or female. At warmer sand temperatures, nests tend to produce female-biased sex ratios. The rapid increase of global temperature highlights the need for a clear assessment of its effects on sea turtle sex ratios. However, estimating hatchling sex ratios at rookeries remains imprecise due to the lack of sexual dimorphism in young marine turtles. We rely mainly upon laparoscopic procedures to verify hatchling sex; however, in some species, morphological sex can be ambiguous even at the histological level. Recent studies using immunohistochemical (IHC) techniques identified that embryonic snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) ovaries overexpressed a particular cold-induced RNA-binding protein in comparison to testes. This feature allows the identification of females vs. males. We modified this technique to successfully identify the sexes of loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) hatchlings, and independently confirmed the results by standard histological and laparoscopic methods that reliably identify sex in this species. We next tested the CIRBP IHC method on gonad samples from leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea). Leatherbacks display delayed gonad differentiation, when compared to other sea turtles, making hatchling gonads difficult to sex using standard H&E stain histology. The IHC approach was successful in both C. caretta and D. coriacea samples, offering a much-needed tool to establish baseline hatchling sex ratios, particularly for assessing impacts of climate change effects on leatherback turtle hatchlings and sea turtle demographics. Anat Rec, 300:1512-1518, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  6. Asymmetry of righting reflexes in sea turtles and its behavioral correlates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malashichev, Yegor

    2016-04-01

    The righting responses, when the animal rights itself over one side of the body after been overturned on the back, are one of the simplest ways to test for laterality, especially in lower vertebrates. In anuran amphibians unilateral preferences in righting responses correlated to the degree of the use of alternating-limb (asynchronous) movements during locomotion. Turtles is one of the underrepresented vertebrate groups in the studies of laterality, while possess also different types of locomotion (with synchronous or asynchronous use of the contralateral limbs), which allows testing the hypothesis on functional relationship between the mode of locomotion and the strength of laterality. We studied two species of sea turtles, Green turtle (Chelonia mydas) and Olive Ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), which differ from the majority of other representatives of the order in that they mostly utilize synchronous locomotion, when all four limbs move simultaneously in strokes (scratching). In righting response tests turtles demonstrated individual and weak population level laterality, which differed in strength. The Green turtle was less lateralized with the majority of individuals being ambipreferent. The Olive Ridley turtle had a greater number of lateralized individuals and a greater average strength of laterality. Interspecies comparison to land tortoises, which use only asynchronous (alternating-limb) walking (crawling), confirmed the rule found in amphibians: the more asynchronous locomotion is used, the greater is the strength of laterality in righting. Hence, data from turtles and amphibians may represent a phenomenon common for all quadruped vertebrates. We also discuss possible biomechanical and neurological correlates of this evolutionary change in locomotory patterns and lateralization in sea turtles when adapting to sea life. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Populations and home range relationships of the box turtle, Terrapene c. carolina (Linnaeus)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stickel, L.F.

    1950-01-01

    SUMMARY: A population study of the box turtle (Terrapene c. carolina Linnaeus) was made during the years 1944 to 1947 at the Patuxent Research Refuge, Maryland. A thirty acre area in well drained bottomland forest on the flood plain of the Patuxent River was selected for intensive study. Similarly forested land extended in all directions from the study plot. Markers were established at eighty-three foot intervals over the study plot for reference in recording locality data. Individuals were marked by filing notches in the marginal scutes according to a code system. There were 2109 collections of study area turtles. Records of collecting sites and turtle behavior showed that in the bottomlands habitat cover is utilized extensively during the day as well as at night. Turtles not actively moving about are almost always found in or around brush piles, heaps of debris, and tangles of vines and briars. Gully banks and woods openings are used for sunning. Turtles are occasionally found in the mud or water of the gullies. The commonest type of night retreat is a cavity constructed by the turtle in leaves, debris, or earth. These cavities, termed 'forms,' may be used only once, but are sometimes used repeatedly, often at intervals of several days or more. Different turtles sometimes use the same form on successive nights. Weather conditions most favorable to turtle activity are high humidity, warm sunny days, and frequent rains. The most unfavorable influences are low temperatures and drought. On most summer days there are some active turtles but individual turtles are not active every day. Periods of activity are alternated with periods of quiet even in favorable weather. This behavior is most pronounced in early spring and late fall when inactive days are often more numerous than active ones. Adult turtles occupy specific home ranges which they maintain from year to year. The turtles living in the study plot retained their ranges even through a flood that completely

  8. Par Pond vegetation status 1996

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mackey, H.E. Jr.; Riley, R.S.

    1996-12-01

    The water level of Par Pond was lowered approximately 20 feet in mid-1991 in order to protect downstream residents from possible dam failure suggested by subsidence on the downstream slope of the dam and to repair the dam. This lowering exposed both emergent and nonemergent macrophyte beds to drying conditions resulting in extensive losses. A survey of the newly emergent, shoreline aquatic plant communities of Par Pond began in June 1995, three months after the refilling of Par Pond to approximately 200 feet above mean sea level. These surveys continued in July, September, and late October, 1995, and into the early spring and late summer of 1996. Communities similar to the pre-drawdown, Par Pond aquatic plant communities continue to become re-established. Emergent beds of maidencane, lotus, waterlily, watershield, and Pontederia are extensive and well developed. Measures of percent cover, width of beds, and estimates of area of coverage with satellite data indicate regrowth within two years of from 40 to 60% of levels prior to the draw down. Cattail occurrence continued to increase during the summer of 1996, especially in the former warm arm of Par Pond, but large beds common to Par Pond prior to the draw down still have not formed. Lotus has invaded and occupies many of the areas formerly dominated by cattail beds. To track the continued development of macrophytes in Par Pond, future surveys through the summer and early fall of 1997, along with the evaluation of satellite data to map the extent of the macrophyte beds of Par Pond, are planned

  9. Global conservation priorities for marine turtles.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bryan P Wallace

    Full Text Available Where conservation resources are limited and conservation targets are diverse, robust yet flexible priority-setting frameworks are vital. Priority-setting is especially important for geographically widespread species with distinct populations subject to multiple threats that operate on different spatial and temporal scales. Marine turtles are widely distributed and exhibit intra-specific variations in population sizes and trends, as well as reproduction and morphology. However, current global extinction risk assessment frameworks do not assess conservation status of spatially and biologically distinct marine turtle Regional Management Units (RMUs, and thus do not capture variations in population trends, impacts of threats, or necessary conservation actions across individual populations. To address this issue, we developed a new assessment framework that allowed us to evaluate, compare and organize marine turtle RMUs according to status and threats criteria. Because conservation priorities can vary widely (i.e. from avoiding imminent extinction to maintaining long-term monitoring efforts we developed a "conservation priorities portfolio" system using categories of paired risk and threats scores for all RMUs (n = 58. We performed these assessments and rankings globally, by species, by ocean basin, and by recognized geopolitical bodies to identify patterns in risk, threats, and data gaps at different scales. This process resulted in characterization of risk and threats to all marine turtle RMUs, including identification of the world's 11 most endangered marine turtle RMUs based on highest risk and threats scores. This system also highlighted important gaps in available information that is crucial for accurate conservation assessments. Overall, this priority-setting framework can provide guidance for research and conservation priorities at multiple relevant scales, and should serve as a model for conservation status assessments and priority

  10. Estimates of the non-market value of sea turtles in Tobago using stated preference techniques.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cazabon-Mannette, Michelle; Schuhmann, Peter W; Hailey, Adrian; Horrocks, Julia

    2017-05-01

    Economic benefits are derived from sea turtle tourism all over the world. Sea turtles also add value to underwater recreation and convey non-use values. This study examines the non-market value of sea turtles in Tobago. We use a choice experiment to estimate the value of sea turtle encounters to recreational SCUBA divers and the contingent valuation method to estimate the value of sea turtles to international tourists. Results indicate that turtle encounters were the most important dive attribute among those examined. Divers are willing to pay over US$62 per two tank dive for the first turtle encounter. The mean WTP for turtle conservation among international visitors to Tobago was US$31.13 which reflects a significant non-use value associated with actions targeted at keeping sea turtles from going extinct. These results illustrate significant non-use and non-consumptive use value of sea turtles, and highlight the importance of sea turtle conservation efforts in Tobago and throughout the Caribbean region. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Aging the oldest turtles: the placodont affinities of Priscochelys hegnabrunnensis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheyer, Torsten M.

    2008-09-01

    Priscochelys hegnabrunnensis, a fragmentary piece of armour shell from the Muschelkalk of Germany (Upper Triassic) with few diagnostic morphological features, was recently proposed to represent the oldest known stem turtle. As such, the specimen is of high importance because it shifts the date of the first appearance of turtles back about 20 Ma, which equals about 10% of the total stratigraphic range of the group. In this paper, I present new morphologic, histologic and neutron tomographic (NT) data that relate to the microstructure of the bone of the specimen itself. In opposition to the previous morphologic descriptions, P. hegnabrunnensis was found to share several distinctive features (i.e. bone sutures congruent with scute sulci, absence of a diploe structure with interior cancellous bone, thin vascular canals radiating outwards from distinct centres in each field and rugose ventral bone surface texture consisting of mineralised fibre bundles) with cyamodontoid placodonts (Diapsida: Sauropterygia) and fewer with stem turtles (i.e. depth of sulci). Two aspects that were previously thought to be relevant for the assignment to the turtle stem (conical scutes and presence of foramina) are argued to be of dubious value. P. hegnabrunnensis is proposed to represent a fragmentary piece of cyamodontoid armour consisting of fused conical plates herein. The specimen is not a part of the turtle stem and thus does not represent the oldest turtle. Accordingly, P. hegnabrunnensis does not shorten the ghost lineage to the potential sister group of turtles.

  12. Neuroanatomy of the marine Jurassic turtle Plesiochelys etalloni (Testudinata, Plesiochelyidae).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carabajal, Ariana Paulina; Sterli, Juliana; Müller, Johannes; Hilger, André

    2013-01-01

    Turtles are one of the least explored clades regarding endocranial anatomy with few available descriptions of the brain and inner ear of extant representatives. In addition, the paleoneurology of extinct turtles is poorly known and based on only a few natural cranial endocasts. The main goal of this study is to provide for the first time a detailed description of the neuroanatomy of an extinct turtle, the Late Jurassic Plesiochelysetalloni, including internal carotid circulation, cranial endocast and inner ear, based on the first digital 3D reconstruction using micro CT scans. The general shape of the cranial endocast of P. etalloni is tubular, with poorly marked cephalic and pontine flexures. Anteriorly, the olfactory bulbs are clearly differentiated suggesting larger bulbs than in any other described extinct or extant turtle, and indicating a higher capacity of olfaction in this taxon. The morphology of the inner ear of P. etalloni is comparable to that of extant turtles and resembles those of slow-moving terrestrial vertebrates, with markedly low, short and robust semicircular canals, and a reduced lagena. In P. etalloni the arterial pattern is similar to that found in extant cryptodires, where all the internal carotid branches are protected by bone. As the knowledge of paleoneurology in turtles is scarce and the application of modern techniques such as 3D reconstructions based on CT scans is almost unexplored in this clade, we hope this paper will trigger similar investigations of this type in other turtle taxa.

  13. Comparative kinetics of 47Ca, 85Sr and 226Ra in the freshwater turtle, Trachemys scripta

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hinton, T.G.; Whicker, F.W.; Ibrahim, S.A.; Pinder, J.E. III

    1992-01-01

    The kinetics of 47 Ca, 85 Sr and 226 Ra were compared in the yellow-bellied slider, a common freshwater turtle of the southeastern USA. The absorption and elimination processes were examined as a function of stable dietary Ca, season, age and sex of the animals. Turtles were gavaged with radionuclides and serial whole-body analyses were performed on the live animals for up to 480 days. Only in the juvenile age class did reduced dietary Ca cause a significant increase in 85 Sr absorption. The absorption of 85 Sr and 226 Ra in the adult male, adult female and hatchling groups was unaffected by dietary Ca. Mean absorption was greater than that which has been reported for other organisms and significantly differed among isotopes. The high absorption values were not restricted to immatures, but continued into maturity. Elimination rates were not affected by the dietary treatment, nor were isotopic differences in elimination observed. Annual mean elimination rate constants pooled among animal groups, were 0.22 ± 0.07 for 85 Sr and 0.26 ± 0.18 for 226 Ra. Retention was strongly affected by season with the greatest elimination occurring in the summer and declining to levels that were not distinguishable from zero in the winter. Elimination rate constants for hatchlings were greater than for the other age groups. (author)

  14. Risk Analysis Reveals Global Hotspots for Marine Debris Ingestion by Sea Turtles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schuyler, Q. A.; Wilcox, C.; Townsend, K.; Wedemeyer-Strombel, K.; Balazs, G.; van Sebille, E.; Hardesty, B. D.

    2016-02-01

    Plastic marine debris pollution is rapidly becoming one of the critical environmental concerns facing wildlife in the 21st century. Here we present a risk analysis for plastic ingestion by sea turtles on a global scale. We combined global marine plastic distributions based on ocean drifter data with sea turtle habitat maps to predict exposure levels to plastic pollution. Empirical data from necropsies of deceased animals were then utilised to assess the consequence of exposure to plastics. We modelled the risk (probability of debris ingestion) by incorporating exposure to debris and consequence of exposure, and included life history stage, species of sea turtle, and date of stranding observation as possible additional explanatory factors. Life history stage is the best predictor of debris ingestion, but the best-fit model also incorporates encounter rates within a limited distance from stranding location, marine debris predictions specific to the date of the stranding study, and turtle species. There was no difference in ingestion rates between stranded turtles vs. those caught as bycatch from fishing activity, suggesting that stranded animals are not a biased representation of debris ingestion rates in the background population. Oceanic life-stage sea turtles are at the highest risk of debris ingestion, and olive ridley turtles are the most at-risk species. The regions of highest risk to global sea turtle populations are off of the east coasts of the USA, Australia, and South Africa; the east Indian Ocean, and Southeast Asia. Model results can be used to predict the number of sea turtles globally at risk of debris ingestion. Based on currently available data, initial calculations indicate that up to 52% of sea turtles may have ingested debris.

  15. The Role of Taboos in the Protection and Recovery of Sea Turtles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    LoriKim Alexander

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Despite increased efforts from government agencies, scientists, and non-government organizations over the past few decades, anthropogenic sources of sea turtle mortality continue to threaten the survivorship of sea turtle species around the globe. More recent efforts to engage local people with community-based sea turtle conservation programs have been based primarily on economic incentives and less on cultural and social traditions. But there is growing evidence that informal institutions such as, taboos can be extremely effective at promoting wildlife conservation. Ghana is a culturally diverse country where local traditions have shown to improve protection for primates, crocodiles, and many bird species. This study explores the presence of a sea turtle taboo in fishing communities to demonstrate that traditional practices make residents more receptive to sea turtle conservation and more willing to follow government regulations. Fishers in the communities that are aware of the taboo are also more willing to adjust fishing methods to better protect sea turtles. The traditional taboo and national laws appear to be working synergistically to enhance sea turtle conservation in some regions of Ghana. This paper extends the argument that sea turtle conservation strategies succeed when the cultural and social traditions of local communities are integrated with management activities.

  16. The origin of the turtle body plan: bridging a famous morphological gap.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, M S

    1993-09-24

    A restudy of pareiasaurs reveals that these primitive reptiles are the nearest relatives of turtles. The two groups share numerous derived characters, such as a reduced presacral count, an acromion process, and a trochanter major, which are absent in other basal amniotes. Many traits long thought specific to chelonians also occur in pareiasaurs and must have evolved before the distinctive turtle shell appeared. Evidence uniting captorhinid or procolophonoids with turtles is shown to be weak. The phylogeny proposed here also suggests that certain features of the earliest turtle (Proganochelys) that have been interpreted as specializations, such as the large supratemporal and robust metacarpals, are primitive for turtles. In pareiasaurs, the osteoderms represent the precursors of the chelonian shell and the morphology of the anterior region is consistent with the idea that the shoulder girdle in turtles has migrated posteriorly into the rib cage.

  17. Skeletal remodelling suggests the turtle's shell is not an evolutionary straitjacket.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cordero, Gerardo Antonio; Quinteros, Kevin

    2015-04-01

    Recent efforts to decipher the enigma of the turtle's shell revealed that distantly related turtle species deploy diverse processes during shell development. Even so, extant species share in common a shoulder blade (scapula) that is encapsulated within the shell. Thus, evolutionary change in the correlated development of the shell and scapula probably underpins the evolution of highly derived shell morphologies. To address this expectation, we conducted one of the most phylogenetically comprehensive surveys of turtle development, focusing on scapula growth and differentiation in embryos, hatchlings and adults of 13 species. We report, to our knowledge, the first description of secondary differentiation owing to skeletal remodelling of the tetrapod scapula in turtles with the most structurally derived shell phenotypes. Remodelling and secondary differentiation late in embryogenesis of box turtles (Emys and Terrapene) yielded a novel skeletal segment (i.e. the suprascapula) of high functional value to their complex shell-closing system. Remarkably, our analyses suggest that, in soft-shelled turtles (Trionychidae) with extremely flattened shells, a similar transformation is linked to truncated scapula growth. Skeletal remodelling, as a form of developmental plasticity, might enable the seemingly constrained turtle body plan to diversify, suggesting the shell is not an evolutionary straitjacket. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

  18. The origin and loss of periodic patterning in the turtle shell.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moustakas-Verho, Jacqueline E; Zimm, Roland; Cebra-Thomas, Judith; Lempiäinen, Netta K; Kallonen, Aki; Mitchell, Katherine L; Hämäläinen, Keijo; Salazar-Ciudad, Isaac; Jernvall, Jukka; Gilbert, Scott F

    2014-08-01

    The origin of the turtle shell over 200 million years ago greatly modified the amniote body plan, and the morphological plasticity of the shell has promoted the adaptive radiation of turtles. The shell, comprising a dorsal carapace and a ventral plastron, is a layered structure formed by basal endochondral axial skeletal elements (ribs, vertebrae) and plates of bone, which are overlain by keratinous ectodermal scutes. Studies of turtle development have mostly focused on the bones of the shell; however, the genetic regulation of the epidermal scutes has not been investigated. Here, we show that scutes develop from an array of patterned placodes and that these placodes are absent from a soft-shelled turtle in which scutes were lost secondarily. Experimentally inhibiting Shh, Bmp or Fgf signaling results in the disruption of the placodal pattern. Finally, a computational model is used to show how two coupled reaction-diffusion systems reproduce both natural and abnormal variation in turtle scutes. Taken together, these placodal signaling centers are likely to represent developmental modules that are responsible for the evolution of scutes in turtles, and the regulation of these centers has allowed for the diversification of the turtle shell. © 2014. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  19. 75 FR 81201 - 2011 Annual Determination for Sea Turtle Observer Requirement

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-12-27

    ... implement programs to conserve marine life listed as endangered or threatened. All sea turtles found in U.S... endangered wherever they occur in U.S. waters. While some sea turtle populations have shown signs of recovery... attempting to engage in any such conduct), including incidental take, of endangered sea turtles. Pursuant to...

  20. A model for simulating the active dispersal of juvenile sea turtles with a case study on western Pacific leatherback turtles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lalire, Maxime

    2017-01-01

    Oceanic currents are known to broadly shape the dispersal of juvenile sea turtles during their pelagic stage. Accordingly, simple passive drift models are widely used to investigate the distribution at sea of various juvenile sea turtle populations. However, evidence is growing that juveniles do not drift purely passively but also display some swimming activity likely directed towards favorable habitats. We therefore present here a novel Sea Turtle Active Movement Model (STAMM) in which juvenile sea turtles actively disperse under the combined effects of oceanic currents and habitat-driven movements. This model applies to all sea turtle species but is calibrated here for leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea). It is first tested in a simulation of the active dispersal of juveniles originating from Jamursba-Medi, a main nesting beach of the western Pacific leatherback population. Dispersal into the North Pacific Ocean is specifically investigated. Simulation results demonstrate that, while oceanic currents broadly shape the dispersal area, modeled habitat-driven movements strongly structure the spatial and temporal distribution of juveniles within this area. In particular, these movements lead juveniles to gather in the North Pacific Transition Zone (NPTZ) and to undertake seasonal north-south migrations. More surprisingly, juveniles in the NPTZ are simulated to swim mostly towards west which considerably slows down their progression towards the American west coast. This increases their residence time, and hence the risk of interactions with fisheries, in the central and eastern part of the North Pacific basin. Simulated habitat-driven movements also strongly reduce the risk of cold-induced mortality. This risk appears to be larger among the juveniles that rapidly circulate into the Kuroshio than among those that first drift into the North Equatorial Counter Current (NECC). This mechanism might induce marked interannual variability in juvenile survival as the

  1. A model for simulating the active dispersal of juvenile sea turtles with a case study on western Pacific leatherback turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaspar, Philippe; Lalire, Maxime

    2017-01-01

    Oceanic currents are known to broadly shape the dispersal of juvenile sea turtles during their pelagic stage. Accordingly, simple passive drift models are widely used to investigate the distribution at sea of various juvenile sea turtle populations. However, evidence is growing that juveniles do not drift purely passively but also display some swimming activity likely directed towards favorable habitats. We therefore present here a novel Sea Turtle Active Movement Model (STAMM) in which juvenile sea turtles actively disperse under the combined effects of oceanic currents and habitat-driven movements. This model applies to all sea turtle species but is calibrated here for leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea). It is first tested in a simulation of the active dispersal of juveniles originating from Jamursba-Medi, a main nesting beach of the western Pacific leatherback population. Dispersal into the North Pacific Ocean is specifically investigated. Simulation results demonstrate that, while oceanic currents broadly shape the dispersal area, modeled habitat-driven movements strongly structure the spatial and temporal distribution of juveniles within this area. In particular, these movements lead juveniles to gather in the North Pacific Transition Zone (NPTZ) and to undertake seasonal north-south migrations. More surprisingly, juveniles in the NPTZ are simulated to swim mostly towards west which considerably slows down their progression towards the American west coast. This increases their residence time, and hence the risk of interactions with fisheries, in the central and eastern part of the North Pacific basin. Simulated habitat-driven movements also strongly reduce the risk of cold-induced mortality. This risk appears to be larger among the juveniles that rapidly circulate into the Kuroshio than among those that first drift into the North Equatorial Counter Current (NECC). This mechanism might induce marked interannual variability in juvenile survival as the

  2. Pond bank access as an approach for managing toxic cyanobacteria in beef cattle pasture drinking water ponds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, Alan E; Chislock, Michael F; Yang, Zhen; Barros, Mário U G; Roberts, John F

    2018-03-25

    Forty-one livestock drinking water ponds in Alabama beef cattle pastures during were surveyed during the late summer to generally understand water quality patterns in these important water resources. Since livestock drinking water ponds are prone to excess nutrients that typically lead to eutrophication, which can promote blooms of toxigenic phytoplankton such as cyanobacteria, we also assessed the threat of exposure to the hepatotoxin, microcystin. Eighty percent of the ponds studied contained measurable microcystin, while three of these ponds had concentrations above human drinking water thresholds set by the US Environmental Protection Agency (i.e., 0.3 μg/L). Water quality patterns in the livestock drinking water ponds contrasted sharply with patterns typically observed for temperate freshwater lakes and reservoirs. Namely, we found several non-linear relationships between phytoplankton abundance (measured as chlorophyll) and nutrients or total suspended solids. Livestock had direct access to all the study ponds. Consequently, the proportion of inorganic suspended solids (e.g., sediment) increased with higher concentrations of total suspended solids, which underlies these patterns. Unimodal relationships were also observed between microcystin and phytoplankton abundance or nutrients. Euglenoids were abundant in the four ponds with chlorophyll concentrations > 250 μg/L (and dominated three of these ponds), which could explain why ponds with high chlorophyll concentrations would have low microcystin concentrations. Based on observations made during sampling events and available water quality data, livestock-mediated bioturbation is causing elevated total suspended solids that lead to reduced phytoplankton abundance and microcystin despite high concentrations of nutrients, such as phosphorus and nitrogen. Thus, livestock could be used to manage algal blooms, including toxic secondary metabolites, in their drinking water ponds by allowing them to walk in the

  3. Saving turtles: Talisman, Elf and BHP make room for reptiles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lorenz, A.

    1999-05-03

    Cooperation between Australia`s BHP Petroleum, Canada`s Talisman Energy and France`s El Aquitaine to help the Trinidadian government and conservation groups to save the nesting grounds of the Carribean sea turtle is described. The nesting ground is located near one of the projects the three companies are working on. The giant turtle, also called the leatherback, can weigh as much as a tonne and have a 2.4 metre flipper span, have their nesting places on Trinidad`s northeastern shore. The three companies are working in 36 metres of water opposite two of the turtles` last nesting places. Had the companies proceeded as planned, the project could have destroyed their nesting place. Instead, the companies put up $90,000 for a three-month research project to monitor the movement of the turtles with satellite telemetry. In order to assess the turtles` hearing, tiny wires were inserted in the the turtles` brain to measure brain wave patterns - a method similar to that used on human neo-natals. When it was discovered that the turtles did not adapt well to captivity, they were fitted with earphones and transmitter during 10-minute period when they were in the quiescent state of egg-laying. The companies proceeded with a seismic program that used cables on the sea floor. Rather than use a large and noisy survey vessel to lay long streamers on a wide area, they laid shorter strips on a grid with smaller, quieter boats. That was sufficient for the turtles to continue normal activity as females arrived on the beach in the usual numbers to nest and to lay eggs. The documentation provided to the Trinidadian government was well received and plans are afoot to use it as a benchmark in assessing future exploratory applications within Trinidadian jurisdiction.

  4. Demographic evidence of illegal harvesting of an endangered asian turtle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sung, Yik-Hei; Karraker, Nancy E; Hau, Billy C H

    2013-12-01

    Harvesting pressure on Asian freshwater turtles is severe, and dramatic population declines of these turtles are being driven by unsustainable collection for food markets, pet trade, and traditional Chinese medicine. Populations of big-headed turtle (Platysternon megacephalum) have declined substantially across its distribution, particularly in China, because of overcollection. To understand the effects of chronic harvesting pressure on big-headed turtle populations, we examined the effects of illegal harvesting on the demography of populations in Hong Kong, where some populations still exist. We used mark-recapture methods to compare demographic characteristics between sites with harvesting histories and one site in a fully protected area. Sites with a history of illegal turtle harvesting were characterized by the absence of large adults and skewed ratios of juveniles to adults, which may have negative implications for the long-term viability of populations. These sites also had lower densities of adults and smaller adult body sizes than the protected site. Given that populations throughout most of the species' range are heavily harvested and individuals are increasingly difficult to find in mainland China, the illegal collection of turtles from populations in Hong Kong may increase over time. Long-term monitoring of populations is essential to track effects of illegal collection, and increased patrolling is needed to help control illegal harvesting of populations, particularly in national parks. Because few, if any, other completely protected populations remain in the region, our data on an unharvested population of big-headed turtles serve as an important reference for assessing the negative consequences of harvesting on populations of stream turtles. Evidencia Demográfica de la Captura Ilegal de una Tortuga Asiática en Peligro. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

  5. Hexavalent chromium is cytotoxic and genotoxic to hawksbill sea turtle cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wise, Sandra S., E-mail: sandra.wise@maine.edu [Wise Laboratory of Environmental and Genetic Toxicology, University of Southern Maine, Science Building, 96 Falmouth Street, Portland, ME 04103 (United States); Maine Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health, University of Southern Maine, Science Building, 96 Falmouth Street, Portland, ME 04103 (United States); Department of Applied Medical Science, University of Southern Maine, Science Building, 96 Falmouth Street, Portland, ME 04103 (United States); Xie, Hong, E-mail: hongxie@usm.maine.edu [Wise Laboratory of Environmental and Genetic Toxicology, University of Southern Maine, Science Building, 96 Falmouth Street, Portland, ME 04103 (United States); Maine Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health, University of Southern Maine, Science Building, 96 Falmouth Street, Portland, ME 04103 (United States); Department of Applied Medical Science, University of Southern Maine, Science Building, 96 Falmouth Street, Portland, ME 04103 (United States); Fukuda, Tomokazu, E-mail: tomofukuda009@gmail.com [Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Tohoku University, Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Second Research Building, Rm 112, 1-1 Amamiyamachi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 981-8555 (Japan); Douglas Thompson, W., E-mail: dougt@usm.maine.edu [Maine Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health, University of Southern Maine, Science Building, 96 Falmouth Street, Portland, ME 04103 (United States); Department of Applied Medical Science, University of Southern Maine, Science Building, 96 Falmouth Street, Portland, ME 04103 (United States); and others

    2014-09-01

    Sea turtles are a charismatic and ancient ocean species and can serve as key indicators for ocean ecosystems, including coral reefs and sea grass beds as well as coastal beaches. Genotoxicity studies in the species are absent, limiting our understanding of the impact of environmental toxicants on sea turtles. Hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) is a ubiquitous environmental problem worldwide, and recent studies show it is a global marine pollutant of concern. Thus, we evaluated the cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of soluble and particulate Cr(VI) in hawksbill sea turtle cells. Particulate Cr(VI) was both cytotoxic and genotoxic to sea turtle cells. Concentrations of 0.1, 0.5, 1, and 5 μg/cm{sup 2} lead chromate induced 108, 79, 54, and 7% relative survival, respectively. Additionally, concentrations of 0, 0.1, 0.5, 1, and 5 μg/cm{sup 2} lead chromate induced damage in 4, 10, 15, 26, and 36% of cells and caused 4, 11, 17, 30, and 56 chromosome aberrations in 100 metaphases, respectively. For soluble Cr, concentrations of 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2.5, and 5 μM sodium chromate induced 84, 69, 46, 25, and 3% relative survival, respectively. Sodium chromate induced 3, 9, 9, 14, 21, and 29% of metaphases with damage, and caused 3, 10, 10, 16, 26, and 39 damaged chromosomes in 100 metaphases at concentrations of 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2.5, and 5 μM sodium chromate, respectively. These data suggest that Cr(VI) may be a concern for hawksbill sea turtles and sea turtles in general. - Highlights: • Particulate Cr(VI) is cytotoxic and clastogenic to hawksbill sea turtle cells. • Soluble Cr(VI) is cytotoxic and clastogenic to hawksbill sea turtle cells. • Cr(VI) may be a risk factor for hawksbill sea turtle health.

  6. Hexavalent chromium is cytotoxic and genotoxic to hawksbill sea turtle cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wise, Sandra S.; Xie, Hong; Fukuda, Tomokazu; Douglas Thompson, W.

    2014-01-01

    Sea turtles are a charismatic and ancient ocean species and can serve as key indicators for ocean ecosystems, including coral reefs and sea grass beds as well as coastal beaches. Genotoxicity studies in the species are absent, limiting our understanding of the impact of environmental toxicants on sea turtles. Hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) is a ubiquitous environmental problem worldwide, and recent studies show it is a global marine pollutant of concern. Thus, we evaluated the cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of soluble and particulate Cr(VI) in hawksbill sea turtle cells. Particulate Cr(VI) was both cytotoxic and genotoxic to sea turtle cells. Concentrations of 0.1, 0.5, 1, and 5 μg/cm 2 lead chromate induced 108, 79, 54, and 7% relative survival, respectively. Additionally, concentrations of 0, 0.1, 0.5, 1, and 5 μg/cm 2 lead chromate induced damage in 4, 10, 15, 26, and 36% of cells and caused 4, 11, 17, 30, and 56 chromosome aberrations in 100 metaphases, respectively. For soluble Cr, concentrations of 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2.5, and 5 μM sodium chromate induced 84, 69, 46, 25, and 3% relative survival, respectively. Sodium chromate induced 3, 9, 9, 14, 21, and 29% of metaphases with damage, and caused 3, 10, 10, 16, 26, and 39 damaged chromosomes in 100 metaphases at concentrations of 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2.5, and 5 μM sodium chromate, respectively. These data suggest that Cr(VI) may be a concern for hawksbill sea turtles and sea turtles in general. - Highlights: • Particulate Cr(VI) is cytotoxic and clastogenic to hawksbill sea turtle cells. • Soluble Cr(VI) is cytotoxic and clastogenic to hawksbill sea turtle cells. • Cr(VI) may be a risk factor for hawksbill sea turtle health

  7. A new xinjiangchelyid turtle from the Middle Jurassic of Xinjiang, China and the evolution of the basipterygoid process in Mesozoic turtles

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Background Most turtles from the Middle and Late Jurassic of Asia are referred to the newly defined clade Xinjiangchelyidae, a group of mostly shell-based, generalized, small to mid-sized aquatic froms that are widely considered to represent the stem lineage of Cryptodira. Xinjiangchelyids provide us with great insights into the plesiomorphic anatomy of crown-cryptodires, the most diverse group of living turtles, and they are particularly relevant for understanding the origin and early divergence of the primary clades of extant turtles. Results Exceptionally complete new xinjiangchelyid material from the ?Qigu Formation of the Turpan Basin (Xinjiang Autonomous Province, China) provides new insights into the anatomy of this group and is assigned to Xinjiangchelys wusu n. sp. A phylogenetic analysis places Xinjiangchelys wusu n. sp. in a monophyletic polytomy with other xinjiangchelyids, including Xinjiangchelys junggarensis, X. radiplicatoides, X. levensis and X. latiens. However, the analysis supports the unorthodox, though tentative placement of xinjiangchelyids and sinemydids outside of crown-group Testudines. A particularly interesting new observation is that the skull of this xinjiangchelyid retains such primitive features as a reduced interpterygoid vacuity and basipterygoid processes. Conclusions The homology of basipterygoid processes is confidently demonstrated based on a comprehensive review of the basicranial anatomy of Mesozoic turtles and a new nomenclatural system is introduced for the carotid canal system of turtles. The loss of the basipterygoid process and the bony enclosure of the carotid circulation system occurred a number of times independently during turtle evolution suggesting that the reinforcement of the basicranial region was essential for developing a rigid skull, thus paralleling the evolution of other amniote groups with massive skulls. PMID:24053145

  8. A new xinjiangchelyid turtle from the Middle Jurassic of Xinjiang, China and the evolution of the basipterygoid process in Mesozoic turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rabi, Márton; Zhou, Chang-Fu; Wings, Oliver; Ge, Sun; Joyce, Walter G

    2013-09-22

    Most turtles from the Middle and Late Jurassic of Asia are referred to the newly defined clade Xinjiangchelyidae, a group of mostly shell-based, generalized, small to mid-sized aquatic froms that are widely considered to represent the stem lineage of Cryptodira. Xinjiangchelyids provide us with great insights into the plesiomorphic anatomy of crown-cryptodires, the most diverse group of living turtles, and they are particularly relevant for understanding the origin and early divergence of the primary clades of extant turtles. Exceptionally complete new xinjiangchelyid material from the ?Qigu Formation of the Turpan Basin (Xinjiang Autonomous Province, China) provides new insights into the anatomy of this group and is assigned to Xinjiangchelys wusu n. sp. A phylogenetic analysis places Xinjiangchelys wusu n. sp. in a monophyletic polytomy with other xinjiangchelyids, including Xinjiangchelys junggarensis, X. radiplicatoides, X. levensis and X. latiens. However, the analysis supports the unorthodox, though tentative placement of xinjiangchelyids and sinemydids outside of crown-group Testudines. A particularly interesting new observation is that the skull of this xinjiangchelyid retains such primitive features as a reduced interpterygoid vacuity and basipterygoid processes. The homology of basipterygoid processes is confidently demonstrated based on a comprehensive review of the basicranial anatomy of Mesozoic turtles and a new nomenclatural system is introduced for the carotid canal system of turtles. The loss of the basipterygoid process and the bony enclosure of the carotid circulation system occurred a number of times independently during turtle evolution suggesting that the reinforcement of the basicranial region was essential for developing a rigid skull, thus paralleling the evolution of other amniote groups with massive skulls.

  9. Biogeochemical ecology of aquaculture ponds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weisburd, R.S.J.

    1988-01-01

    Two methods to determine rates of organic matter production and consumption were applied in shrimp aquaculture ponds. Several questions were posed: can net rates of organic matter production and consumption be determined accurately through application of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) mass balance in a pond with high advective through-put? Are organically loaded aquaculture ponds autotrophic? How do rates of organic production vary temporally? Are there diurnal changes in respiration rates? Four marine ponds in Hawaii have been evaluated for a 53 day period through the use of geochemical mass balances. All fluxes of DIC into and out of the ponds were considered. DIC was calculated from hourly pH measurements and weekly alkalinity measurements. Average uptake of DIC from the pond water, equivalent to net community production, revealed net autotrophy in all cases. Hourly and longer period variations in organic matter production rates were examined. The daily cycle dominated the variation in rates of net community production. Maximal rates of net community production were maintained for four to six hours starting in mid-morning. Respiration rates decreased rapidly during the night in two of the ponds and remained essentially constant in the others. A similar pattern of decreasing respiration at night was seen in freshwater shrimp ponds which were studied with incubations. A new method involving isotope dilution of 14 C-labeled DIC was used to measure respiration rates in light and dark bottles. This method is an inexpensive and convenient procedure which should also be useful in other environments. The incubations demonstrated that plankton respiration rates peak at or soon after solar noon and vary over the course of the day by about a factor of two

  10. Spatial Ecology of Blanding’s Turtles (Emydoidea blandingii) in Southcentral New Hampshire with Implications to Road Mortality

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Walston, Leroy J.; Najjar, Stephen J.; LaGory, Kirk E.; Drake, Sean M.

    2015-06-27

    Understanding the spatial ecology and habitat requirements of rare turtle species and the factors that threaten their populations is important for the success of long-term conservation programs. We present results on an eight-year field study in which we used radiotelemetry to monitor the activity and habitat use of 23 adult (male, n = 7; female, n = 16) Blanding’s turtles in southcentral New Hampshire. We found that females occupied home ranges (as defined by minimum convex polygons) that were approximately two times larger than the home ranges of males. Despite the sex difference in home range size, we found no sex difference in core area size (defined as the 50% kernel density estimate). We found that activity patterns varied by season, with increased activity each month after hibernation, and peak activity coinciding with the late spring-early summer nesting season. We observed sex-based and seasonal differences in wetland use. Males appeared to prefer emergent and scrub-shrub wetlands in each season, whereas females preferred scrub-shrub wetlands in spring and ponds in summer and fall. We identified road mortality risk as a potentially important threat for this population because females crossed roads ten times more frequently than males (based on proportion of observations). The preservation of wetland networks, as well as the implementation of measures to minimize road mortality, are important considerations for the long-term persistence of this population.

  11. Asynchronous emergence by loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) hatchlings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Houghton, J D; Hays, G C

    2001-03-01

    For many decades it has been accepted that marine turtle hatchlings from the same nest generally emerge from the sand together. However, for loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) nesting on the Greek Island of Kefalonia, a more asynchronous pattern of emergence has been documented. By placing temperature loggers at the top and bottom of nests laid on Kefalonia during 1998, we examined whether this asynchronous emergence was related to the thermal conditions within nests. Pronounced thermal variation existed not only between, but also within, individual nests. These within-nest temperature differences were related to the patterns of hatchling emergence, with hatchlings from nests displaying large thermal ranges emerging over a longer time-scale than those characterised by more uniform temperatures. In many egg-laying animals, parental care of the offspring may continue while the eggs are incubating and also after they have hatched. Consequently, the importance of the nest site for determining incubation conditions may be reduced since the parents themselves may alter the local environment. By contrast, in marine turtles, parental care ceases once the eggs have been laid and the nest site covered. The positioning of the nest site, in both space and time, may therefore have profound effects for marine turtles by affecting, for example, the survival of the eggs and hatchlings as well as their sex (Janzen and Paukstis 1991). During incubation, sea turtle embryos grow from a few cells at oviposition to a self-sufficient organism at hatching some 50-80 days later (Ackerman 1997). After hatching, the young turtles dig up through the sand and emerge typically en masse at the surface 1-7 nights later, with a number of stragglers following over the next few nights (Christens 1990). This contrasts with the frequently observed pattern of hatching asynchrony in birds. It has been suggested that the cause of mass emergence in turtles is that eggs within a clutch are fertilised

  12. Application of topography survey on the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) conservation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Yuan-Yu; Lo, Liu-Chih; Peng, Kuan-Chieh

    2017-04-01

    Taiwan is located in the Western Pacific monsoon region, typhoon is one of the common natural disasters. Taiwan is hit by typhoons 6 times on average each year, and 2016 have 5. Typhoon not only caused the loss of nature environment in Taiwan but also decreased the endangered species- green sea turtle's breeding success rate. In Wangan island, Penghu, green sea turtle nesting beach's slop is too steep to form the dune cliff, block the way which green sea turtle should nesting above the vegetation line. Nesting under the dune cliff is disturbed easily by the swell from typhoon, Leading to the whole nest was emptied or hatching rate decreased due to water content changed. In order to reduce the threat of typhoon on the green sea turtle, and promote the success of green sea turtle reproduction, we used LiDAR(Light Detection And Ranging) to monitor the topographic change of the green sea turtle nesting habitat and compare the invasion and deposition of the green sea turtle nests before and after the occurrence of typhoons. The results showed that the breeding success rate before the typhoon (2016/09/12) was 93%, which was not affected by the swell. The breeding success rate at the higher position after the typhoon was 95%, and under the dune cliff, 10 nests reproduction failed due to the swell changing the sand layer thickness. The production of dune cliffs is formed by the roots of coastal sand-fixation plants. In the past, the residents collected the coastal plants for fuel, after collecting, sparse vegetation is good to form the flat beach, and to promote green sea turtle nesting on the higher position from the disturbance of typhoon. In the future, to protect the success of green sea turtle's reproduction, should increase the human intervention that disturb the nesting beach's vegetation appropriately, Or cutting the roots directly to reduce the dune cliffs before the nesting season, help the green sea turtle nesting in a higher beach, improve the green sea turtle

  13. Microbiology of solar salt ponds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Javor, B.

    1985-01-01

    Solar salt ponds are shallow ponds of brines that range in salinity from that of normal seawater (3.4 percent) through NaCl saturation. Some salterns evaporate brines to the potash stage of concentration (bitterns). All the brines (except the bitterns, which are devoid of life) harbor high concentrations of microorganisms. The high concentrations of microorganisms and their adaptation to life in the salt pond are discussed.

  14. Risk analysis reveals global hotspots for marine debris ingestion by sea turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schuyler, Qamar A; Wilcox, Chris; Townsend, Kathy A; Wedemeyer-Strombel, Kathryn R; Balazs, George; van Sebille, Erik; Hardesty, Britta Denise

    2016-02-01

    Plastic marine debris pollution is rapidly becoming one of the critical environmental concerns facing wildlife in the 21st century. Here we present a risk analysis for plastic ingestion by sea turtles on a global scale. We combined global marine plastic distributions based on ocean drifter data with sea turtle habitat maps to predict exposure levels to plastic pollution. Empirical data from necropsies of deceased animals were then utilised to assess the consequence of exposure to plastics. We modelled the risk (probability of debris ingestion) by incorporating exposure to debris and consequence of exposure, and included life history stage, species of sea turtle and date of stranding observation as possible additional explanatory factors. Life history stage is the best predictor of debris ingestion, but the best-fit model also incorporates encounter rates within a limited distance from stranding location, marine debris predictions specific to the date of the stranding study and turtle species. There is no difference in ingestion rates between stranded turtles vs. those caught as bycatch from fishing activity, suggesting that stranded animals are not a biased representation of debris ingestion rates in the background population. Oceanic life-stage sea turtles are at the highest risk of debris ingestion, and olive ridley turtles are the most at-risk species. The regions of highest risk to global sea turtle populations are off of the east coasts of the USA, Australia and South Africa; the east Indian Ocean, and Southeast Asia. Model results can be used to predict the number of sea turtles globally at risk of debris ingestion. Based on currently available data, initial calculations indicate that up to 52% of sea turtles may have ingested debris. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  15. PIR Marine Turtle Nesting

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Effective management of marine turtle data is essential to maximize their research value and enable timely population assessments and recovery monitoring. To provide...

  16. PIR Marine Turtle Strandings

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Effective management of marine turtle data is essential to maximize their research value and enable timely population assessments and recovery monitoring. To provide...

  17. Characterizing bacterial communities in tilapia pond surface sediment and their responses to pond differences and temporal variations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Limin; Barry, Kamira; Hu, Gengdong; Meng, Shunlong; Song, Chao; Qiu, Liping; Zheng, Yao; Wu, Wei; Qu, Jianhong; Chen, Jiazhang; Xu, Pao

    2017-01-01

    Bacterial community compositions in the surface sediment of tilapia ponds and their responses to pond characteristics or seasonal variations were investigated. For that, three ponds with different stocking densities were selected to collect the samples. And the method of Illumina high-throughput sequencing was used to amplify the bacterial 16S rRNA genes. A total of 662, 876 valid reads and 5649 operational taxonomic units were obtained. Further analysis showed that the dominant phyla in all three ponds were Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, and Acidobacteria. The phyla Planctomycetes, Firmicutes, Chlorobi, and Spirochaetae were also relatively abundant. Among the eight phyla, the abundances of only Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Spirochaetae were affected by seasonal variations, while seven of these (with the exception of Acidobacteria) were affected by pond differences. A comprehensive analysis of the richness and diversity of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene, and of the similarity in bacterial community composition in sediment also showed that the communities in tilapia pond sediment were shaped more by pond differences than by seasonal variations. Linear discriminant analysis further indicated that the influences of pond characteristics on sediment bacterial communities might be related to feed coefficients and stocking densities of genetically improved farmed tilapia (GIFT).

  18. Unusual behaviour of an immature loggerhead turtle released in the Alboran Sea

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bellido, J. J.

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available A juvenile loggerhead turtle with buoyancy problems was captured in the Alboran Sea (Mediterranean Sea, south of Spain and released 14 months later after healing. Six days after the release, the turtle was seen swimming 42 km from the point of release, displaying unusual behaviour. We re-captured and released it again, 95 nautical miles offshore, near the Alboran Island. Ten days later the turtle arrived at the beach close to where it had been maintained in captivity. We discuss these findings in the context of behavioural alteration and habituation in released sea turtles. Capture-mark-recapture studies of sea turtles should be approached with caution as manipulated animals may modify their usual behaviour.

  19. Movements and diving behavior of internesting green turtles along Pacific Costa Rica.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blanco, Gabriela S; Morreale, Stephen J; Seminoff, Jeffrey A; Paladino, Frank V; Piedra, Rotney; Spotila, James R

    2013-09-01

    Using satellite transmitters, we determined the internesting movements, spatial ecology and diving behavior of East Pacific green turtles (Chelonia mydas) nesting on Nombre de Jesús and Zapotillal beaches along the Pacific coast of northwestern Costa Rica. Kernel density analysis indicated that turtles spent most of their time in a particularly small area in the vicinity of the nesting beaches (50% utilization distribution was an area of 3 km(2) ). Minimum daily distance traveled during a 12 day internesting period was 4.6 ± 3.5 km. Dives were short and primarily occupied the upper 10 m of the water column. Turtles spent most of their time resting at the surface and conducting U-dives (ranging from 60 to 81% of the total tracking time involved in those activities). Turtles showed a strong diel pattern, U-dives mainly took place during the day and turtles spent a large amount of time resting at the surface at night. The lack of long-distance movements demonstrated that this area was heavily utilized by turtles during the nesting season and, therefore, was a crucial location for conservation of this highly endangered green turtle population. The unique behavior of these turtles in resting at the surface at night might make them particularly vulnerable to fishing activities near the nesting beaches. © 2012 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd, ISZS and IOZ/CAS.

  20. Hepatocyte growth factor is crucial for development of the carapace in turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kawashima-Ohya, Yoshie; Narita, Yuichi; Nagashima, Hiroshi; Usuda, Ryo; Kuratani, Shigeru

    2011-01-01

    Turtles are characterized by their shell, composed of a dorsal carapace and a ventral plastron. The carapace first appears as the turtle-specific carapacial ridge (CR) on the lateral aspect of the embryonic flank. Accompanying the acquisition of the shell, unlike in other amniotes, hypaxial muscles in turtle embryos appear as thin threads of fibrous tissue. To understand carapacial evolution from the perspective of muscle development, we compared the development of the muscle plate, the anlage of hypaxial muscles, between the Chinese soft-shelled turtle, Pelodiscus sinensis, and chicken embryos. We found that the ventrolateral lip (VLL) of the thoracic dermomyotome of P. sinensis delaminates early and produces sparse muscle plate in the lateral body wall. Expression patterns of the regulatory genes for myotome differentiation, such as Myf5, myogenin, Pax3, and Pax7 have been conserved among amniotes, including turtles. However, in P. sinensis embryos, the gene hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), encoding a regulatory factor for delamination of the dermomyotomal VLL, was uniquely expressed in sclerotome and the lateral body wall at the interlimb level. Implantation of COS-7 cells expressing a HGF antagonist into the turtle embryo inhibited CR formation. We conclude that the de novo expression of HGF in the turtle mesoderm would have played an innovative role resulting in the acquisition of the turtle-specific body plan. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  1. Green Turtle Critical Habitat

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — These data represent the critical habitat for green turtle as designated by Federal Register Vol. 63, No. 46701, September 2, 1998, Rules and Regulations.

  2. Immunological evaluation of captive green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) with ulcerative dermatitis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muñoz, Fernando Alberto; Estrada-Parra, Sergio; Romero-Rojas, Andrés; Gonzalez-Ballesteros, Erik; Work, Thierry M.; Villaseñor-Gaona, Hector; Estrada-Garcia, Iris

    2013-01-01

    Ulcerative dermatitis (UD) is common in captive sea turtles and manifests as skin erosions and ulcers associated with gram-negative bacteria. This study compared clinically healthy and UD-affected captive turtles by evaluating hematology, histopathology, immunoglobulin levels, and delayed-type hypersensitivity assay. Turtles with UD had significantly lower weight, reduced delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) responses, and higher heterophil:lymphocyte ratios. This study is the first to assay DTH in green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and suggests that UD is associated with immunosuppression.

  3. Modeling Commercial Freshwater Turtle Production on US Farms for Pet and Meat Markets.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivana Mali

    Full Text Available Freshwater turtles are being exploited for meat, eggs, traditional medicine, and pet trade. As a response, turtle farming became a booming aquaculture industry in the past two decades, specifically in the southeastern states of the United States of America (US and across Southeast Asia. However, US turtle farms are currently producing turtles only for the pet trade while commercial trappers remain focused on catching the largest individuals from the wild. In our analyses we have created a biological and economic model that describes farming operations on a representative turtle farm in Louisiana. We first modeled current production of hatchling and yearling red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans (i.e., traditional farming for foreign and domestic pet markets, respectively. We tested the possibility of harvesting adult turtles from the breeding stock for sale to meat markets to enable alternative markets for the farmers, while decreasing the continued pressures on wild populations (i.e., non-traditional farming. Our economic model required current profit requirements of ~$13/turtle or ~$20.31/kg of meat from non-traditional farming in order to acquire the same profit as traditional farming, a value which currently exceeds market values of red-eared sliders. However, increasing competition with Asian turtle farms and decreasing hatchling prices may force the shift in the US toward producing turtles for meat markets. In addition, our model can be modified and applied to more desirable species on the meat market once more knowledge is acquired about species life histories and space requirements under farmed conditions.

  4. Modeling Commercial Freshwater Turtle Production on US Farms for Pet and Meat Markets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mali, Ivana; Wang, Hsiao-Hsuan; Grant, William E.; Feldman, Mark; Forstner, Michael R. J.

    2015-01-01

    Freshwater turtles are being exploited for meat, eggs, traditional medicine, and pet trade. As a response, turtle farming became a booming aquaculture industry in the past two decades, specifically in the southeastern states of the United States of America (US) and across Southeast Asia. However, US turtle farms are currently producing turtles only for the pet trade while commercial trappers remain focused on catching the largest individuals from the wild. In our analyses we have created a biological and economic model that describes farming operations on a representative turtle farm in Louisiana. We first modeled current production of hatchling and yearling red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans) (i.e., traditional farming) for foreign and domestic pet markets, respectively. We tested the possibility of harvesting adult turtles from the breeding stock for sale to meat markets to enable alternative markets for the farmers, while decreasing the continued pressures on wild populations (i.e., non-traditional farming). Our economic model required current profit requirements of ~$13/turtle or ~$20.31/kg of meat from non-traditional farming in order to acquire the same profit as traditional farming, a value which currently exceeds market values of red-eared sliders. However, increasing competition with Asian turtle farms and decreasing hatchling prices may force the shift in the US toward producing turtles for meat markets. In addition, our model can be modified and applied to more desirable species on the meat market once more knowledge is acquired about species life histories and space requirements under farmed conditions. PMID:26407157

  5. Modeling Commercial Freshwater Turtle Production on US Farms for Pet and Meat Markets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mali, Ivana; Wang, Hsiao-Hsuan; Grant, William E; Feldman, Mark; Forstner, Michael R J

    2015-01-01

    Freshwater turtles are being exploited for meat, eggs, traditional medicine, and pet trade. As a response, turtle farming became a booming aquaculture industry in the past two decades, specifically in the southeastern states of the United States of America (US) and across Southeast Asia. However, US turtle farms are currently producing turtles only for the pet trade while commercial trappers remain focused on catching the largest individuals from the wild. In our analyses we have created a biological and economic model that describes farming operations on a representative turtle farm in Louisiana. We first modeled current production of hatchling and yearling red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans) (i.e., traditional farming) for foreign and domestic pet markets, respectively. We tested the possibility of harvesting adult turtles from the breeding stock for sale to meat markets to enable alternative markets for the farmers, while decreasing the continued pressures on wild populations (i.e., non-traditional farming). Our economic model required current profit requirements of ~$13/turtle or ~$20.31/kg of meat from non-traditional farming in order to acquire the same profit as traditional farming, a value which currently exceeds market values of red-eared sliders. However, increasing competition with Asian turtle farms and decreasing hatchling prices may force the shift in the US toward producing turtles for meat markets. In addition, our model can be modified and applied to more desirable species on the meat market once more knowledge is acquired about species life histories and space requirements under farmed conditions.

  6. Blood oxygen transport in common map turtles during simulated hibernation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maginniss, Leigh A; Ekelund, Summer A; Ultsch, Gordon R

    2004-01-01

    We assessed the effects of cold and submergence on blood oxygen transport in common map turtles (Graptemys geographica). Winter animals were acclimated for 6-7 wk to one of three conditions at 3 degrees C: air breathing (AB-3 degrees C), normoxic submergence (NS-3 degrees C), and hypoxic (PO2=49 Torr) submergence (HS-3 degrees C). NS-3 degrees C turtles exhibited a respiratory alkalosis (pH 8.07; PCO2=7.9 Torr; [lactate]=2.2 mM) relative to AB-3 degrees C animals (pH 7.89; PCO2=13.4 Torr; [lactate]=1.1 mM). HS-3 degrees C animals experienced a profound metabolic acidosis (pH 7.30; PCO2=7.9 Torr; [lactate]=81 mM). NS-3 degrees C turtles exhibited an increased blood O2 capacity; however, isoelectric focusing revealed no seasonal changes in the isohemoglobin (isoHb) profile. Blood O2 affinity was significantly increased by cold acclimation; half-saturation pressures (P50's) for air-breathing turtles at 3 degrees and 22 degrees C were 6.5 and 18.8 Torr, respectively. P50's for winter animals submerged in normoxic and hypoxic water were 5.2 and 6.5 Torr, respectively. CO2 Bohr slopes (Delta logP50/Delta pH) were -0.15, -0.16, and -0.07 for AB-3 degrees C, NS-3 degrees C, and HS-3 degrees C turtles, respectively; the corresponding value for AB-22 degrees C was -0.37. The O2 equilibrium curve (O2EC) shape was similar for AB-3 degrees C and NS-3 degrees C turtles; Hill plot n coefficients ranged from 1.8 to 2.0. The O2EC shape for HS-3 degrees C turtles was anomalous, exhibiting high O2 affinity below P50 and a right-shifted segment above half-saturation. We suggest that increases in Hb-O2 affinity and O2 capacity enhance extrapulmonary O2 uptake by turtles overwintering in normoxic water. The anomalous O2EC shape and reduced CO2 Bohr effect of HS-3 degrees C turtles may also promote some aerobic metabolism in hypoxic water.

  7. Endogenous and exogenous ice-nucleating agents constrain supercooling in the hatchling painted turtle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Costanzo, Jon P; Baker, Patrick J; Dinkelacker, Stephen A; Lee, Richard E

    2003-02-01

    Hatchlings of the painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) commonly hibernate in their shallow, natal nests. Survival at temperatures below the limit of freeze tolerance (approximately -4 degrees C) apparently depends on their ability to remain supercooled, and, whereas previous studies have reported that supercooling capacity improves markedly with cold acclimation, the mechanistic basis for this change is incompletely understood. We report that the crystallization temperature (T(c)) of recently hatched (summer) turtles acclimated to 22 degrees C and reared on a substratum of vermiculite or nesting soil was approximately 5 degrees C higher than the T(c) determined for turtles acclimated to 4 degrees C and tested in winter. This increase in supercooling capacity coincided with elimination of substratum (and, in fewer cases, eggshell) that the hatchlings had ingested; however, this association was not necessarily causal because turtles reared on a paper-covered substratum did not ingest exogenous matter but nevertheless showed a similar increase in supercooling capacity. Our results for turtles reared on paper revealed that seasonal development of supercooling capacity fundamentally requires elimination of ice-nucleating agents (INA) of endogenous origin: summer turtles, but not winter turtles, produced feces (perhaps derived from residual yolk) that expressed ice-nucleating activity. Ingestion of vermiculite or eggshell, which had modest ice-nucleating activity, had no effect on the T(c), whereas ingestion of nesting soil, which contained two classes of potent INA, markedly reduced the supercooling capacity of summer turtles. This effect persisted long after the turtles had purged their guts of soil particles, because the T(c) of winter turtles reared on nesting soil (mean +/- S.E.M.=-11.6+/-1.4 degrees C) was approximately 6 degrees C higher than the T(c) of winter turtles reared on vermiculite or paper. Experiments in which winter turtles were fed INA commonly found in

  8. Assessing Trophic Position and Mercury Accumulation in Sanpping Turtles

    Science.gov (United States)

    This study determined the trophic position and the total mercury concentrations of snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) captured from 26 freshwater sites in Rhode Island. Turtles were captured in baited wire cages, and a non-lethal sampling technique was used in which tips of ...

  9. Green Turtle Trophic Ecology

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — SWFSC is currently conducting a study of green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) trophic ecology in the eastern Pacific. Tissue samples and stable carbon and stable...

  10. Global Distribution of Two Fungal Pathogens Threatening Endangered Sea Turtles

    OpenAIRE

    Sarmiento-Ramírez, Jullie M.; Abella-Pérez, Elena; Phillott, Andrea D.; Sim, Jolene; van West, Pieter; Martín, María P.; Marco, Adolfo; Diéguez-Uribeondo, Javier

    2014-01-01

    Nascent fungal infections are currently considered as one of the main threats for biodiversity and ecosystem health, and have driven several animal species into critical risk of extinction. Sea turtles are one of the most endangered groups of animals and only seven species have survived to date. Here, we described two pathogenic species, i.e., Fusarium falciforme and Fusarium keratoplasticum, that are globally distributed in major turtle nesting areas for six sea turtle species and that are i...

  11. Subsistence hunting for turtles in Northwestern Ecuador

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carr, John L; Almendariz, Ana; Simmons, John E; Nielsen, Mark T

    2014-01-01

    We describe the subsistence exploitation of an entire turtle fauna in Esmerald's Province, Ecuador. We collected first hand accounts and witnessed a number of capture techniques used by rural afroecuadorian and chachi inhabitants of the Cayapas Santiago River basin. The diversity of techniques indicated a practical knowledge of the ecology of the species. Chelydra acutirostris, Kinosternon leucostomum, Rhinoclemmys annulata, Melanosterna, and R. nasuta were captured and eaten. Poziando involved cleaning pools in a stream bed during the relatively dry season by removing live plants, organic detritus, and then seining with baskets; we observed R. melanosterna and K. leucostomum captured in this way. Pitfall traps baited with fruit were used to catch R. melanosterna during forays on land. Basket traps (Canasto tortuguero) with a wooden slat funnel across the opening are floated with balsa lashed to the sides. Banana or Xanthosoma leaf bait in the basket traps caught R. melanosterna, R. nasuta, and K. leucostomum. Marshy areas were probed for R. melanosterna and K. leucostomum. Direct capture by hand was also common. Turtles were relished as food items; all turtles captured were consumed, usually in soup or stew. Use of turtles for food in the region was pervasive, perhaps because fish and game populations were depleted.

  12. Beaver ponds increase methylmercury concentrations in Canadian shield streams along vegetation and pond-age gradients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roy, Virginie; Amyot, Marc; Carignan, Richard

    2009-08-01

    Beaver impoundments flood forested areas and may be important production sites for methylmercury (MeHg) because of the resulting enhanced microbial activity and oxygen depletion. The influence of 17 beaver impoundments on streamwater chemistry (total mercury (THg), MeHg, nutrients, cations, and anions)] was investigated by sampling sites located along vegetation and pond-age gradients in southwestern Quebec (Canada). Recently inundated beaver ponds (beaver ponds as suggested by depletions of dissolved oxygen, sulfate and nitrite-nitrate concentrations, and increases in nutrients (e.g., dissolved organic carbon, total phosphorus, and total nitrogen) in outlets compared to inlets. Acidic waters at coniferous sites may have stimulated more MeHg production than in mixed woodland regions. Lower methylation efficiencies in older ponds (> 20 years old) may be due to the degradation of less labile organic matter as ponds age. Beavers actively alter watersheds by building impoundments, and our findings indicate that this landscape disturbance may be a significant source of MeHg to downstream water bodies.

  13. 78 FR 66841 - Turtles Intrastate and Interstate Requirements; Confirmation of Effective Date

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-11-07

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration 21 CFR Part 1240 [Docket No. FDA-2013-N-0639] Turtles Intrastate and Interstate Requirements; Confirmation of Effective Date AGENCY... turtle eggs and live turtles with a carapace length of less than 4 inches to remove procedures for...

  14. Frozen ponds

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Langer, M; Westermann, S.; Anthony, K. Walter

    2015-01-01

    to a warming climate are complex and only poorly understood. Small waterbodies have been attracting an increasing amount of attention since recent studies demonstrated that ponds can make a significant contribution to the CO2 and CH4emissions of tundra ecosystems. Waterbodies also have a marked effect...... on the thermal state of the surrounding permafrost; during the freezing period they prolong the period of time during which thawed soil material is available for microbial decomposition.  This study presents net CH4 production rates during the freezing period from ponds within a typical lowland tundra landscape...

  15. The integumental appendages of the turtle shell: an evo-devo perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moustakas-Verho, Jacqueline E; Cherepanov, Gennadii O

    2015-05-01

    The turtle shell is composed of dorsal armor (carapace) and ventral armor (plastron) covered by a keratinized epithelium. There are two epithelial appendages of the turtle shell: scutes (large epidermal shields separated by furrows and forming a unique mosaic) and tubercles (numerous small epidermal bumps located on the carapaces of some species). In our perspective, we take a synthetic, comparative approach to consider the homology and evolution of these integumental appendages. Scutes have been more intensively studied, as they are autapomorphic for turtles and can be diagnostic taxonomically. Their pattern of tessellation is stable phylogenetically, but labile in the individual. We discuss the history of developmental investigations of these structures and hypotheses of evolutionary and anomalous variation. In our estimation, the scutes of the turtle shell are an evolutionary novelty, whereas the tubercles found on the shells of some turtles are homologous to reptilian scales. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  16. Endangered species: where leatherback turtles meet fisheries.

    OpenAIRE

    Ferraroli , S.; Georges , J.-Y.; Gaspar , P.; Le Maho , Y.

    2004-01-01

    International audience; The dramatic worldwide decline in populations of the leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) is largely due to the high mortality associated with their interaction with fisheries, so a reduction of this overlap is critical to their survival. The discovery of narrow migration corridors used by the leatherbacks in the Pacific Ocean raised the possibility of protecting the turtles by restricting fishing in these key areas. Here we use satellite tracking to show that the...

  17. Physiological ramifications for loggerhead turtles captured in pelagic longlines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williard, Amanda; Parga, Mariluz; Sagarminaga, Ricardo; Swimmer, Yonat

    2015-10-01

    Bycatch of endangered loggerhead turtles in longline fisheries results in high rates of post-release mortality that may negatively impact populations. The factors contributing to post-release mortality have not been well studied, but traumatic injuries and physiological disturbances experienced as a result of capture are thought to play a role. The goal of our study was to gauge the physiological status of loggerhead turtles immediately upon removal from longline gear in order to refine our understanding of the impacts of capture and the potential for post-release mortality. We analysed blood samples collected from longline- and hand-captured loggerhead turtles, and discovered that capture in longline gear results in blood loss, induction of the systemic stress response, and a moderate increase in lactate. The method by which turtles are landed and released, particularly if released with the hook or line still attached, may exacerbate stress and lead to chronic injuries, sublethal effects or delayed mortality. Our study is the first, to the best of our knowledge, to document the physiological impacts of capture in longline gear, and our findings underscore the importance of best practices gear removal to promote post-release survival in longline-captured turtles. © 2015 The Author(s).

  18. Homeotic shift at the dawn of the turtle evolution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Szczygielski, Tomasz

    2017-04-01

    All derived turtles are characterized by one of the strongest reductions of the dorsal elements among Amniota, and have only 10 dorsal and eight cervical vertebrae. I demonstrate that the Late Triassic turtles, which represent successive stages of the shell evolution, indicate that the shift of the boundary between the cervical and dorsal sections of the vertebral column occurred over the course of several million years after the formation of complete carapace. The more generalized reptilian formula of at most seven cervicals and at least 11 dorsals is thus plesiomorphic for Testudinata. The morphological modifications associated with an anterior homeotic change of the first dorsal vertebra towards the last cervical vertebra in the Triassic turtles are partially recapitulated by the reduction of the first dorsal vertebra in crown-group Testudines, and they resemble the morphologies observed under laboratory conditions resulting from the experimental changes of Hox gene expression patterns. This homeotic shift hypothesis is supported by the, unique to turtles, restriction of Hox-5 expression domains, somitic precursors of scapula, and brachial plexus branches to the cervical region, by the number of the marginal scute-forming placodes, which was larger in the Triassic than in modern turtles, and by phylogenetic analyses.

  19. Aquatic studies of Gable Mountain Pond

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cushing, C.E.; Watson, D.G.

    1974-12-01

    Studies of the biotic and abiotic components of the Gable Mountain Pond (HAPO cooling water disposal pond) ecosystem were undertaken to determine if there was a potential problem for off-site transfer of radioactivity to man originating with the aquatic food web. Most of the 137 Cs in the pond is associated with the sediments which are probably the main source of 137 Cs for uptake by the biota. Generally, highest concentrations of 137 Cs and other radioisotopes were found in the upper two inches of sediments in the northwest end of the pond and in the deeper areas along the long-axis of the pond. Native goldfish had maximum and average 137 Cs concentrations of about 340 and 170 pCi/g dry wt, respectively. Algae, macrophytes, and detritus comprised the main food items of the goldfish, and the 137 Cs levels in the plants were usually higher than the 137 Cs concentration in the fish. The 137 Cs concentrations of wild experimental ducks restricted to Gable Mountain Pond were approximately the same as resident coots, but significantly higher than transient wild ducks. Neither the goldfish nor the waterfowl inhabiting the pond attained concentrations of 137 Cs exceeding acceptable limits. Sediment, however, could be a source of high concentrations of radioactivity or radioactive contamination concern if the concentration of radiocontaminants increased and/or the pond dries up, and the contaminated sediments become windborne. (U.S.)

  20. Development of a Summarized Health Index (SHI) for Use in Predicting Survival in Sea Turtles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Tsung-Hsien; Chang, Chao-Chin; Cheng, I-Jiunn; Lin, Suen-Chuain

    2015-01-01

    Veterinary care plays an influential role in sea turtle rehabilitation, especially in endangered species. Physiological characteristics, hematological and plasma biochemistry profiles, are useful references for clinical management in animals, especially when animals are during the convalescence period. In this study, these factors associated with sea turtle surviving were analyzed. The blood samples were collected when sea turtles remained alive, and then animals were followed up for surviving status. The results indicated that significantly negative correlation was found between buoyancy disorders (BD) and sea turtle surviving (p turtles had significantly higher levels of aspartate aminotranspherase (AST), creatinine kinase (CK), creatinine and uric acid (UA) than surviving sea turtles (all p turtles and to improve veterinary care at rehabilitation facilities. PMID:25803431

  1. Case descriptions of fibropapillomatosis in rehabilitating loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta in the southeastern USA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Page-Karjian, Annie; Norton, Terry M; Harms, Craig; Mader, Doug; Herbst, Larry H; Stedman, Nancy; Gottdenker, Nicole L

    2015-08-20

    Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a debilitating neoplastic disease that affects all species of hard-shelled sea turtles, including loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta. FP can represent an important clinical concern in rehabilitating turtles, since managing these infectious lesions often requires special husbandry provisions including quarantine, and FP may affect clinical progression, extend rehabilitation duration, and complicate prognoses. Here we describe cases of rehabilitating loggerhead turtles with FP (designated FP+). Medical records of FP+ loggerhead cases from 3 sea turtle rehabilitation facilities in the southeastern USA were reviewed. Between 2001 and 2014, FP was observed in 8 of 818 rehabilitating loggerhead turtles (0.98% overall prevalence in admitted patients). FP+ loggerhead size classes represented were large juvenile (straight carapace length, SCL: 58.1-80 cm; n=7) and adult (SCL>87 cm; n=1). Three turtles presented with FP, and 5 developed tumors during rehabilitation within a range of 45 to 319 d. Sites of new tumor growth included the eyes, sites of trauma, neck, and glottis. FP+ turtles were scored as mildly (3/8), moderately (4/8), or heavily (1/8) afflicted. The mean total time in rehabilitation was 476±355 d (SD) (range: 52-1159 d). Six turtles were released without visible evidence of FP, 1 turtle was released with mild FP, and 1 turtle with internal FP was euthanized. Clinical decision-making for FP+ loggerhead patients can be aided by such information as time to tumor development, anatomic locations to monitor for new tumor growth, husbandry considerations, diagnostic and treatment options, and comparisons to FP in rehabilitating green turtles Chelonia mydas.

  2. Body size distribution demonstrates flexible habitat shift of green turtle (Chelonia mydas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ryota Hayashi

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Green turtles (Chelonia mydas, listed as Endangered on the IUCN redlist, have a broad migration area and undergo a habitat shift from the pelagic (hatchling to neritic (growth zones. We studied habitat utilisation of the coastal feeding grounds around Okinawajima Island, Japan, in 103 green turtles. The western and eastern turtle aggregations off Okinawa had homogeneous genetic compositions, but different body size distributions. The western coastal feeding ground supported larger individuals than the eastern coastal feeding ground. Thus, green turtles appear to prefer different feeding grounds during their growth, and have a flexible habitat shift including a secondary habitat shift from east to west around Okinawajima Island after they are recruited to the coastal habitats. This study suggests maintaining coastal habitat diversity is important for green turtle conservation.

  3. Vasoactivity of hydrogen sulfide in normoxic and anoxic turtles (Trachemys scripta)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stecyk, Jonathan A.W.; Jensen, Nini Skovgaard; Nilsson, Göran E.

    2010-01-01

    Systemic vascular resistance (Rsys) of freshwater turtles increases substantially during anoxia, but the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. We investigated whether hydrogen sulfide (H2S), an endogenously produced metabolite believed to be an O2 sensor/transducer of vasomotor tone......, contributes to the increased Rsys of anoxic red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta). Vascular infusion of the H2S donor NaHS in anesthetized turtles at 21°C and fully recovered normoxic turtles at 5°C and 21°C revealed H2S to be a potent vasoconstrictor of the systemic circulation. Likewise, wire...... myography of isolated turtle mesenteric and pulmonary arteries demonstrated H2S to mediate an anoxia-induced constriction. Intriguingly, however, NaHS did not exert vasoconstrictory effects during anoxia (6 h at 21°C; 14 days at 5°C) when plasma H2S concentration, estimated from the colorimetric measurement...

  4. A new diverse turtle fauna in the late Kimmeridgian of Switzerland

    OpenAIRE

    Anquetin, Jérémy

    2014-01-01

    Talk given at the 12th Swiss Geoscience Meeting in Fribourg, Switzerland, November 22nd, 2014.   Abstract: During the Kimmeridgian and the Tithonian (Late Jurassic), Europe was the theater of the diversification of numerous coastal eucryptodiran turtles (Plesiochelyidae, Thalassemydidae, and Eurysternidae). Most turtle assemblages were discovered during the 19th century. The best localities and horizons include the Kimmeridge Clay of England, the Turtle Limestone of Solothurn, Switze...

  5. A large phylogeny of turtles (Testudines) using molecular data

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Guillon, J.-M.; Guéry, L.; Hulin, V.; Girondot, M.

    2012-01-01

    Turtles (Testudines) form a monophyletic group with a highly distinctive body plan. The taxonomy and phylogeny of turtles are still under discussion, at least for some clades. Whereas in most previous studies, only a few species or genera were considered, we here use an extensive compilation of DNA

  6. Marine tourism and the locations of protected turtles on Sukamade Beach, Meru Betiri National Park, East Java

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prihadi, D. J.; Shofiyullah, A.; Dhahiyat, Y.

    2018-04-01

    The research was conducted in Sukamade Beach, Meru Betiri National Park, East Java. The purpose of this research was to identify marine tourism activity and to determine the differences in the characteristics of turtle-nesting beaches towards the number and species of turtles that came to the beach. Data collection conducted in August-September 2014. The method used in this research was a survey method at 7 reseach stations to collect primary data (biophysical characteristics) and secondary data. The Primary data was collected by monitoring turtles, width and slope of the beach, temperature, pH, moisture, sand texture, and beach vegetation conditions at each station. The results of the research shows that marine tourisms always involve tourists who attend to see turtle nesting, when turtles arrive at the beach, and turtles return to the sea, how large the turtles and how they lay eggs on the beach, and the release of little turtles (tukik). The number of turtles that landed from station 1 to station 7 is as many as 311 individuals of three species. The most dominant species of turtles that arrived at the beach is green turtle (Chelonia mydas), followed by olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivaceae) and leatherbacks turtles (Dermochelys coriacea).

  7. The feeding habit of sea turtles influences their reaction to artificial marine debris

    OpenAIRE

    Takuya Fukuoka; Misaki Yamane; Chihiro Kinoshita; Tomoko Narazaki; Greg J. Marshall; Kyler J. Abernathy; Nobuyuki Miyazaki; Katsufumi Sato

    2016-01-01

    Ingestion of artificial debris is considered as a significant stress for wildlife including sea turtles. To investigate how turtles react to artificial debris under natural conditions, we deployed animal-borne video cameras on loggerhead and green turtles in addition to feces and gut contents analyses from 2007 to 2015. Frequency of occurrences of artificial debris in feces and gut contents collected from loggerhead turtles were 35.7% (10/28) and 84.6% (11/13), respectively. Artificial debris...

  8. Rapid surface-water volume estimations in beaver ponds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karran, Daniel J.; Westbrook, Cherie J.; Wheaton, Joseph M.; Johnston, Carol A.; Bedard-Haughn, Angela

    2017-02-01

    Beaver ponds are surface-water features that are transient through space and time. Such qualities complicate the inclusion of beaver ponds in local and regional water balances, and in hydrological models, as reliable estimates of surface-water storage are difficult to acquire without time- and labour-intensive topographic surveys. A simpler approach to overcome this challenge is needed, given the abundance of the beaver ponds in North America, Eurasia, and southern South America. We investigated whether simple morphometric characteristics derived from readily available aerial imagery or quickly measured field attributes of beaver ponds can be used to approximate surface-water storage among the range of environmental settings in which beaver ponds are found. Studied were a total of 40 beaver ponds from four different sites in North and South America. The simplified volume-area-depth (V-A-h) approach, originally developed for prairie potholes, was tested. With only two measurements of pond depth and corresponding surface area, this method estimated surface-water storage in beaver ponds within 5 % on average. Beaver pond morphometry was characterized by a median basin coefficient of 0.91, and dam length and pond surface area were strongly correlated with beaver pond storage capacity, regardless of geographic setting. These attributes provide a means for coarsely estimating surface-water storage capacity in beaver ponds. Overall, this research demonstrates that reliable estimates of surface-water storage in beaver ponds only requires simple measurements derived from aerial imagery and/or brief visits to the field. Future research efforts should be directed at incorporating these simple methods into both broader beaver-related tools and catchment-scale hydrological models.

  9. The amino acid sequence of snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) ribonuclease

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Beintema, Jacob; Broos, Jaap; Meulenberg, Janneke; Schüller, Cornelis

    1985-01-01

    Snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) ribonuclease was isolated from pancreatic tissue. Turtle ribonuclease binds much more weakly to the affinity chromatography matrix used than mammalian ribonucleases. The amino acid sequence was determined from overlapping peptides obtained from three different

  10. Global distribution of two fungal pathogens threatening endangered sea turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarmiento-Ramírez, Jullie M; Abella-Pérez, Elena; Phillott, Andrea D; Sim, Jolene; van West, Pieter; Martín, María P; Marco, Adolfo; Diéguez-Uribeondo, Javier

    2014-01-01

    Nascent fungal infections are currently considered as one of the main threats for biodiversity and ecosystem health, and have driven several animal species into critical risk of extinction. Sea turtles are one of the most endangered groups of animals and only seven species have survived to date. Here, we described two pathogenic species, i.e., Fusarium falciforme and Fusarium keratoplasticum, that are globally distributed in major turtle nesting areas for six sea turtle species and that are implicated in low hatch success. These two fungi possess key biological features that are similar to emerging pathogens leading to host extinction, e.g., high virulence, and a broad host range style of life. Their optimal growth temperature overlap with the optimal incubation temperature for eggs, and they are able to kill up to 90% of the embryos. Environmental forcing, e.g., tidal inundation and clay/silt content of nests, were correlated to disease development. Thus, these Fusarium species constitute a major threat to sea turtle nests, especially to those experiencing environmental stressors. These findings have serious implications for the survival of endangered sea turtle populations and the success of conservation programs worldwide.

  11. Global distribution of two fungal pathogens threatening endangered sea turtles.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jullie M Sarmiento-Ramírez

    Full Text Available Nascent fungal infections are currently considered as one of the main threats for biodiversity and ecosystem health, and have driven several animal species into critical risk of extinction. Sea turtles are one of the most endangered groups of animals and only seven species have survived to date. Here, we described two pathogenic species, i.e., Fusarium falciforme and Fusarium keratoplasticum, that are globally distributed in major turtle nesting areas for six sea turtle species and that are implicated in low hatch success. These two fungi possess key biological features that are similar to emerging pathogens leading to host extinction, e.g., high virulence, and a broad host range style of life. Their optimal growth temperature overlap with the optimal incubation temperature for eggs, and they are able to kill up to 90% of the embryos. Environmental forcing, e.g., tidal inundation and clay/silt content of nests, were correlated to disease development. Thus, these Fusarium species constitute a major threat to sea turtle nests, especially to those experiencing environmental stressors. These findings have serious implications for the survival of endangered sea turtle populations and the success of conservation programs worldwide.

  12. Diatoms on the carapace of common snapping turtles: Luticola spp. dominate despite spatial variation in assemblages.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shelly C Wu

    Full Text Available Filamentous algae are often visible on the carapaces of freshwater turtles and these algae are dominated by a few species with varying geographic distributions. Compared to filamentous algae, little is known about the much more speciose microalgae on turtles. Our objectives were to compare the diatom flora on a single turtle species (the common snapping turtle, Chelydra serpentina across part of its range to examine spatial patterns and determine whether specific diatom taxa were consistently associated with turtles (as occurs in the filamentous alga Basicladia spp.. Using preserved turtle specimens from museums, we systematically sampled diatoms on the carapaces of 25 snapping turtles across five states. The diverse diatom assemblages formed two groups-the southern Oklahoma group and the northern Illinois/Wisconsin/New York group, with Arkansas not differing from either group. Of the six diatom species found in all five states, four species are widespread, whereas Luticola cf. goeppertiana and L. cf. mutica are undescribed species, known only from turtles in our study. L. cf. goeppertiana comprised 83% of the diatom abundance on Oklahoma turtles and was relatively more abundant on southern turtles (Oklahoma and Arkansas than on northern turtles (where mean abundance/state was > 10%. L. cf. mutica was the most abundant species (40% on New York turtles. Some Luticola species are apparently turtle associates and results support a pattern of spatial variation in Luticola species, similar to that in Basicladia. Using museum specimens is an efficient and effective method to study the distribution of micro-epibionts.

  13. Diatoms on the carapace of common snapping turtles: Luticola spp. dominate despite spatial variation in assemblages

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Shelly C.; Bergey, Elizabeth A.

    2017-01-01

    Filamentous algae are often visible on the carapaces of freshwater turtles and these algae are dominated by a few species with varying geographic distributions. Compared to filamentous algae, little is known about the much more speciose microalgae on turtles. Our objectives were to compare the diatom flora on a single turtle species (the common snapping turtle, Chelydra serpentina) across part of its range to examine spatial patterns and determine whether specific diatom taxa were consistently associated with turtles (as occurs in the filamentous alga Basicladia spp.). Using preserved turtle specimens from museums, we systematically sampled diatoms on the carapaces of 25 snapping turtles across five states. The diverse diatom assemblages formed two groups–the southern Oklahoma group and the northern Illinois/Wisconsin/New York group, with Arkansas not differing from either group. Of the six diatom species found in all five states, four species are widespread, whereas Luticola cf. goeppertiana and L. cf. mutica are undescribed species, known only from turtles in our study. L. cf. goeppertiana comprised 83% of the diatom abundance on Oklahoma turtles and was relatively more abundant on southern turtles (Oklahoma and Arkansas) than on northern turtles (where mean abundance/state was > 10%). L. cf. mutica was the most abundant species (40%) on New York turtles. Some Luticola species are apparently turtle associates and results support a pattern of spatial variation in Luticola species, similar to that in Basicladia. Using museum specimens is an efficient and effective method to study the distribution of micro-epibionts. PMID:28192469

  14. Thermal performance experiments on ultimate heat sinks, spray ponds, and cooling ponds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hadlock, R.K.

    1976-12-01

    A program of measurement on a Battelle-Northwest (BNW) spray pond has been completed to prove an integrated instrumentation system for application in future field experiments. The measurement programs in the field will produce data of relevance to the design and understanding of performance for ultimate heat sinks as components of emergency core cooling systems. In the absence of active emergency cooling systems, the data will be obtained on analog systems--prime candidates among these are the naturally-occurring hot ponds at Yellowstone National Park and man-made hot cooling ponds at Savannah River National Laboratory as well as spray ponds at various industrial facilities. The proof experiment has provided data that not only illustrate the effectiveness of the instrumentation system but also display interesting site-specific heat transfer processes. The data to be obtained in the field will also be site specific but must be of generic applicability in modeling for design and performance purposes. The integrated instrumentation system will evolve, through modest modifications and substantial supplementation, to provide the requisite data for the more demanding situation of work in and about hot water

  15. EFFECTS OF "SWIM WITH THE TURTLES" TOURIST ATTRACTIONS ON GREEN SEA TURTLE (CHELONIA MYDAS) HEALTH IN BARBADOS, WEST INDIES.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stewart, Kimberly; Norton, Terry; Mohammed, Hamish; Browne, Darren; Clements, Kathleen; Thomas, Kirsten; Yaw, Taylor; Horrocks, Julia

    2016-04-01

    Along the West Coast of Barbados a unique relationship has developed between endangered green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) and humans. Fishermen began inadvertently provisioning these foraging turtles with fish offal discarded from their boats. Although initially an indirect supplementation, this activity became a popular attraction for visitors. Subsequently, demand for this activity increased, and direct supplementation or provisioning with food began. Food items offered included raw whole fish (typically a mixture of false herring [Harengula clupeola] and pilchard [Harengula humeralis]), filleted fish, and lesser amounts of processed food such as hot dogs, chicken, bread, or various other leftovers. Alterations in behavior and growth rates as a result of the provisioning have been documented in this population. The purpose of this study was to determine how tourism-based human interactions are affecting the overall health of this foraging population and to determine what potential health risks these interactions may create for sea turtles. Juvenile green sea turtles (n=29) were captured from four sites off the coast of Barbados, West Indies, and categorized into a group that received supplemental feeding as part of a tour (n=11) or an unsupplemented group (n=18) that consisted of individuals that were captured at sites that did not provide supplemental feeding. Following capture, a general health assessment of each animal was conducted. This included weight and morphometric measurements, a systematic physical examination, determination of body condition score and body condition index, epibiota assessment and quantification, and clinical pathology including hematologic and biochemical testing and nutritional assessments. The supplemented group was found to have changes to body condition, vitamin, mineral, hematologic, and biochemical values. Based on these results, recommendations were made to decrease negative behaviors and health impacts for turtles as a result

  16. Salmonella from Baby Turtles

    Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

    2017-01-09

    Dr. Stacey Bosch, a veterinarian with CDC, discusses her article on Salmonella infections associated with baby turtles.  Created: 1/9/2017 by National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID).   Date Released: 1/9/2017.

  17. Here, There and Everywhere - On the Recurring Use of Turtle Graphics in CS1

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Henrik Bærbak; Caspersen, Michael Edelgaard

    2000-01-01

    The Logo programming language implements a virtual drawing machine—the turtle machine. The turtle machine is well-known for giving students an intuitive understanding of fundamental procedural programming principles. In this paper we present our experiences with resurrecting the Logo turtle...... in a new object-oriented way and using it in an introductory object-oriented programming course. While, at the outset, we wanted to achieve the same qualities as the original turtle (understanding of state, control flow, instructions) we realized that the concept of turtles is well suited for teaching...... a whole range of fundamental principles. We have successfully used turtles to give students an intuitive understanding of central object-oriented concepts and principles such as object, class, message passing, behaviour, object identification, subclasses and inheritance; an intuitive understanding...

  18. 50 CFR 660.720 - Interim protection for sea turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 9 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Interim protection for sea turtles. 660.720 Section 660.720 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND... Migratory Fisheries § 660.720 Interim protection for sea turtles. (a) Until the effective date of §§ 660.707...

  19. 100-D Ponds closure plan. Revision 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Petersen, S.W.

    1997-09-01

    The 100-D Ponds is a Treatment, Storage, and Disposal (TSD) unit on the Hanford Facility that received both dangerous and nonregulated waste. This Closure Plan (Rev. 1) for the 100-D Ponds TSD unit consists of a RCRA Part A Dangerous Waste Permit Application (Rev. 3), a RCRA Closure Plan, and supporting information contained in the appendices to the plan. The closure plan consists of eight chapters containing facility description, process information, waste characteristics, and groundwater monitoring data. There are also chapters containing the closure strategy and performance standards. The strategy for the closure of the 100-D Ponds TSD unit is clean closure. Appendices A and B of the closure plan demonstrate that soil and groundwater beneath 100-D Ponds are below cleanup limits. All dangerous wastes or dangerous waste constituents or residues associated with the operation of the ponds have been removed, therefore, human health and the environment are protected. Discharges to the 100-D Ponds, which are located in the 100-DR-1 operable unit, were discontinued in June 1994. Contaminated sediment was removed from the ponds in August 1996. Subsequent sampling and analysis demonstrated that there is no contamination remaining in the ponds, therefore, this closure plan is a demonstration of clean closure

  20. Invasion of the turtles? : exotic turtles in the Netherland: a risk assessment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bugter, R.J.F.; Ottburg, F.G.W.A.; Roessink, I.; Jansman, H.A.H.; Grift, van der E.A.; Griffioen, A.J.

    2011-01-01

    The authors of this report assessed the risk of exotic turtles becoming invasive in the Netherlands. Main components of the risk are the large scale of introduction of discarded pets to Dutch nature and possible suitability of species to survive and reproduce successfully under present or future

  1. Willingness to Pay for Marine Turtle Conservation in Asia: A Cross-Country Perspective

    OpenAIRE

    Jin Jiangjun; Rodelio Subade; Orapan Nabangchang; Truong Dang Thuy; Anabeth L. Indab

    2009-01-01

    Marine turtles are important, not only for their economic and intrinsic value, but because an adequate population of marine turtles is often an indicator of healthy marine ecosystem. Of the seven species of marine turtles, four are critically endangered, while two are in the next-highest risk category.

  2. Embryonic hypoxia programmes postprandial cardiovascular function in adult common snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wearing, Oliver H; Conner, Justin; Nelson, Derek; Crossley, Janna; Crossley, Dane A

    2017-07-15

    Reduced oxygen availability (hypoxia) is a potent stressor during embryonic development, altering the trajectory of trait maturation and organismal phenotype. We previously documented that chronic embryonic hypoxia has a lasting impact on the metabolic response to feeding in juvenile snapping turtles ( Chelydra serpentina ). Turtles exposed to hypoxia as embryos [10% O 2 (H10)] exhibited an earlier and increased peak postprandial oxygen consumption rate, compared with control turtles [21% O 2 (N21)]. In the current study, we measured central blood flow patterns to determine whether the elevated postprandial metabolic response in H10 turtles is linked to lasting impacts on convective transport. Five years after hatching, turtles were instrumented to quantify systemic ([Formula: see text]) and pulmonary ([Formula: see text]) blood flows and heart rate ( f H ) before and after a ∼5% body mass meal. In adult N21 and H10 turtles, f H was increased significantly by feeding. Although total stroke volume ( V S,tot ) remained at fasted values, this tachycardia contributed to an elevation in total cardiac output ([Formula: see text]). However, there was a postprandial reduction in a net left-right (L-R) shunt in N21 snapping turtles only. Relative to N21 turtles, H10 animals exhibited higher [Formula: see text] due to increased blood flow through the right systemic outflow vessels of the heart. This effect of hypoxic embryonic development, reducing a net L-R cardiac shunt, may support the increased postprandial metabolic rate we previously reported in H10 turtles, and is further demonstration of adult reptile cardiovascular physiology being programmed by embryonic hypoxia. © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  3. Seasonal residency of loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta tracked from the Gulf of Manfredonia, south Adriatic

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. CASALE

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available A detailed knowledge of sea turtle distribution in relation to anthropogenic threats is key to inform conservation measures. We satellite tracked five loggerhead turtles incidentally caught in the Gulf of Manfredonia, where a high turtle occurrence and high bycatch levels have been recently reported. Turtles were tracked for a period ranging from 27 to 367 days, with a minimum travel distance ranging from 151 to 4,300 km. With the caution due to the small sample size, results suggest that: (i the area may host residential loggerhead turtles at least in summer, while they probably move elsewhere in winter due to the low temperatures occurring in shallow waters, (ii turtles may have very small home ranges in the area, (iii turtle occurrence may be higher in shallow waters along the coast. Moreover (iv one turtle showed remarkable fidelity to the same spot after seasonal migration and constant migration paths. If confirmed and further detailed, such movement patterns may guide effective conservation strategies to reduce the impact of bycatch in the area.

  4. Evolution of the turtle body plan by the folding and creation of new muscle connections.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagashima, Hiroshi; Sugahara, Fumiaki; Takechi, Masaki; Ericsson, Rolf; Kawashima-Ohya, Yoshie; Narita, Yuichi; Kuratani, Shigeru

    2009-07-10

    The turtle shell offers a fascinating case study of vertebrate evolution, based on the modification of a common body plan. The carapace is formed from ribs, which encapsulate the scapula; this stands in contrast to the typical amniote body plan and serves as a key to understanding turtle evolution. Comparative analyses of musculoskeletal development between the Chinese soft-shelled turtle and other amniotes revealed that initial turtle development conforms to the amniote pattern; however, during embryogenesis, lateral rib growth results in a shift of elements. In addition, some limb muscles establish new turtle-specific attachments associated with carapace formation. We propose that the evolutionary origin of the turtle body plan results from heterotopy based on folding and novel connectivities.

  5. Sensory Evolution and Ecology of Early Turtles Revealed by Digital Endocranial Reconstructions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephan Lautenschlager

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available In the past few years, new fossil finds and novel methodological approaches have prompted intensive discussions about the phylogenetic affinities of turtles and rekindled the debate on their ecological origin, with very distinct scenarios, such as fossoriality and aquatic habitat occupation, proposed for the earliest stem-turtles. While research has focused largely on the origin of the anapsid skull and unique postcranial anatomy, little is known about the endocranial anatomy of turtles. Here, we provide 3D digital reconstructions and comparative descriptions of the brain, nasal cavity, neurovascular structures and endosseous labyrinth of Proganochelys quenstedti, one of the earliest stem-turtles, as well as other turtle taxa. Our results demonstrate that P. quenstedti retained a simple tube-like brain morphology with poorly differentiated regions and mediocre hearing and vision, but a well-developed olfactory sense. Endocast shape analysis indicates that an increase in size and regionalization of the brain took place in the course of turtle evolution, achieving an endocast diversity comparable to other amniote groups. Based on the new evidence presented herein, we further conclude that P. quenstedti was a highly terrestrial, but most likely not fossorial, taxon.

  6. Marine debris and human impacts on sea turtles in southern Brazil

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bugoni, Leandro; Krause, Ligia [Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Dept. de Zoologia, Porto Alegre, RS (Brazil); Petry, Maria Virginia [Universidade do Rio dos Sinos, Museu de Zoologia, Sao Leopoldo, RS (Brazil)

    2001-07-01

    Dead stranded sea turtles were recovered and examined to determine the impact of anthropogenic debris and fishery activities on sea turtles on the coast of Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. Esophagus/stomach contents of 38 juvenile green Chelonia mydas, 10 adults and sub-adults loggerhead Caretta caretta, and two leatherback Dermochelys coriacea turtle (adult or sub-adult) included plastic bags as the main debris ingested, predominated by white and colorless pieces. The ingestion of anthropogenic debris accounted for the death of 13.2% of the green turtles examined. Signs of damage over the body and carapace indicated that fishing activities caused the death of 13.6% (3/22) of loggerheads and 1.5% (1/56) of green turtles. Therefore, it appears that direct and indirect effects of fishing activities may pose a threat to these species in Brazilian waters. Other sources of plastic debris should be investigated as well a the direct impact of fisheries, especially bottom trawl and gill nets, in order to establish effective conservation action. (Author)

  7. Establishment risk from pet-trade freshwater turtles in the European Union

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kopecký O.

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available The pet-turtle market has grown in recent years and become an important pathway for the introduction of alien species in Europe. The import of Trachemys scripta elegans has been banned by European Commission Regulation due to its species’ expanding territory and negative impact on native species. Since the demand from hobby breeders persists, however, blocking imports of this popular subspecies opens up the possibility for the introduction of other potentially invasive turtles. We determined those turtle species most common in the pet trade within the Czech Republic, which is the most important producer, importer and exporter of ornamental aquatic animals in the EU. The determination of establishment risk for the EU as a whole was then individually evaluated for turtle species based on known establishment models. Chelydra serpentina, Apalone spinifera, Apalone mutica, and Sternotherus odoratus were considered most problematic, because these species have serious establishment risk and are imported to the EU in substantial numbers. Also localities in the EU were identified where probability is highest for establishment of non-native turtles.

  8. The amniote temporal roof and the diapsid origin of the turtle skull.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bever, G S; Lyson, Tyler R; Field, Daniel J; Bhullar, Bhart-Anjan S

    2016-12-01

    Fossils provide a glimpse into the architecturally complex origins of modern vertebrate body plans. One such origin that has been long debated is that of turtles. Although much attention has been directed toward the origin of the shell, the enigmatic evolution of the turtle skull and its anapsid temporal region has long clouded our understanding of reptile phylogeny. Two taxa, Eunotosaurus africanus and Pappochelys rosinae, were recently and independently described as long-anticipated stem turtles whose diapsid skulls would cement the evolutionary link between turtles and other modern reptile lineages. Detailed μCT analysis of the stratigraphically older and phylogenetically stemward of the two, Eunotosaurus, provides empirical insight into changing developmental trajectories that may have produced the anapsid cranial form of modern turtles and sets the stage for more comprehensive studies of early amniote cranial evolution. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  9. Cloudy with a Chance of Ice: The Stratification of Titan's Vernal Ponds and Formation of Ethane Ice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soderblom, J. M.; Steckloff, J. K.

    2017-12-01

    Cassini ISS observations revealed regions on Saturn's moon Titan that become significantly darker (lower albedo) following storm events [1]. These regions are observed to be topographically low [2], indicating that liquid (predominantly methane-ethane-nitrogen) is pooling on Titan after these storm events. These dark ponds, however, are then observed to significantly brighten (higher albedo relative to pre-storm albedo), before fading to their pre-storm albedos [2-3]. We interpret these data to indicate ethane ice formation, which cools from evaporation of methane. The formation of ethane ices results from a unique sequence of thermophysical and thermochemical phenomena. Initially, the methane in the mixture evaporates, cooling the pond. Nitrogen, dissolved primarily in the methane, exsolves, further cooling the liquid. However, because nitrogen is significantly more soluble in cooler methane-hydrocarbon mixtures, relatively more methane than nitrogen leaves the fluid, increasing the relative fraction of nitrogen. This increased nitrogen fraction increases the density of the liquid, as nitrogen is significantly denser than methane or ethane (pure ethane's density is intermediate to that of methane and nitrogen). At around 85 K the mixture is as dense as pure liquid ethane. Thus, further evaporative methane loss and cooling at the pond's surface leads to a chemical stratification, with an increasingly ethane rich epilimnion (surface layer) overlying a methane rich hypolimnion (subsurface layer). Further evaporation of methane from the ethane-rich epilimnion drives its temperature and composition toward the methane-ethane-nitrogen liquidus curve, causing pure ethane ice to precipitate out of solution and settle to the bottom of the pool. This settling would obscure the ethane ice from Cassini VIMS and ISS, which would instead continue to appear as a dark pond on the surface. As the ethane precipitates out completely, a binary methane-nitrogen liquid mixture remains

  10. Spatial Dynamics of Sea Turtle Abundance and Shrimping Intensity in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carrie J. McDaniel

    2000-07-01

    Full Text Available In order to examine the scientific feasibility of area closures for sea turtle protection, we determined the spatial dynamics of sea turtles for the U.S. Gulf of Mexico by analyzing National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS aerial survey data in September, October, and November of 1992, 1993, and 1994. Turtle sightings were grouped into depth zones and NMFS fishery statistical zones, and strip transect methods were used to estimate the relative abundance of sea turtles in each subzone. Average shrimping intensity was calculated for each subzone for all months of 1992, 1993, and 1994, as well as for the months and locations of the aerial survey. The spatial overlap of sea turtle abundance and shrimping intensity suggested regions where interactions are likely to occur. Sea turtles were observed at much higher rates along the coast of Florida than in the Western Gulf; the highest density of sea turtles was observed in the Florida Keys region (0.525 turtles/km2. Shrimping intensity was highest in the Western Gulf along the coast of Texas and Louisiana, for both annual and fall estimates. Among alternative management scenarios, area closures in conjunction with continued Turtle Excluder Device (TED requirements would probably best prevent sea turtles from future extinction. By implementing shrimping closures off of South Padre Island, Texas, a potential second nesting population of Kemp's ridleys (Lepidochelys kempi could be protected. Closing waters where shrimping intensity is low and sea turtle abundance is high (e.g., South Florida waters would protect sea turtles without economically impacting a large number of shrimpers.

  11. Seasonal change in the capacity for supercooling by neonatal painted turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Packard, G C; Packard, M J; McDaniel, L L

    2001-05-01

    Hatchlings of the North American painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) typically spend their first winter of life inside the shallow, subterranean nest where they completed incubation the preceding summer. This facet of their natural history commonly causes neonates in northerly populations to be exposed in mid-winter to ice and cold, which many animals survive by remaining unfrozen and supercooled. We measured the limit of supercooling in samples of turtles taken shortly after hatching and in other samples after 2 months of acclimation (or acclimatization) to a reduced temperature in the laboratory or field. Animals initially had only a limited capacity for supercooling, but they acquired an ability to undergo deeper supercooling during the course of acclimation. The gut of most turtles was packed with particles of soil and eggshell shortly after hatching, but not after acclimation. Thus, the relatively high limit of supercooling for turtles in the days immediately after hatching may have resulted from the ingestion of soil (and associated nucleating agents) by the animals as they were freeing themselves from their eggshell, whereas the relatively low limit of supercooling attained by acclimated turtles may have resulted from their purging their gut of its contents. Parallels may, therefore, exist between the natural-history strategy expressed by hatchling painted turtles and that expressed by numerous terrestrial arthropods that withstand the cold of winter by sustaining a state of supercooling.

  12. Snapping turtles, a biological screen for PCB's

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Olafsson, P.G.; Bryan, A.M.; Bush, B.; Stone, W.

    1983-01-01

    Snapping turtles are capable of storing extremely high concentration of organochlorine compounds in their fat without any apparent detrimental effect. This tolerance, to high bioconcentration, permits a wide gradation between the extremes in pollution levels and facilitates the detection of extremely toxic substances present in trace amounts. Consequently snapping turtles provide an excellent biological screen for these compounds.

  13. LOGGERHEAD SEA TURTLE LATE NESTING ECOLOGY IN VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA

    Science.gov (United States)

    T'he.loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta came is the only recurrent nesting species of sea turtle in southeastern Virginia (Lutcavage & Musick, 1985; Dodd, 1988). Inasmuch as the loggerhead is a federally threatened species, the opportunity to gather data on its nesting ecology is imp...

  14. Par Pond vegetation status Summer 1995 -- Summary

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mackey, H.E. Jr.; Riley, R.S.

    1996-01-01

    The water level of Par Pond was lowered approximately 20 feet in mid-1991 in order to protect downstream residents from possible dam failure suggested by subsidence on the downstream slope of the dam and to repair the dam. This lowering exposed both emergent and nonemergent macrophyte beds to drying conditions resulting in extensive losses. A survey of the newly emergent, shoreline aquatic plant communities of Par Pond began in June 1995, three months after the refilling of Par Pond to approximately 200 feet above mean sea level. These surveys continued in July, September, and late October, 1995. Communities similar to the pre-drawdown, Par Pond aquatic plant communities are becoming re-established. Emergent beds of maidencane, lotus, waterlily, and watershield are extensive and well developed. Cattail occurrence continued to increase during the summer, but large beds common to Par Pond prior to the drawdown have not formed. Estimates from SPOT HRV, remote sensing satellite data indicated that as much as 120 hectares of emergent wetlands vegetation may have been present along the Par Pond shoreline by early October, 1995. To track the continued development of macrophytes in Par Pond, future surveys throughout 1996 and 1997, along with the continued evaluation of satellite data to map the areal extent of the macrophyte beds of Par Pond, are planned

  15. Cutaneous fibroma in a captive common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonzales-Viera, O; Bauer, G; Bauer, A; Aguiar, L S; Brito, L T; Catão-Dias, J L

    2012-11-01

    An adult female common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) had a mass on the plantar surface of the right forelimb that was removed surgically. Microscopical examination revealed many spindle cells with mild anisocytosis and anisokaryosis and a surrounding collagenous stroma. There were no mitoses. Immunohistochemistry showed that the spindle cells expressed vimentin, but not desmin. A diagnosis of cutaneous fibroma was made. Tumours are reported uncommonly in chelonian species. Cutaneous fibroma has been diagnosed in an alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys temminckii), but not previously in a common snapping turtle. Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Assessment of ground transportation stress in juvenile Kemp's ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys kempii).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunt, Kathleen E; Innis, Charles J; Kennedy, Adam E; McNally, Kerry L; Davis, Deborah G; Burgess, Elizabeth A; Merigo, Constance

    2016-01-01

    Sea turtle rehabilitation centres frequently transport sea turtles for long distances to move animals between centres or to release them at beaches, yet there is little information on the possible effects of transportation-related stress ('transport stress') on sea turtles. To assess whether transport stress is a clinically relevant concern for endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys kempii), we obtained pre-transport and post-transport plasma samples from 26 juvenile Kemp's ridley sea turtles that were transported for 13 h (n = 15 turtles) or 26 h (n = 11 turtles) by truck for release at beaches. To control for effects of handling, food restriction and time of day, the same turtles were also studied on 'control days' 2 weeks prior to transport, i.e. with two samples taken to mimic pre-transport and post-transport timing, but without transportation. Blood samples were analysed for nine clinical health measures (pH, pCO2, pO2, HCO3, sodium, potassium, ionized calcium, lactate and haematocrit) and four 'stress-associated' parameters (corticosterone, glucose, white blood cell count and heterophil-to-lymphocyte ratio). Vital signs (heart rate, respiratory rate and cloacal temperature) were also monitored. Corticosterone and glucose showed pronounced elevations due specifically to transportation; for corticosterone, this elevation was significant only for the longer transport duration, whereas glucose increased significantly after both transport durations. However, clinical health measures and vital signs showed minimal or no changes in response to any sampling event (with or without transport), and all turtles appeared to be in good clinical health after both transport durations. Thus, transportation elicits a mild, but detectable, adrenal stress response that is more pronounced during longer durations of transport; nonetheless, Kemp's ridley sea turtles can tolerate ground transportation of up to 26 h in good health. These results are likely

  17. Fecal bacterial communities of wild-captured and stranded green turtles (Chelonia mydas) on the Great Barrier Reef.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahasan, Md Shamim; Waltzek, Thomas B; Huerlimann, Roger; Ariel, Ellen

    2017-12-01

    Green turtles (Chelonia mydas) are endangered marine herbivores that break down food particles, primarily sea grasses, through microbial fermentation. However, the microbial community and its role in health and disease is still largely unexplored. In this study, we investigated and compared the fecal bacterial communities of eight wild-captured green turtles to four stranded turtles in the central Great Barrier Reef regions that include Bowen and Townsville. We used high-throughput sequencing analysis targeting the hypervariable V1-V3 regions of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. At the phylum level, Firmicutes predominated among wild-captured green turtles, followed by Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria. In contrast, Proteobacteria (Gammaproteobacteria) was the most significantly dominant phylum among all stranded turtles, followed by Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes. In addition, Fusobacteria was also significantly abundant in stranded turtles. No significant differences were found between the wild-captured turtles in Bowen and Townsville. At the family level, the core bacterial community consisted of 25 families that were identified in both the wild-captured and stranded green turtles, while two unique sets of 14 families each were only found in stranded or wild-captured turtles. The predominance of Bacteroides in all groups indicates the importance of these bacteria in turtle gut health. In terms of bacterial diversity and richness, wild-captured green turtles showed a higher bacterial diversity and richness compared with stranded turtles. The marked differences in the bacterial communities between wild-captured and stranded turtles suggest the possible dysbiosis in stranded turtles in addition to potential causal agents. © FEMS 2017. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  18. Persistent leatherback turtle migrations present opportunities for conservation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    George L Shillinger

    2008-07-01

    Full Text Available Effective transboundary conservation of highly migratory marine animals requires international management cooperation as well as clear scientific information about habitat use by these species. Populations of leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea in the eastern Pacific have declined by >90% during the past two decades, primarily due to unsustainable egg harvest and fisheries bycatch mortality. While research and conservation efforts on nesting beaches are ongoing, relatively little is known about this population of leatherbacks' oceanic habitat use and migration pathways. We present the largest multi-year (2004-2005, 2005-2006, and 2007 satellite tracking dataset (12,095 cumulative satellite tracking days collected for leatherback turtles. Forty-six females were electronically tagged during three field seasons at Playa Grande, Costa Rica, the largest extant nesting colony in the eastern Pacific. After completing nesting, the turtles headed southward, traversing the dynamic equatorial currents with rapid, directed movements. In contrast to the highly varied dispersal patterns seen in many other sea turtle populations, leatherbacks from Playa Grande traveled within a persistent migration corridor from Costa Rica, past the equator, and into the South Pacific Gyre, a vast, low-energy, low-productivity region. We describe the predictable effects of ocean currents on a leatherback migration corridor and characterize long-distance movements by the turtles in the eastern South Pacific. These data from high seas habitats will also elucidate potential areas for mitigating fisheries bycatch interactions. These findings directly inform existing multinational conservation frameworks and provide immediate regions in the migration corridor where conservation can be implemented. We identify high seas locations for focusing future conservation efforts within the leatherback dispersal zone in the South Pacific Gyre.

  19. Persistent Leatherback Turtle Migrations Present Opportunities for Conservation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shillinger, George L; Palacios, Daniel M; Bailey, Helen; Bograd, Steven J; Swithenbank, Alan M; Gaspar, Philippe; Wallace, Bryan P; Spotila, James R; Paladino, Frank V; Piedra, Rotney; Eckert, Scott A; Block, Barbara A

    2008-01-01

    Effective transboundary conservation of highly migratory marine animals requires international management cooperation as well as clear scientific information about habitat use by these species. Populations of leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) in the eastern Pacific have declined by >90% during the past two decades, primarily due to unsustainable egg harvest and fisheries bycatch mortality. While research and conservation efforts on nesting beaches are ongoing, relatively little is known about this population of leatherbacks' oceanic habitat use and migration pathways. We present the largest multi-year (2004–2005, 2005–2006, and 2007) satellite tracking dataset (12,095 cumulative satellite tracking days) collected for leatherback turtles. Forty-six females were electronically tagged during three field seasons at Playa Grande, Costa Rica, the largest extant nesting colony in the eastern Pacific. After completing nesting, the turtles headed southward, traversing the dynamic equatorial currents with rapid, directed movements. In contrast to the highly varied dispersal patterns seen in many other sea turtle populations, leatherbacks from Playa Grande traveled within a persistent migration corridor from Costa Rica, past the equator, and into the South Pacific Gyre, a vast, low-energy, low-productivity region. We describe the predictable effects of ocean currents on a leatherback migration corridor and characterize long-distance movements by the turtles in the eastern South Pacific. These data from high seas habitats will also elucidate potential areas for mitigating fisheries bycatch interactions. These findings directly inform existing multinational conservation frameworks and provide immediate regions in the migration corridor where conservation can be implemented. We identify high seas locations for focusing future conservation efforts within the leatherback dispersal zone in the South Pacific Gyre. PMID:18630987

  20. Analysis of relationships between land surface temperature and land use changes in the Yellow River Delta

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ning, Jicai; Gao, Zhiqiang; Meng, Ran; Xu, Fuxiang; Gao, Meng

    2018-06-01

    This study analyzed land use and land cover changes and their impact on land surface temperature using Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper and Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager and Thermal Infrared Sensor imagery of the Yellow River Delta. Six Landsat images comprising two time series were used to calculate the land surface temperature and correlated vegetation indices. The Yellow River Delta area has expanded substantially because of the deposited sediment carried from upstream reaches of the river. Between 1986 and 2015, approximately 35% of the land use area of the Yellow River Delta has been transformed into salterns and aquaculture ponds. Overall, land use conversion has occurred primarily from poorly utilized land into highly utilized land. To analyze the variation of land surface temperature, a mono-window algorithm was applied to retrieve the regional land surface temperature. The results showed bilinear correlation between land surface temperature and the vegetation indices (i.e., Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, Adjusted-Normalized Vegetation Index, Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index, and Modified Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index). Generally, values of the vegetation indices greater than the inflection point mean the land surface temperature and the vegetation indices are correlated negatively, and vice versa. Land surface temperature in coastal areas is affected considerably by local seawater temperature and weather conditions.

  1. Latitudinal diversity gradients in Mesozoic non-marine turtles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nicholson, David B.; Holroyd, Patricia A.; Valdes, Paul; Barrett, Paul M.

    2016-11-01

    The latitudinal biodiversity gradient (LBG)-the pattern of increasing taxonomic richness with decreasing latitude-is prevalent in the structure of the modern biota. However, some freshwater taxa show peak richness at mid-latitudes; for example, extant Testudines (turtles, terrapins and tortoises) exhibit their greatest diversity at 25° N, a pattern sometimes attributed to recent bursts of climatically mediated species diversification. Here, we test whether this pattern also characterizes the Mesozoic distribution of turtles, to determine whether it was established during either their initial diversification or as a more modern phenomenon. Using global occurrence data for non-marine testudinate genera, we find that subsampled richness peaks at palaeolatitudes of 15-30° N in the Jurassic, 30-45° N through the Cretaceous to the Campanian, and from 30° to 60° N in the Maastrichtian. The absence of a significant diversity peak in southern latitudes is consistent with results from climatic models and turtle niche modelling that demonstrate a dearth of suitable turtle habitat in Gondwana during the Jurassic and Late Cretaceous. Our analyses confirm that the modern testudinate LBG has a deep-time origin and further demonstrate that LBGs are not always expressed as a smooth, equator-to-pole distribution.

  2. Adaptive evolution of plastron shape in emydine turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Angielczyk, Kenneth D; Feldman, Chris R; Miller, Gretchen R

    2011-02-01

    Morphology reflects ecological pressures, phylogeny, and genetic and biophysical constraints. Disentangling their influence is fundamental to understanding selection and trait evolution. Here, we assess the contributions of function, phylogeny, and habitat to patterns of plastron (ventral shell) shape variation in emydine turtles. We quantify shape variation using geometric morphometrics, and determine the influence of several variables on shape using path analysis. Factors influencing plastron shape variation are similar between emydine turtles and the more inclusive Testudinoidea. We evaluate the fit of various evolutionary models to the shape data to investigate the selective landscape responsible for the observed morphological patterns. The presence of a hinge on the plastron accounts for most morphological variance, but phylogeny and habitat also correlate with shape. The distribution of shape variance across emydine phylogeny is most consistent with an evolutionary model containing two adaptive zones--one for turtles with kinetic plastra, and one for turtles with rigid plastra. Models with more complex adaptive landscapes often fit the data only as well as the null model (purely stochastic evolution). The adaptive landscape of plastron shape in Emydinae may be relatively simple because plastral kinesis imposes overriding mechanical constraints on the evolution of form. © 2010 The Author(s). Evolution© 2010 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

  3. Technical manual for calculating cooling pond performance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krstulovich, S.F.

    1988-01-01

    This manual is produced in response to a growing number of requests for a technical aid to explain methods for simulating cooling pond performance. As such, it is a compilation of reports, charts and graphs developed through the years for use in analyzing situations. Section II contains a report summarizing the factors affecting cooling pond performance and lists statistical parameters used in developing performance simulations. Section III contains the graphs of simulated cooling pond performance on an hourly basis for various combinations of criteria (wind, solar, depth, air temperature and humidity) developed from the report in Section II. Section IV contains correspondence describing how to develop further data from the graphs in Section III, as well as mathematical models for the system of performance calculation. Section V contains the formulas used to simulate cooling pond performances in a cascade arrangement, such as the Fermilab Main Ring ponds. Section VI contains the calculations currently in use to evaluate the Main Ring pond performance based on current flows and Watts loadings. Section VII contains the overall site drawing of the Main Ring cooling ponds with thermal analysis and physical data

  4. Effectiveness of Chain Link Turtle Fence and Culverts in Reducing Turtle Mortality and Providing Connectivity along U.S. Hwy 83, Valentine National Wildlife Refuge, Nebraska, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-12-01

    We evaluated the effectiveness of existing turtle fences through collecting and analyzing turtle mortality data along U.S. Hwy 83, in and around Valentine National Wildlife Refuge, Nebraska, USA. We also investigated the level of connectivity for tur...

  5. Wintertime Emissions from Produced Water Ponds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, J.; Lyman, S.; Mansfield, M. L.

    2013-12-01

    Every year oil and gas drilling in the U.S. generates billions of barrels of produced water (water brought to the surface during oil or gas production). Efficiently disposing of produced water presents a constant financial challenge for producers. The most noticeable disposal method in eastern Utah's Uintah Basin is the use of evaporation ponds. There are 427 acres of produced water ponds in the Uintah Basin, and these were used to evaporate more than 5 million barrels of produced water in 2012, 6% of all produced water in the Basin. Ozone concentrations exceeding EPA standards have been observed in the Uintah Basin during winter inversion conditions, with daily maximum 8 hour average concentrations at some research sites exceeding 150 parts per billion. Produced water contains ozone-forming volatile organic compounds (VOC) which escape into the atmosphere as the water is evaporated, potentially contributing to air quality problems. No peer-reviewed study of VOC emissions from produced water ponds has been reported, and filling this gap is essential for the development of accurate emissions inventories for the Uintah Basin and other air sheds with oil and gas production. Methane, carbon dioxide, and VOC emissions were measured at three separate pond facilities in the Uintah Basin in February and March of 2013 using a dynamic flux chamber. Pond emissions vary with meteorological conditions, so measurements of VOC emissions were collected during winter to obtain data relevant to periods of high ozone production. Much of the pond area at evaporation facilities was frozen during the study period, but areas that actively received water from trucks remained unfrozen. These areas accounted for 99.2% of total emissions but only 9.5% of the total pond area on average. Ice and snow on frozen ponds served as a cap, prohibiting VOC from being emitted into the atmosphere. Emissions of benzene, toluene, and other aromatic VOCs averaged over 150 mg m-2 h-1 from unfrozen pond

  6. Comparative kinetics of sup 47 Ca, sup 85 Sr and sup 226 Ra in the freshwater turtle, Trachemys scripta

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hinton, T.G. (Savannah River Ecology Lab., Aiken, SC (United States) Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)); Whicker, F.W.; Ibrahim, S.A. (Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)); Pinder, J.E. III (Savannah River Ecology Lab., Aiken, SC (United States))

    1992-01-01

    The kinetics of {sup 47}Ca, {sup 85}Sr and {sup 226}Ra were compared in the yellow-bellied slider, a common freshwater turtle of the southeastern USA. The absorption and elimination processes were examined as a function of stable dietary Ca, season, age and sex of the animals. Turtles were gavaged with radionuclides and serial whole-body analyses were performed on the live animals for up to 480 days. Only in the juvenile age class did reduced dietary Ca cause a significant increase in {sup 85}Sr absorption. The absorption of {sup 85}Sr and {sup 226}Ra in the adult male, adult female and hatchling groups was unaffected by dietary Ca. Mean absorption was greater than that which has been reported for other organisms and significantly differed among isotopes. The high absorption values were not restricted to immatures, but continued into maturity. Elimination rates were not affected by the dietary treatment, nor were isotopic differences in elimination observed. Annual mean elimination rate constants pooled among animal groups, were 0.22 {+-} 0.07 for {sup 85}Sr and 0.26 {+-} 0.18 for {sup 226}Ra. Retention was strongly affected by season with the greatest elimination occurring in the summer and declining to levels that were not distinguishable from zero in the winter. Elimination rate constants for hatchlings were greater than for the other age groups. (author).

  7. Protecting the Sacred Water Bundle: Education about Fracking at Turtle Mountain Community College

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blue, Stacie

    2017-01-01

    Leaving the plains of North Dakota and entering the hills known as the Turtle Mountains, the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians (TMBCI) reservation is found. Located on the TMBCI reservation, Turtle mountain Community College (TMCC) has provided opportunities for all interested parties to learn about fracking and why the tribe banned it.…

  8. Solar pond conception - experimental and theoretical studies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kurt, Huseyin [Zonguldak Karaelmas Univ., Technical Education Faculty, Karabuk (Turkey); Halici, Fethi [Sakarya Univ., Mechanical Engineering Dept., Adapazari (Turkey); Binark, A. Korhan [Marmara Univ., Technical Education Faculty, Istanbul (Turkey)

    2000-07-01

    A one dimensional transient mathematical model for predicting the thermal performance of the salt gradient solar pond is developed and presented. In this paper, the natural solar ponds and different artificial solar pond systems found in the literature are introduced. Necessary modifications are made on the experimental stand located in Istanbul Technical University, the experimental stand is introduced and natural phenomena produced in the pond by the different solar pond variations under natural conditions are observed. In the theoretical work based on a one dimensional unsteady state heat conduction model with internal heat generation, the energy and mass balance equations for the upper convective zone, the non-convective zone and the lower convective zone, all of which form the solar pond, are written in terms of differential equations. These equations are solved analytically and numerically. The results obtained from the analysis are compared with the experimental results. The temperature and the concentration profiles are separately presented in the figures. (Author)

  9. Leatherback Sea Turtle Critical Habitat

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — These data represent the critical habitat for leatherback turtle as designated by Federal Register Vol. 44, No. 17711, March 23, 1979, Rules and Regulations....

  10. Hawksbill Sea Turtle Critical Habitat

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — These data represent the critical habitat for hawksbill turtle as designated by Federal Register Vol. 63, No. 46701, September 2, 1998, Rules and Regulations....

  11. Sea Turtle Satellite Telemetry Data

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Sea turtles captured in various fishing gear (pound nets, long haul seines, gill nets) were outfitted with satellite transmitters so that their movements, migratory...

  12. Evaluation of rebound tonometry in red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delgado, Cherlene; Mans, Christoph; McLellan, Gillian J; Bentley, Ellison; Sladky, Kurt K; Miller, Paul E

    2014-07-01

    To evaluate feasibility and accuracy of intraocular pressure (IOP) measurement by rebound tonometry in adult red-eared slider turtles and determine the effects of manual and chemical restraint on IOP. Seventeen adult red-eared slider turtles. Intraocular pressure was measured with TonoLab® and TonoVet® tonometers in conscious, unrestrained turtles. To evaluate the effects of manual restraint, turtles were restrained by digital pressure on the rostral head or proximal neck. The effect of two chemical restraint protocols (dexmedetomidine, ketamine, midazolam [DKM] and dexmedetomidine, ketamine [DK] subcutaneously) on IOP was evaluated. Triplicate TonoLab® and TonoVet® readings were compared with direct manometry in three ex vivo turtle eyes. TonoLab® correlated better with manometry at IOPs < 45 mmHg than TonoVet® (linear regression slopes of 0.89 and 0.30, respectively). Mean (±SD) IOP in unrestrained conscious turtles was significantly lower (P < 0.01) with TonoLab® (10.02 ± 0.66 mmHg) than with TonoVet® (11.32 ± 1.57 mmHg). Manual neck restraint caused a significant increase in IOP (+6.31 ± 5.59 mmHg), while manual rostral head restraint did not. Both chemical restraint protocols significantly reduced IOP (DKM: −1.0 ± 0.76 mmHg; DK: −1.79 ± 1.17) compared with measurements in conscious unrestrained turtles. Chemical and manual neck restraint affected IOP. Rostral head restraint had no significant effect on IOP and is, therefore, recommended as the appropriate restraint technique in red-eared slider turtles. TonoLab® measurements estimated actual IOP more accurately, within physiologic range, than measurements obtained using the TonoVet®. © 2013 American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists.

  13. Effects of brevetoxin exposure on the immune system of loggerhead sea turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walsh, Catherine J; Leggett, Stephanie R; Carter, Barbara J; Colle, Clarence

    2010-05-10

    Blooms of the toxic dinoflagellate, Karenia brevis, occur almost annually off the Florida coast. These blooms, commonly called "red tides", produce a group of neurotoxins collectively termed brevetoxins. Many species of sealife, including sea turtles, are severely impacted by brevetoxin exposure. Effects of brevetoxins on immune cells were investigated in rescued loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta caretta, as well as through in vitro experiments using peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) collected from captive sea turtles. In rescued animals, plasma brevetoxin concentrations were measured using a competitive ELISA. Plasma lysozyme activity was measured using a turbidity assay. Lysozyme activity correlated positively with plasma brevetoxin concentrations. Differential expression of genes affected by brevetoxin exposure was determined using two separate suppression subtractive hybridization experiments. In one experiment, genes from PBL collected from sea turtles rescued from red tide toxin exposure were compared to genes from PBL collected from healthy captive loggerhead sea turtles. In the second experiment, PBL from healthy captive loggerhead sea turtles were exposed to brevetoxin (500 ng PbTx-2/ml) in vitro for 18 h and compared to unexposed PBL. Results from the subtraction hybridization experiment conducted with red tide rescued sea turtle PBL indicated that genes involved in oxidative stress or xenobiotic metabolism were up-regulated. Using quantitative real-time PCR, a greater than 2-fold increase in superoxide dismutase and thioredoxin and greater than 10-fold increase in expression of thiopurine S-methyltransferase were observed. Results from the in vitro subtraction hybridization experiment indicated that genes coding for cytochrome c oxidases were the major up-regulated genes. Using quantitative real-time PCR, a greater than 8-fold increase in expression of beta-tubulin and greater than 3-fold increase in expression of ubiquinol were observed. Brevetoxin

  14. Conservation of freshwater turtles in Amazonia: retrospective and future prospects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aderson de Souza Alcântara

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper aims to discuss the current status of conservation of freshwater turtles of the Amazon and the absence of the genus Podocnemis the Official List of Species of Brazilian Fauna Threatened with Extinction. Amazonian turtles are used as food by indigenous people and fisherman communities. However, fishing of adult females, uncontrolled egg collecting, habitat degradation and trafficking in wildlife have caused the decline of these populations. Nevertheless, Podocnemis expansa and Podocnemis unifilis were not included in the Brazil’s official list of animals threatened. Therefore, the turtles remain at great risk, due to the intense pressure that they are suffering. It is recommended that the criteria and the conservation status are reviewed including those animals in the category of vulnerable and to ensure a thorough review and modification in the current Brazilian law to be covered studies and management of turtles for subsistence, respecting and adding value to way of life of Amazonian peoples.

  15. Mass mortality of eastern box turtles with upper respiratory disease following atypical cold weather.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agha, Mickey; Price, Steven J; Nowakowski, A Justin; Augustine, Ben; Todd, Brian D

    2017-04-20

    Emerging infectious diseases cause population declines in many ectotherms, with outbreaks frequently punctuated by periods of mass mortality. It remains unclear, however, whether thermoregulation by ectotherms and variation in environmental temperature is associated with mortality risk and disease progression, especially in wild populations. Here, we examined environmental and body temperatures of free-ranging eastern box turtles Terrapene carolina during a mass die-off coincident with upper respiratory disease. We recorded deaths of 17 turtles that showed clinical signs of upper respiratory disease among 76 adult turtles encountered in Berea, Kentucky (USA), in 2014. Of the 17 mortalities, 11 occurred approximately 14 d after mean environmental temperature dropped 2.5 SD below the 3 mo mean. Partial genomic sequencing of the major capsid protein from 1 sick turtle identified a ranavirus isolate similar to frog virus 3. Turtles that lacked clinical signs of disease had significantly higher body temperatures (23°C) than sick turtles (21°C) during the mass mortality, but sick turtles that survived and recovered eventually warmed (measured by temperature loggers). Finally, there was a significant negative effect of daily environmental temperature deviation from the 3 mo mean on survival, suggesting that rapid decreases in environmental temperature were correlated with mortality. Our results point to a potential role for environmental temperature variation and body temperature in disease progression and mortality risk of eastern box turtles affected by upper respiratory disease. Given our findings, it is possible that colder or more variable environmental temperatures and an inability to effectively thermoregulate are associated with poorer disease outcomes in eastern box turtles.

  16. Mass poisoning after consumption of a hawksbill turtle, Federated States of Micronesia, 2010

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Boris Pavlin

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Marine turtles of all species are capable of being toxic. On 17 October 2010, health authorities in the Federated States of Micronesia were notified of the sudden death of three children and the sickening of approximately 20 other people on Murilo Atoll in Chuuk State. The illnesses were suspected to be the result of mass consumption of a hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata. An investigation team was assembled to confirm the cause of the outbreak, describe the epidemiology of cases and provide recommendations for control. Methods: We conducted chart reviews, interviewed key informants, collected samples for laboratory analysis, performed environmental investigations and conducted a cohort study. Results: Four children and two adults died in the outbreak and 95 others were sickened; 84% of those who ate the turtle became ill (n = 101. The relative risk for developing illness after consuming the turtle was 11.1 (95% confidence inteval: 4.8–25.9; there was a dose-dependent relationship between amount of turtle meat consumed and risk of illness. Environmental and epidemiological investigations revealed no alternative explanation for the mass illness. Laboratory testing failed to identify a causative agent. Conclusion: We concluded that turtle poisoning (also called chelonitoxism was the cause of the outbreak on Murilo. The range of illness described in this investigation is consistent with previously reported cases of chelonitoxism. This devastating incident highlights the dangers, particularly to children, of consuming turtle meat. Future incidents are certain to occur unless action is taken to alter turtle-eating behaviour in coastal communities throughout the world.

  17. Sea Turtle Acoustic Telemetry Data

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Acoustic transmitters attached to sea turtles captured in various fishing gear enable the animals to be passively tracked. Acoustic receivers set up in an array...

  18. Habitat selection by green turtles in a spatially heterogeneous benthic landscape in Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fujisaki, Ikuko; Hart, Kristen M.; Sartain-Iverson, Autumn R.

    2016-01-01

    We examined habitat selection by green turtles Chelonia mydas at Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida, USA. We tracked 15 turtles (6 females and 9 males) using platform transmitter terminals (PTTs); 13 of these turtles were equipped with additional acoustic transmitters. Location data by PTTs comprised periods of 40 to 226 d in varying months from 2009 to 2012. Core areas were concentrated in shallow water (mean bathymetry depth of 7.7 m) with a comparably dense coverage of seagrass; however, the utilization distribution overlap index indicated a low degree of habitat sharing. The probability of detecting a turtle on an acoustic receiver was inversely associated with the distance from the receiver to turtle capture sites and was lower in shallower water. The estimated daily detection probability of a single turtle at a given acoustic station throughout the acoustic array was small (turtle detections was even smaller. However, the conditional probability of multiple turtle detections, given at least one turtle detection at a receiver, was much higher despite the small number of tagged turtles in each year (n = 1 to 5). Also, multiple detections of different turtles at a receiver frequently occurred within a few minutes (40%, or 164 of 415, occurred within 1 min). Our numerical estimates of core area overlap, co-occupancy probabilities, and habitat characterization for green turtles could be used to guide conservation of the area to sustain the population of this species.

  19. [Artículo Retractado/Retracted Article]:BYCATCH OF HELICOPS ANGULATUS (LINNAEUS 1758 (REPTILIA: SQUAMATA: COLUBRIDAE IN HOOP-TRAPS USED TO CAPTURE FRESH WATER TURTLES ON THE COAST OF PARÁ, BRAZIL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emil José Hernández Ruz

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT Between September, 2007, and August, 2009, six field excursions were conducted on the northern Brazilian coast (Romana and Maiandeua islands, state of Pará for the collection of specimens of freshwater turtles (Rhinoclemmys punctularia and Kinosternon scorpioides in natural ponds. Hoop-nets were used and 35 specimens of brown-banded water snakes, Helicops angulatus, were captured as bycatch in the traps. Thus, in addition to turtles, the procedure may be useful for the sampling populations of aquatic snakes. RESUMEN Entre septiembre de 2007 y agosto de 2009, seis excursiones de campo se llevaron a cabo en la costa norte de Brasil (islas Romana y Maiandeua, estado de Pará para la recolección de especímenes de tortugas de agua dulce (Rhinoclemmys punctularia y Kinosternon scorpioides en posos naturales. Utilizamos trampas en embudo. 35 ejemplares de la serpiente acuática Helicops angulatus, fueron capturados como pesca incidental en las trampas. Por lo tanto, además de las tortugas, el procedimiento puede ser útil para la toma de muestras de las poblaciones de serpientes acuáticas.

  20. Walden Pond, Massachusetts: Environmental Setting and Current Investigations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colman, John A.; Waldron, Marcus C.

    1998-01-01

    Introduction Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusetts, is famous among lakes because of its unique social history. Walden was the setting for American naturalist Henry David Thoreau's well-known essay 'Walden; or, Life in the Woods,' first published in 1854. Thoreau lived and wrote at Walden Pond from July 1845 to September 1847. In 'Walden,' Thoreau combined highly admired writing on Transcendental philosophy with pioneering observations of aquatic ecology and physical aspects of limnology, the study of lakes. Because Thoreau also defended so effectively the value of living close to nature in the Walden woods, the pond is considered by many to be the birthplace of the American conservation movement. Visitors come from all over the world to the pond, which has been designated a National Historic Landmark, and its fame has resulted in a major fund drive to preserve the surrounding woods. Walden Pond has no surfacewater inflow or outflow, and much of its ground-water contributing area likely is preserved within the Walden Pond Reservation area (fig. 1). Only 15 miles from Boston, the pond is unusually clear and pristine for an urban-area lake. However, point sources of nutrients near the pond, and a large annual visitor attendance, concentrated during the summer when the swimming beach (fig. 2) is open, may contribute a nutrient load sufficient to change the pond environment. The occurrence of nuisance algal species, a recent beach closing, and an awareness of water-quality problems suffered by other ponds in the region raise concerns about the risk of ecological change at Walden Pond. Despite the role of Walden Pond as a cultural and environmental icon, little is known about the pond's ecological features, such as its internal nutrient cycling or the structure of its food web, nor have consistent measurements been made to determine whether these features are changing or are stable. Production rates of aquatic plants in lakes and ponds naturally undergo a slow increase

  1. The shell vasculature of Trachemys turtles investigated by modern 3D imaging techniques

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Kasper; Thygesen, Jesper; Nielsen, Tobias Wang

    Many freshwater turtles are extremely tolerant to the lack of oxygen and can survive the winter submerged in anoxic mud in ice-covered lakes. The pronounced anoxia-tolerance resides with a considerable depression of cellular metabolism and the ability to use the shell to buffer the acidosis arising...... from anaerobic metabolism (1). Infusion of microspheres has shown that the shell receives almost half of the cardiac output in turtles made anoxic at low temperatures (2). However, the vasculature of the turtle shell remains to be described. To visualise the vasculature within the carapace and plastron...... of the turtle Trachemys scripta, we perfused terminally anaesthetised turtles with different contrast enhancing agents (Microfil [lead n/a]), barium sulphate [250 mg/kg], and iodine [15-250 mg/kg]), and the animals were then scanned by both single source as well as dual energy Computed Tomographic systems...

  2. Par Pond phytoplankton in association with refilling of the pond: Final Report for sampling from February 1995 -- September 1996

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wilde, E.W.; Johnson, M.A.; Cody, W.C.

    1996-01-01

    This report describes the results of phytoplankton analyses from Par Pond samples collected between February 1995 and September 1996. The principal objective of the study was to determine the effect of refilling of Par Pond following repair of the dam on the phytoplankton community. Algal blooms are often responsible for fish kills and other detrimental effects in ponds and lakes, and it was postulated that decaying vegetation from formerly exposed sediments might trigger algal blooms that could result in fish kills in Par Pond following the refill. Sporadic algal blooms involving blue-green algae were detected, especially during the summer of 1996. However, the data derived from the study demonstrates that overall, the refilling effort caused no significant negative impact to the pond attributable to phytoplankton dynamics

  3. Par Pond phytoplankton in association with refilling of the pond: Final Report for sampling from February 1995 -- September 1996

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wilde, E.W.; Johnson, M.A.; Cody, W.C.

    1996-12-31

    This report describes the results of phytoplankton analyses from Par Pond samples collected between February 1995 and September 1996. The principal objective of the study was to determine the effect of refilling of Par Pond following repair of the dam on the phytoplankton community. Algal blooms are often responsible for fish kills and other detrimental effects in ponds and lakes, and it was postulated that decaying vegetation from formerly exposed sediments might trigger algal blooms that could result in fish kills in Par Pond following the refill. Sporadic algal blooms involving blue-green algae were detected, especially during the summer of 1996. However, the data derived from the study demonstrates that overall, the refilling effort caused no significant negative impact to the pond attributable to phytoplankton dynamics.

  4. Ophthalmic variables in rehabilitated juvenile Kemp's ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys kempii).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gornik, Kara R; Pirie, Christopher G; Marrion, Ruth M; Wocial, Julika N; Innis, Charles J

    2016-03-15

    To determine central corneal thickness (total corneal thickness [TCT], epithelial thickness [ET], and stromal thickness [ST]), anterior chamber depth (ACD), and intraocular pressure (IOP) in Kemp's ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys kempii). Prospective cross-sectional study. 25 healthy rehabilitated juvenile Kemp's ridley sea turtles. PROCEDURES; Body weight and straight-line standard carapace length (SCL) were recorded. All turtles underwent a complete anterior segment ophthalmic examination. Central TCT, ET, ST, and ACD were determined by use of a spectral-domain optical coherence tomography device. Intraocular pressure was determined with a rebound tonometer; the horse setting was used to measure IOP in all 25 turtles, and the undefined setting was also used to measure IOP in 20 turtles. For each variable, 3 measurements were obtained bilaterally. The mean was calculated for each eye and used for analysis purposes. The mean ± SD body weight and SCL were 3.85 ± 1.05 kg (8.47 ± 2.31 lb) and 29 ± 3 cm, respectively. The mean ± SD TCT, ET, ST, and ACD were 288 ± 23 μm, 100 ± 6 μm, 190 ± 19 μm, and 581 ± 128 μm, respectively. Mean ± SD IOP was 6.5 ± 1.0 mm Hg when measured with the horse setting and 3.8 ± 1.1 mm Hg when measured with the undefined setting. Results provided preliminary reference ranges for objective assessment of ophthalmic variables in healthy juvenile Kemp's ridley sea turtles.

  5. The refreezing of melt ponds on Arctic sea ice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flocco, Daniela; Feltham, Daniel L.; Bailey, Eleanor; Schroeder, David

    2015-02-01

    The presence of melt ponds on the surface of Arctic sea ice significantly reduces its albedo, inducing a positive feedback leading to sea ice thinning. While the role of melt ponds in enhancing the summer melt of sea ice is well known, their impact on suppressing winter freezing of sea ice has, hitherto, received less attention. Melt ponds freeze by forming an ice lid at the upper surface, which insulates them from the atmosphere and traps pond water between the underlying sea ice and the ice lid. The pond water is a store of latent heat, which is released during refreezing. Until a pond freezes completely, there can be minimal ice growth at the base of the underlying sea ice. In this work, we present a model of the refreezing of a melt pond that includes the heat and salt balances in the ice lid, trapped pond, and underlying sea ice. The model uses a two-stream radiation model to account for radiative scattering at phase boundaries. Simulations and related sensitivity studies suggest that trapped pond water may survive for over a month. We focus on the role that pond salinity has on delaying the refreezing process and retarding basal sea ice growth. We estimate that for a typical sea ice pond coverage in autumn, excluding the impact of trapped ponds in models overestimates ice growth by up to 265 million km3, an overestimate of 26%.

  6. Sensory Evolution and Ecology of Early Turtles Revealed by Digital Endocranial Reconstructions

    OpenAIRE

    Stephan Lautenschlager; Gabriel S. Ferreira; Gabriel S. Ferreira; Gabriel S. Ferreira; Ingmar Werneburg; Ingmar Werneburg; Ingmar Werneburg

    2018-01-01

    In the past few years, new fossil finds and novel methodological approaches have prompted intensive discussions about the phylogenetic affinities of turtles and rekindled the debate on their ecological origin, with very distinct scenarios, such as fossoriality and aquatic habitat occupation, proposed for the earliest stem-turtles. While research has focused largely on the origin of the anapsid skull and unique postcranial anatomy, little is known about the endocranial anatomy of turtles. Here...

  7. Brevetoxin exposure in sea turtles in south Texas (USA) during Karenia brevis red tide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walker, Jennifer Shelby; Shaver, Donna J; Stacy, Brian A; Flewelling, Leanne J; Broadwater, Margaret H; Wang, Zhihong

    2018-01-31

    Five green (Chelonia mydas) and 11 Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) sea turtles found dead, or that died soon after stranding, on the southern Texas (USA) coast during 2 Karenia brevis blooms (October 2015, September-October 2016) were tested for exposure to brevetoxins (PbTx). Tissues (liver, kidney) and digesta (stomach and intestinal contents) were analyzed by ELISA. Three green turtles found alive during the 2015 event and 2 Kemp's ridley turtles found alive during the 2016 event exhibited signs of PbTx exposure, including lethargy and/or convulsions of the head and neck. PbTx were detected in 1 or more tissues or digesta in all 16 stranded turtles. Detected PbTx concentrations ranged from 2 to >2000 ng g-1. Necropsy examination and results of PbTx analysis indicated that 10 of the Kemp's ridleys and 2 of the green turtles died from brevetoxicosis via ingestion. This is the first documentation of sea turtle mortality in Texas attributed to brevetoxicosis.

  8. First satellite tracks of neonate sea turtles redefine the ‘lost years’ oceanic niche

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mansfield, Katherine L.; Wyneken, Jeanette; Porter, Warren P.; Luo, Jiangang

    2014-01-01

    Few at-sea behavioural data exist for oceanic-stage neonate sea turtles, a life-stage commonly referred to as the sea turtle ‘lost years’. Historically, the long-term tracking of small, fast-growing organisms in the open ocean was logistically or technologically impossible. Here, we provide the first long-term satellite tracks of neonate sea turtles. Loggerheads (Caretta caretta) were remotely tracked in the Atlantic Ocean using small solar-powered satellite transmitters. We show that oceanic-stage turtles (i) rarely travel in Continental Shelf waters, (ii) frequently depart the currents associated with the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre, (iii) travel quickly when in Gyre currents, and (iv) select sea surface habitats that are likely to provide a thermal benefit or refuge to young sea turtles, supporting growth, foraging and survival. Our satellite tracks help define Atlantic loggerhead nursery grounds and early loggerhead habitat use, allowing us to re-examine sea turtle ‘lost years’ paradigms. PMID:24598420

  9. Toxicological effects of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) on freshwater turtles in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ming-Ch'eng Adams, Clare Isabel; Baker, Joel E; Kjellerup, Birthe V

    2016-07-01

    Prediction of vertebrate health effects originating from persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) has remained a challenge for decades thus making the identification of bioindicators difficult. POPs are predominantly present in soil and sediment, where they adhere to particles due to their hydrophobic characteristics. Animals inhabiting soil and sediment can be exposed to PCBs via dermal exposure while others may obtain PCBs through contaminated trophic interaction. Freshwater turtles can serve as bioindicators due to their strong site fidelity, longevity and varied diet. Previous research observed the health effects of PCBs on turtles such as decreased bone mass, changed sexual development and decreased immune responses through studying both contaminated sites along with laboratory experimentation. Higher deformity rates in juveniles, increased mortality and slower growth have also been observed. Toxicological effects of PCBs vary between species of freshwater turtles and depend on the concertation and configuration of PCB congeners. Evaluation of ecotoxicological effects of PCBs in non-endangered turtles could provide important knowledge about the health effects of endangered turtle species thus inform the design of remediation strategies. In this review, the PCB presence in freshwater turtle habitats and the ecotoxicological effects were investigated with the aim of utilizing the health status to identify areas of focus for freshwater turtle conservation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Hierarchical modeling of bycatch rates of sea turtles in the western North Atlantic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gardner, B.; Sullivan, P.J.; Epperly, S.; Morreale, S.J.

    2008-01-01

    Previous studies indicate that the locations of the endangered loggerhead Caretta caretta and critically endangered leatherback Dermochelys coriacea sea turtles are influenced by water temperatures, and that incidental catch rates in the pelagic longline fishery vary by region. We present a Bayesian hierarchical model to examine the effects of environmental variables, including water temperature, on the number of sea turtles captured in the US pelagic longline fishery in the western North Atlantic. The modeling structure is highly flexible, utilizes a Bayesian model selection technique, and is fully implemented in the software program WinBUGS. The number of sea turtles captured is modeled as a zero-inflated Poisson distribution and the model incorporates fixed effects to examine region-specific differences in the parameter estimates. Results indicate that water temperature, region, bottom depth, and target species are all significant predictors of the number of loggerhead sea turtles captured. For leatherback sea turtles, the model with only target species had the most posterior model weight, though a re-parameterization of the model indicates that temperature influences the zero-inflation parameter. The relationship between the number of sea turtles captured and the variables of interest all varied by region. This suggests that management decisions aimed at reducing sea turtle bycatch may be more effective if they are spatially explicit. ?? Inter-Research 2008.

  11. CO₂ efflux from shrimp ponds in Indonesia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sidik, Frida; Lovelock, Catherine E

    2013-01-01

    The conversion of mangrove forest to aquaculture ponds has been increasing in recent decades. One of major concerns of this habitat loss is the release of stored 'blue' carbon from mangrove soils to the atmosphere. In this study, we assessed carbon dioxide (CO₂) efflux from soil in intensive shrimp ponds in Bali, Indonesia. We measured CO₂ efflux from the floors and walls of shrimp ponds. Rates of CO₂ efflux within shrimp ponds were 4.37 kg CO₂ m⁻² y⁻¹ from the walls and 1.60 kg CO₂ m⁻² y⁻¹ from the floors. Combining our findings with published data of aquaculture land use in Indonesia, we estimated that shrimp ponds in this region result in CO₂ emissions to the atmosphere between 5.76 and 13.95 Tg y⁻¹. The results indicate that conversion of mangrove forests to aquaculture ponds contributes to greenhouse gas emissions that are comparable to peat forest conversion to other land uses in Indonesia. Higher magnitudes of CO₂ emission may be released to atmosphere where ponds are constructed in newly cleared mangrove forests. This study indicates the need for incentives that can meet the target of aquaculture industry without expanding the converted mangrove areas, which will lead to increased CO₂ released to atmosphere.

  12. CO₂ efflux from shrimp ponds in Indonesia.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Frida Sidik

    Full Text Available The conversion of mangrove forest to aquaculture ponds has been increasing in recent decades. One of major concerns of this habitat loss is the release of stored 'blue' carbon from mangrove soils to the atmosphere. In this study, we assessed carbon dioxide (CO₂ efflux from soil in intensive shrimp ponds in Bali, Indonesia. We measured CO₂ efflux from the floors and walls of shrimp ponds. Rates of CO₂ efflux within shrimp ponds were 4.37 kg CO₂ m⁻² y⁻¹ from the walls and 1.60 kg CO₂ m⁻² y⁻¹ from the floors. Combining our findings with published data of aquaculture land use in Indonesia, we estimated that shrimp ponds in this region result in CO₂ emissions to the atmosphere between 5.76 and 13.95 Tg y⁻¹. The results indicate that conversion of mangrove forests to aquaculture ponds contributes to greenhouse gas emissions that are comparable to peat forest conversion to other land uses in Indonesia. Higher magnitudes of CO₂ emission may be released to atmosphere where ponds are constructed in newly cleared mangrove forests. This study indicates the need for incentives that can meet the target of aquaculture industry without expanding the converted mangrove areas, which will lead to increased CO₂ released to atmosphere.

  13. The Pond Is Our Laboratory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marchewka, Barbara Turco

    1978-01-01

    This science teacher's laboratory is a pond within walking distance of his school that provides a stimulating environment for exploring the natural world. With simple materials students practice making careful observations, taking measurements and compiling and graphing information for their science studies. They also extend their pond experiences…

  14. Pond of Illusion: Interacting through Mixed Reality

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nobel-Jørgensen, Morten; Nielsen, Jannik Boll; Larsen, Anders Boesen Lindbo

    2013-01-01

    Pond of Illusion is a mixed reality installation where a virtual space (the pond) is injected between two real spaces. The users are in either of the real spaces, and they can see each other through windows in the virtual space as illustrated in Figure 1(left). The installation attracts people...... to a large display in either of the real spaces by allowing them to feed virtual fish swimming in the pond. Figure 1(middle) shows how a Microsoft Kinect mounted on top of the display is used for detecting throw motions, which triggers virtual breadcrumbs to be thrown into the pond for feeding the nearby...... fish. Of course, the fish may not be available because they are busy eating what people have thrown into the pond from the other side....

  15. The color of melt ponds on Arctic sea ice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Peng; Leppäranta, Matti; Cheng, Bin; Li, Zhijun; Istomina, Larysa; Heygster, Georg

    2018-04-01

    Pond color, which creates the visual appearance of melt ponds on Arctic sea ice in summer, is quantitatively investigated using a two-stream radiative transfer model for ponded sea ice. The upwelling irradiance from the pond surface is determined and then its spectrum is transformed into RGB (red, green, blue) color space using a colorimetric method. The dependence of pond color on various factors such as water and ice properties and incident solar radiation is investigated. The results reveal that increasing underlying ice thickness Hi enhances both the green and blue intensities of pond color, whereas the red intensity is mostly sensitive to Hi for thin ice (Hi 1.5 m), similar to the behavior of melt-pond albedo. The distribution of the incident solar spectrum F0 with wavelength affects the pond color rather than its intensity. The pond color changes from dark blue to brighter blue with increasing scattering in ice, and the influence of absorption in ice on pond color is limited. The pond color reproduced by the model agrees with field observations for Arctic sea ice in summer, which supports the validity of this study. More importantly, the pond color has been confirmed to contain information about meltwater and underlying ice, and therefore it can be used as an index to retrieve Hi and Hp. Retrievals of Hi for thin ice (Hi measurements than retrievals for thick ice, but those of Hp are not good. The analysis of pond color is a new potential method to obtain thin ice thickness in summer, although more validation data and improvements to the radiative transfer model will be needed in future.

  16. Examining Water Quality Variations of Tidal Pond System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chui, T. F. M.; Cui, W.

    2014-12-01

    Brackish tidal shrimp ponds, traditionally referred to as gei wais, have been constructed along coastal areas in many parts of the world. The regular exchange of pond water with the surrounding coastal environment is important as it brings shrimp larvae and nutrients, etc. into and out of the pond. Such a water exchange can reduce the quality of the receiving waters; though there are opposing views recently because farming practices are becoming more sustainable while other sources of pollutions in the surroundings are increasing. This project monitors the water quality of a tidal shrimp pond and its receiving water at high temporal resolution. The pond is located within the wetland complex of Mai Po Nature Reserve in Hong Kong, China. Water quality parameters (i.e., dissolved oxygen, temperature, salinity, pH, water depth and chlorophyll) were recorded at 15-minute interval from December 2013 to March 2014 within the pond and also at its receiving water which is a water channel within a mangrove forest. Data reveals both daily and fortnightly fluctuations. Daily variations in mangrove correspond to both tidal flushing and insolation, whereas those within the pond correspond mainly to insolation. For example, dissolved oxygen in mangrove shows two peaks daily which correlate with tidal elevation, and that within the pond shows only one peak which correlates with sunlight. Dissolved oxygen within the pond also shows a fortnightly pattern that corresponds to the schedule of water exchange. Such high temporal resolution of monitoring reveals the two-way water quality influences between the pond and the mangrove. It sheds insights that can possibly lead to refinement of water exchange practice and water sampling schedule given the temporal variations of the water quality both inside and outside the pond. It thus enables us to take a step closer in adopting more sustainable farming practices despite increasing pollution in the surrounding areas.

  17. Design and Application of a Solar Mobile Pond Aquaculture Water Quality-Regulation Machine Based in Bream Pond Aquaculture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Xingguo; Xu, Hao; Ma, Zhuojun; Zhang, Yongjun; Tian, Changfeng; Cheng, Guofeng; Zou, Haisheng; Lu, Shimin; Liu, Shijing; Tang, Rong

    2016-01-01

    Bream pond aquaculture plays a very important role in China's aquaculture industry and is the main source of aquatic products. To regulate and control pond water quality and sediment, a movable solar pond aquaculture water quality regulation machine (SMWM) was designed and used. This machine is solar-powered and moves on water, and its primary components are a solar power supply device, a sediment lifting device, a mechanism for walking on the water's surface and a control system. The solar power supply device provides power for the machine, and the water walking mechanism drives the machine's motion on the water. The sediment lifting device orbits the main section of the machine and affects a large area of the pond. Tests of the machine's mechanical properties revealed that the minimum illumination necessary for the SMWM to function is 13,000 Lx and that its stable speed on the water is 0.02-0.03 m/s. For an illumination of 13,000-52,500 Lx, the sediment lifting device runs at 0.13-0.35 m/s, and its water delivery capacity is 110-208 m(3)/h. The sediment lifting device is able to fold away, and the angle of the suction chamber can be adjusted, making the machine work well in ponds at different water depths from 0.5 m to 2 m. The optimal distance from the sediment lifting device to the bottom of the pond is 10-15 cm. In addition, adjusting the length of the connecting rod and the direction of the traction rope allows the SMWM to work in a pond water area greater than 80%. The analysis of water quality in Wuchang bream (Parabramis pekinensis) and silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) culture ponds using the SMWM resulted in decreased NH3(+)-N and available phosphorus concentrations and increased TP concentrations. The TN content and the amount of available phosphorus in the sediment were reduced. In addition, the fish production showed that the SMWM enhanced the yields of Wuchang bream and silver carp by more than 30% and 24%, respectively. These results

  18. First records in Guinea Bissau of Adamawa Turtle Dove Streptopelia ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    There are no confirmed records of the Adamawa Turtle Dove Streptopelia hypopyrrha in north-eastern Guinea Bissau and there is very little information available on the biology of the species. Eight individuals of the Adamawa Turtle Dove were identified from the game bags of sport hunters in north-eastern Guinea Bissau, ...

  19. Purification and properties of glutathione reductase from liver of the anoxia-tolerant turtle, Trachemys scripta elegans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Willmore, William G; Storey, Kenneth B

    2007-03-01

    Glutathione reductase (GR) is a homodimeric flavoprotein that catalyzes the reduction of oxidized glutathione (GSSG) using NADPH as a cofactor. The enzyme is a major component of cellular defense mechanisms against oxidative injury. In this study, GR was purified from the liver of the anoxia-tolerant turtle, Trachemys scripta elegans. The overall fold purifications were 13.3- and 12.1-fold with final specific activities of 5.5 and 1.44 U/mg of protein for control and anoxic turtle GR, respectively. SDS-PAGE of purified turtle liver GR showed a single protein band at approximately 55 kDa. Reverse phase HPLC of turtle GR revealed a single peak that had the same retention time as yeast GR. No new isoform of GR was detected in liver of T. s. elegans during anoxia. The K (m) values of turtle GR for GSSG and NADPH was 44.6 and 6.82 microM, respectively, suggesting a substantially higher affinity of turtle GR toward GSSG than most other vertebrates. Unlike other human GR, NADP(+ )did not inhibit turtle GR activity. The activation energy of turtle GR, calculated from the slope of the Arrhenius plot, was 32.2 +/- 2.64 kJ/mol. Turtle GR had high activity under a broad pH range (having activity between pHs 4 and 10; optimal activity at pH 6.5) and the enzyme maintains activity under the pH drop that occurs under anoxic conditions. The high affinity of turtle GR suggests that turtles have high redox buffering capacity of tissues to protect against oxidative stress encountered during anoxia/reoxygenation.

  20. Sequence of a cDNA encoding turtle high mobility group 1 protein.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Jifang; Hu, Bi; Wu, Duansheng

    2005-07-01

    In order to understand sequence information about turtle HMG1 gene, a cDNA encoding HMG1 protein of the Chinese soft-shell turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis) was amplified by RT-PCR from kidney total RNA, and was cloned, sequenced and analyzed. The results revealed that the open reading frame (ORF) of turtle HMG1 cDNA is 606 bp long. The ORF codifies 202 amino acid residues, from which two DNA-binding domains and one polyacidic region are derived. The DNA-binding domains share higher amino acid identity with homologues sequences of chicken (96.5%) and mammalian (74%) than homologues sequence of rainbow trout (67%). The polyacidic region shows 84.6% amino acid homology with the equivalent region of chicken HMG1 cDNA. Turtle HMG1 protein contains 3 Cys residues located at completely conserved positions. Conservation in sequence and structure suggests that the functions of turtle HMG1 cDNA may be highly conserved during evolution. To our knowledge, this is the first report of HMG1 cDNA sequence in any reptilian.

  1. Inorganic elements in green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas): relationships among external and internal tissues

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faust, Derek R.; Hooper, Michael J.; Cobb, George P.; Barnes, Melanie; Shaver, Donna; Ertolacci, Shauna; Smith, Philip N.

    2014-01-01

    Inorganic elements from anthropogenic sources have entered marine environments worldwide and are detectable in marine organisms, including sea turtles. Threatened and endangered classifications of sea turtles have heretofore made assessments of contaminant concentrations difficult because of regulatory restrictions on obtaining samples using nonlethal techniques. In the present study, claw and skin biopsy samples were examined as potential indicators of internal tissue burdens in green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas). Significant relationships were observed between claw and liver, and claw and muscle concentrations of mercury, nickel, arsenic, and selenium (p turtles.

  2. 50 CFR 224.104 - Special requirements for fishing activities to protect endangered sea turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... activities to protect endangered sea turtles. 224.104 Section 224.104 Wildlife and Fisheries NATIONAL MARINE... endangered sea turtles. (a) Shrimp fishermen in the southeastern United States and the Gulf of Mexico who comply with rules for threatened sea turtles specified in § 223.206 of this chapter will not be subject...

  3. Analysis of epibiont data in relation with the Debilitated Turtle Syndrome of sea turtles in Chelonia mydas and Lepidochelys olivacea from Concepción coast, Chile

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Italo Fernández

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Epibionts on the surface of the skin and shell of a specimen of Chelonia mydas and three Lepidochelys olivacea found floating on the coast of Concepción, Chile, between June 2010 and December 2012, were analyzed. These epibionts were analyzed during the clinical inspection and the tissue changes related to its settlement, with filamentous algae around, were observed. Subsequently, the epibionts were identified by morphological observation. The knowledge about theses epibionts in Chile is reviewed and the potential occurrence of Debilitated Turtle Syndrome (DTS in these turtles is discussed. The presence of sea turtles in the Chilean coast is considered a casual event, so there is little information on this issue. We propose it is necessary to carry out more studies on the association between turtles and epibionts because their identification, colonizing reptiles’ surface may give relevant information to a better understanding of different diseases, including DTS, that affect these marine reptiles and facilitates the development of strategies intended to recover their populations.

  4. Assessment of ground transportation stress in juvenile Kemp’s ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys kempii)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunt, Kathleen E.; Innis, Charles J.; Kennedy, Adam E.; McNally, Kerry L.; Davis, Deborah G.; Burgess, Elizabeth A.; Merigo, Constance

    2016-01-01

    Sea turtle rehabilitation centres frequently transport sea turtles for long distances to move animals between centres or to release them at beaches, yet there is little information on the possible effects of transportation-related stress (‘transport stress’) on sea turtles. To assess whether transport stress is a clinically relevant concern for endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys kempii), we obtained pre-transport and post-transport plasma samples from 26 juvenile Kemp’s ridley sea turtles that were transported for 13 h (n = 15 turtles) or 26 h (n = 11 turtles) by truck for release at beaches. To control for effects of handling, food restriction and time of day, the same turtles were also studied on ‘control days’ 2 weeks prior to transport, i.e. with two samples taken to mimic pre-transport and post-transport timing, but without transportation. Blood samples were analysed for nine clinical health measures (pH, pCO2, pO2, HCO3, sodium, potassium, ionized calcium, lactate and haematocrit) and four ‘stress-associated’ parameters (corticosterone, glucose, white blood cell count and heterophil-to-lymphocyte ratio). Vital signs (heart rate, respiratory rate and cloacal temperature) were also monitored. Corticosterone and glucose showed pronounced elevations due specifically to transportation; for corticosterone, this elevation was significant only for the longer transport duration, whereas glucose increased significantly after both transport durations. However, clinical health measures and vital signs showed minimal or no changes in response to any sampling event (with or without transport), and all turtles appeared to be in good clinical health after both transport durations. Thus, transportation elicits a mild, but detectable, adrenal stress response that is more pronounced during longer durations of transport; nonetheless, Kemp’s ridley sea turtles can tolerate ground transportation of up to 26 h in good health. These

  5. Renewable energy for the aeration of wastewater ponds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hobus, I; Hegemann, W

    2003-01-01

    The application of a decentralised renewable energy supply for the aeration of wastewater ponds, and the influence of an unsteady oxygen supply on the specific conversion rate and biocoenose was investigated. With the discontinuous aeration the specific conversion rate is increased as compared to facultative ponds. The estimation of the microorganisms consortia was done with in situ hybridisation techniques. A significant shift in the bacteria population with the chosen specific probes for anaerobic, sulphate reducing and nitrifying bacteria could not be detected. Wastewater ponds have sufficient buffer volume to compensate for the fluctuating energy supply. But the efficiency of the energy supply of a photovoltaic plant decreases in shallow lakes (d photovoltaic and wind power plant, energy management, aeration system and wastewater pond, a simulation model was developed and tested. The application of renewable energy for the aeration of wastewater ponds is a useful alternative for the redevelopment of overloaded ponds as well as the construction of new wastewater ponds, especially in areas with an inadequate central electricity grid and a high availability of wind and solar energy.

  6. Results of submerged sediment core sampling and analysis on Par Pond, Pond C, and L Lake: July 1995

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koch, J.W. II; Martin, F.D.; Friday, G.P.

    1996-06-01

    Sediment cores from shallow and deep water locations in Par Pond, Pond C, and L Lake were collected and analyzed in 1995 for radioactive and nonradioactive constituents. This core analysis was conducted to develop a defensible characterization of contaminants found in the sediments of Par Pond, Pond C, and L Lake. Mercury was the only nonradiological constituent with a nonestimated quantity that was detected above the U.S Environmental Protection Agency Region IV potential contaminants of concern screening criteria. It was detected at a depth of 0.3--0.6 meters (1.0--2.0 feet) at one location in L Lake. Cesium-137, promethium-146, plutonium-238, and zirconium-95 had significantly higher concentrations in Par Pond sediments than in sediments from the reference sites. Cobalt-60, cesium-137, plutonium-238, plutonium-239/240, and strontium-90 had significantly higher concentrations in L-Lake sediments than sediments from the reference sites

  7. Low metabolic cost of locomotion in ornate box turtles, Terrapene ornata.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zani, Peter A; Kram, Rodger

    2008-12-01

    Evolution has produced a wide range of body plans, but for a given body mass, the energetic cost of transport (COT) of terrestrial animals falls in a relatively narrow range. Previous research indicates that the COT depends on the proficiency of minimizing mechanical work performed, efficiency of performing that work, and cost of generating force to support weight. Turtles are unique in that their protective shell and shoulder-girdle articulation may eliminate the need for the ;muscular sling'. In addition, turtles have slower, more efficient muscles than other vertebrates. However, slow locomotion may raise the COT by confounding mechanical-energy conservation via the inverted-pendulum mechanism. Our goal was to determine the metabolic COT and efficiency of a terrestrial turtle species during locomotion. We studied 18 ornate box turtles, Terrapene ornata. Walking speed was extremely slow (0.07+/-0.005 m s(-1)). The average minimum COT was 8.0+/-0.70 J kg(-1) m(-1) attained at approximately 0.1 m s(-1). Ornate box turtles consume only half the energy predicted by the allometric relationship for all terrestrial animals (15.9+/-0.35 J kg(-1) m(-1)), and, thus, appear to be very economical walkers. When walking up a 24 deg. incline turtles moved significantly slower (0.04+/-0.004 m s(-1)), but performed the extra work required to walk uphill with very high efficiencies (>49%). It appears that the co-evolution of a protective shell, the associated shoulder morphology, and very slow, efficient muscles produce both economical level walking and efficient uphill walking.

  8. Par Pond Fish, Water, and Sediment Chemistry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paller, M.H.; Wike, L.D.

    1996-06-01

    The objectives of this report are to describe the Par Pond fish community and the impact of the drawdown and refill on the community, describe contaminant levels in Par Pond fish, sediments, and water and indicate how contaminant concentrations and distributions were affected by the drawdown and refill, and predict possible effects of future water level fluctuations in Par Pond

  9. Par Pond Fish, Water, and Sediment Chemistry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Paller, M.H. [Westinghouse Savannah River Company, AIKEN, SC (United States); Wike, L.D.

    1996-06-01

    The objectives of this report are to describe the Par Pond fish community and the impact of the drawdown and refill on the community, describe contaminant levels in Par Pond fish, sediments, and water and indicate how contaminant concentrations and distributions were affected by the drawdown and refill, and predict possible effects of future water level fluctuations in Par Pond.

  10. Unusual behaviour of an immature loggerhead turtle released in the Alboran Sea

    OpenAIRE

    Bellido, J. J.; Báez, J. C.; Castillo, J. J.; Martín, J. J.; Mons, J. L.; Real, R.

    2010-01-01

    A juvenile loggerhead turtle with buoyancy problems was captured in the Alboran Sea (Mediterranean Sea, south of Spain) and released 14 months later after healing. Six days after the release, the turtle was seen swimming 42 km from the point of release, displaying unusual behaviour. We re-captured and released it again, 95 nautical miles offshore, near the Alboran Island. Ten days later the turtle arrived at the beach close to where it had been maintained in captivity. We discuss these findin...

  11. Plastic ingestion by sea turtles in Paraíba State, Northeast Brazil

    OpenAIRE

    Camila Poli; Daniel Oliveira Mesquita; Cinthia Saska; Rita Mascarenhas

    2015-01-01

    ABSTRACT Currently, plastics are recognized as a major pollutant of the marine environment, representing a serious threat to ocean wildlife. Here, we examined the occurrence and effects of plastic ingestion by sea turtles found stranded along the coast of Paraíba State, Brazil from August 2009 to July 2010. Ninety-eight digestive tracts were examined, with plastic found in 20 (20.4%). Sixty five percent (n = 13) of turtles with plastic in the digestive tract were green turtles (Chelonia mydas...

  12. Corticosterone and thyroxine in cold-stunned Kemp's ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys kempii).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunt, Kathleen E; Innis, Charles; Rolland, Rosalind M

    2012-09-01

    Kemp's ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys kempii), a critically endangered species, frequently strand on the shores of Cape Cod (Massachusetts, USA) in late autumn in a state of "cold-stunning" exhibiting low body temperature and related clinical issues. Stranded turtles are transported to the New England Aquarium (Boston, Massachusetts, USA) for treatment and rehabilitation. This study tested the hypothesis that cold-stunned sea turtles might exhibit high corticosterone ("stress hormone") or low thyroxine (which is often affected by temperature), or both, and that monitoring of both hormones may be useful for assessing recovery. In a retrospective analysis, 87 archived plasma samples were assayed from 56 cold-stunned juvenile Kemp's ridley sea turtles for corticosterone and free thyroxine (fT4). Upon admission, mean corticosterone was the highest yet reported for a population of sea turtles (39.3 +/- 2.5 ng/ml; mean +/- standard error of the mean [SEM]) and fT4 was usually undetectable. On admission, corticosterone was negatively correlated with white blood cell count but was not correlated with blood glucose. There were no differences in either hormone between survivors and nonsurvivors on admission. After 18+ days in recovery, surviving turtles' corticosterone dropped significantly to levels typical of baseline in other species (0.9 +/- 1.0 ng/ml) while fT4 increased significantly (1.3 +/- 1.5 pg/ml). During recovery, corticosterone was positively correlated with blood glucose and was not correlated with white blood cell count. Turtles that showed persistent deficits in feeding, activity, or both during recovery had significantly lower fT4 than did turtles with no such deficits. The "high corticosterone, low fT4" endocrine profile seen on admission may be a useful marker of cold-stunning in this and other species. Further studies are necessary to determine whether low thyroid hormones play a causal role in deficits in feeding and activity during recovery

  13. Hypothermic stunning of green sea turtles in a western Gulf of Mexico foraging habitat.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Donna J Shaver

    Full Text Available Texas waters provide one of the most important developmental and foraging habitats for juvenile green turtles (Chelonia mydas in the western Gulf of Mexico, but hypothermic stunning is a significant threat and was the largest cause of green turtle strandings in Texas from 1980 through 2015; of the 8,107 green turtles found stranded, 4,529 (55.9% were victims of hypothermic stunning. Additionally, during this time, 203 hypothermic stunned green turtles were found incidentally captured due to power plant water intake entrapment. Overall, 63.9% of 4,529 hypothermic stunned turtles were found alive, and 92.0% of those survived rehabilitation and were released. Numbers of green turtles recorded as stranded and as affected by hypothermic stunning increased over time, and were most numerous from 2007 through 2015. Large hypothermic stunning events (with more than 450 turtles documented occurred during the winters of 2009-2010, 2010-2011, 2013-2014, and 2014-2015. Hypothermic stunning was documented between November and March, but peaked at various times depending on passage of severe weather systems. Hypothermic stunning occurred state-wide, but was most prevalent in South Texas, particularly the Laguna Madre. In the Laguna Madre, hypothermic stunning was associated with an abrupt drop in water temperatures strong northerly winds, and a threshold mean water temperature of 8.0°C predicted large turtle hypothermic stunning events. Knowledge of environmental parameters contributing to hypothermic stunning and the temporal and spatial distribution of turtles affected in the past, can aid with formulation of proactive, targeted search and rescue efforts that can ultimately save the lives of many affected individuals, and aid with recovery efforts for this bi-national stock. Such rescue efforts are required under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and respond to humanitarian concerns of the public.

  14. 100-D Ponds groundwater quality assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hartman, M.J.

    1996-01-01

    The 100-D Ponds facility is regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976. The pH of groundwater in a downgradient well is statistically different than local background, triggering an assessment of groundwater contamination under 40 CFR 265.93. Results of a similar assessment, conducted in 1993, show that the elevated pH is caused by the presence of alkaline ash sediments beneath the ponds, which are not part of the RCRA unit. The 100-D Ponds should remain in indicator evaluation monitoring

  15. ANL-W 779 pond seepage test

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Braun, D.R.

    1992-11-01

    The ANL-W 779 sanitary wastewater treatment ponds are located on the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL), north of the Argonne National Laboratory -- West (ANL-W) site A seepage test was performed for two Argonne National Laboratory -- West (ANL-W) sanitary wastewater treatment ponds, Facility 779. Seepage rates were measured to determine if the ponds are a wastewater land application facility. The common industry standard for wastewater land application facilities is a field-measured seepage rate of one quarter inch per day or greater

  16. Site-specific health and safety plan 100-D Pond remediation project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hobbs, B.J.

    1996-06-01

    The 100-D Ponds are located north of the northern perimeter fence of the 100-D Area. The ponds were excavated in a preexisting basin that had been used for disposal of coal ash. There are two ponds, one used as a settling pond and the other a percolation pond. Liquid effluent from the 100-D process sewers was discharged to the ponds from 1977 through 1987; after 1987 the ponds received backwash and rinsate from the 100-D water treatment facilities. All discharges to the ponds ceased in June 1994, and the ponds were allowed to dry up

  17. Terrestrial Turtle Habitats Potentially Impacted

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Dickerson, Dena

    1999-01-01

    .... This group includes the tortoises and box turtles with two species Federally threatened and three species having protection in at least one state. Three of these protected species are associated with environmental issues at 21 USACE projects from 5 USACE Districts.

  18. Mechanisms for parasites removal in a waste stabilisation pond.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reinoso, Roberto; Blanco, Saúl; Torres-Villamizar, Linda A; Bécares, Eloy

    2011-04-01

    A waste stabilisation pond (WSP) system formed by two anaerobic ponds, a facultative pond and a maturation pond was studied from December 2003 to September 2004 in north-western Spain in order to evaluate its efficiency in the removal of faecal indicator bacteria (total coliforms, Escherichia coli, faecal streptococci), coliphages, helminth eggs and protozoan (oo)cysts (Cryptosporidium and Giardia). Furthermore, sediment samples were collected from the bottom of the ponds to assess the settling rates and thus determine the main pathogen removal mechanisms in the WSPs system. The overall removal ranged from 1.4 log units for coliphages in the cold period to 5.0 log units for E. coli in the hot period. Cryptosporidium oocysts were reduced by an average of 96%, Giardia cysts by 98% and helminth eggs by 100%. The anaerobic ponds showed significantly higher surface removal rates (4.6, 5.2 and 3.7 log (oo)cysts/eggs removed m(-2) day(-1), respectively) than facultative and maturation ponds. Sunlight and water physicochemical conditions were the main factors influencing C. parvum oocysts removal both in the anaerobic and maturation ponds, whereas other factors like predation or natural mortality were more important in the facultative pond. Sedimentation, the most commonly proposed mechanism for cyst removal had, therefore, a negligible influence in the studied ponds.

  19. Greenhouse Gas Exchange in Small Arctic Thaw Ponds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laurion, I.; Bégin, P. N.; Bouchard, F.; Preskienis, V.

    2014-12-01

    Arctic lakes and ponds can represent up to one quarter of the land surface in permafrost landscapes, particularly in lowland tundra landscapes characterized by ice wedge organic polygons. Thaw ponds can be defined as the aquatic ecosystems associated to thawing of organic soils, either resulting from active layer processes and located above low-center peat polygons (hereafter low-center polygonal or LCP ponds), or resulting from thermokarst slumping above melting ice wedges linked to the accelerated degradation of permafrost (hereafter ice-wedge trough or IWT ponds). These ponds can merge together forming larger water bodies, but with relatively stable shores (hereafter merged polygonal or MPG ponds), and with limnological characteristics similar to LCP ponds. These aquatic systems are very small and shallow, and present a different physical structure than the larger thermokarst lakes, generated after years of development and land subsidence. In a glacier valley on Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada, thermokarst and kettle lakes together represent 29% of the aquatic area, with a thermal profile resembling those of more standard arctic lakes (mixed epilimnion). The IWT ponds (44% of the area) are stratified for a large fraction of the summer despite their shallowness, while LCP and MPG ponds (27% of the area) show a more homogeneous water column. This will affect gas exchange in these diverse aquatic systems, in addition to their unique microbiota and organic carbon lability that control the production and consumption rates of greenhouse gases. The stratification in IWT ponds generates hypoxic conditions at the bottom, and together with the larger availability of organic carbon, stimulates methanogenesis and limits the mitigating action of methanotrophs. Overall, thaw ponds are largely supersaturated in methane, with IWT ponds dominating the emissions in this landscape (92% of total aquatic emissions estimated for the same valley), and they present large variations in

  20. Valuing Multiple Benefits, and the Public Perception of SUDS Ponds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joy Jarvie

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Understanding how the public perceive and value ponds is fundamental to appreciate the synergy between Sustainable urban Drainage (SUDS ponds and the multiple benefits they provide. This paper investigates this, through the application of a structured postal and online survey, for a case study area of Edinburgh, in the UK. It compares man-made ponds (including SUDS, and ponds with natural origins. The results from Whole Life Cost show that the benefits (based on Contingent Valuation exceed the CAPEX and OPEX costs for three of five artificial ponds studied. Benefits from natural (reference ponds exceed the replacement costs for a pond with the same surface area/catchment. This paper highlights the importance of monetising the multiple benefits from ponds.

  1. Long-term changes in pond permanence, size, and salinity in Prairie Pothole Region wetlands: The role of groundwater-pond interaction

    Science.gov (United States)

    LaBaugh, James W.; Rosenberry, Donald O.; Mushet, David M.; Neff, Brian; Nelson, Richard D.; Euliss, Ned H.

    2018-01-01

    Study RegionCottonwood Lake area wetlands, North Dakota, U.S.A.Study FocusFluctuations in pond permanence, size, and salinity are key features of prairie-pothole wetlands that provide a variety of wetland habitats for waterfowl in the northern prairie of North America. Observation of water-level and salinity fluctuations in a semi-permanent wetland pond over a 20-year period, included periods when the wetland occasionally was dry, as well as wetter years when the pond depth and surface extent doubled while volume increased 10 times.New hydrological insights for the study regionCompared to all other measured budget components, groundwater flow into the pond often contributed the least water (8–28 percent) but the largest amount (>90 percent) of specific solutes to the water and solute budgets of the pond. In drier years flow from the pond into groundwater represented > 10 percent of water loss, and in 1992 was approximately equal to evapotranspiration loss. Also during the drier years, export of calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride, and sulfate by flow from the pond to groundwater was substantial compared with previous or subsequent years, a process that would have been undetected if groundwater flux had been calculated as a net value. Independent quantification of water and solute gains and losses were essential to understand controls on water-level and salinity fluctuations in the pond in response to variable climate conditions.

  2. Microbial activities and communities in oil sands tailings ponds

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gieg, Lisa; Ramos, Esther; Clothier, Lindsay; Bordenave, Sylvain; Lin, Shiping; Voordouw, Gerrit; Dong, Xiaoli; Sensen, Christoph [University of Calgary (Canada)

    2011-07-01

    This paper discusses how the microbial communities and their activity play a vital role in tailings ponds. The ponds contain microorganisms along with metals, hydrocarbon diluent, naphthenic acid and others. The ponds play an important role in mining operations because they store bitumen extraction waste and also allow water to be re-used in the bitumen extraction process. Pond management presents a few challenges that include, among others, gas emissions and the presence of toxic and corrosive acids. Microbial activities and communities help in managing these ponds. Microbial activity measurement in active and inactive ponds is described and analyzed and the results are presented. The conditions for reducing sulfate, nitrate and iron are also presented. From the results it can be concluded that naphthenic acids can potentially serve as substrates for anaerobic populations in tailings ponds.

  3. Musculoskeletal disorder survey for pond workers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maryani, A.; Partiwi, S. G.; Dewi, H. N. F.

    2018-04-01

    Mucsuloskeletal disorder will affect worker performance and become serious injury when ignored, so that workers cannot work normally. Therefore, an effective strategy plan is needed to reduce the risk of musculoskeletal disorder. A pond worker is profession with high risk of physical complain. Four main activities are ponds preparation, seed distribution, pond maintenance, and harvesting. The methods employed in this current musculoskeletal disorder survey are questionnaire and interview. The result from 73 questionnaires shown that most of pond workers were working for 7 days a week. Prevalence physical complain are on neck, shoulders, upper back, lower back, and knees. The level of perceived complaint is moderate pain. However, most of them do not contact therapists or physicians. Therefore it is necessary to improve the working methods to be able to reduce physical complains due to musculoskeletal disorder.

  4. Yellow fever

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... to thrive. Blood tests can confirm the diagnosis. Treatment There is no specific treatment for yellow fever. ... SJ, Endy TP, Rothman AL, Barrett AD. Flaviviruses (dengue, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, West Nile encephalitis, St. ...

  5. Use of Dry Tortugas National Park by threatened and endangered marine turtles: Chapter 5

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hart, Kristin M.; Fujisaki, Ikuko; Sartain-Iverson, Autumn R.

    2012-01-01

    Satellite and acoustic tracking results for green turtles, hawksbills, and loggerheads have revealed patterns in the proportion of time that tagged turtles spend within various zones of the park, including the RNA. Green turtles primarily utilize the shallow areas in the northern portion of the park. Hawksbills were mostly observed near Garden Key and loggerheads were observed throughout DRTO. Our record of turtle captures, recaptures, and sightings over the last 4 years serves as a baseline database for understanding the size classes of each species present in the park, as well as species-specific habitats in DRTO waters.

  6. Experimental feeding of Hydrilla verticillata colonized by stigonematales cyanobacteria induces vacuolar myelinopathy in painted turtles (Chrysemys picta.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Albert D Mercurio

    Full Text Available Vacuolar myelinopathy (VM is a neurologic disease primarily found in birds that occurs when wildlife ingest submerged aquatic vegetation colonized by an uncharacterized toxin-producing cyanobacterium (hereafter "UCB" for "uncharacterized cyanobacterium". Turtles are among the closest extant relatives of birds and many species directly and/or indirectly consume aquatic vegetation. However, it is unknown whether turtles can develop VM. We conducted a feeding trial to determine whether painted turtles (Chrysemys picta would develop VM after feeding on Hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata, colonized by the UCB (Hydrilla is the most common "host" of UCB. We hypothesized turtles fed Hydrilla colonized by the UCB would exhibit neurologic impairment and vacuolation of nervous tissues, whereas turtles fed Hydrilla free of the UCB would not. The ability of Hydrilla colonized by the UCB to cause VM (hereafter, "toxicity" was verified by feeding it to domestic chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus or necropsy of field collected American coots (Fulica americana captured at the site of Hydrilla collections. We randomly assigned ten wild-caught turtles into toxic or non-toxic Hydrilla feeding groups and delivered the diets for up to 97 days. Between days 82 and 89, all turtles fed toxic Hydrilla displayed physical and/or neurologic impairment. Histologic examination of the brain and spinal cord revealed vacuolations in all treatment turtles. None of the control turtles exhibited neurologic impairment or had detectable brain or spinal cord vacuolations. This is the first evidence that freshwater turtles can become neurologically impaired and develop vacuolations after consuming toxic Hydrilla colonized with the UCB. The southeastern United States, where outbreaks of VM occur regularly and where vegetation colonized by the UCB is common, is also a global hotspot of freshwater turtle diversity. Our results suggest that further investigations into the effect of the

  7. Neurological disease in wild loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jacobson, Elliott R; Homer, Bruce L; Stacy, Brian A; Greiner, Ellis C; Szabo, Nancy J; Chrisman, Cheryl L; Origgi, Francesco; Coberley, Sadie; Foley, Allen M; Landsberg, Jan H; Flewelling, Leanne; Ewing, Ruth Y; Moretti, Richie; Schaf, Susan; Rose, Corinne; Mader, Douglas R; Harman, Glenn R; Manire, Charles A; Mettee, Nancy S; Mizisin, Andrew P; Shelton, G Diane

    2006-06-12

    Beginning in October 2000, subadult loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta showing clinical signs of a neurological disorder were found in waters off south Florida, USA. Histopathology indicated generalized and neurologic spirorchiidiasis. In loggerhead sea turtles (LST) with neurospirorchiidiasis, adult trematodes were found in the meninges of the brain and spinal cord of 7 and 3 affected turtles respectively, and multiple encephalic intravascular or perivascular eggs were associated with granulomatous or mixed leukocytic inflammation, vasculitis, edema, axonal degeneration and occasional necrosis. Adult spirorchiids were dissected from meningeal vessels of 2 of 11 LST brains and 1 of 10 spinal cords and were identified as Neospirorchis sp. Affected LST were evaluated for brevetoxins, ciguatoxins, saxitoxins, domoic acid and palytoxin. While tissues from 7 of 20 LST tested positive for brevetoxins, the levels were not considered to be in a range causing acute toxicosis. No known natural (algal blooms) or anthropogenic (pollutant spills) stressors co-occurred with the turtle mortality. While heavy metal toxicosis and organophosphate toxicosis were also investigated as possible causes, there was no evidence for their involvement. We speculate that the clinical signs and pathologic changes seen in the affected LST resulted from combined heavy spirorchiid parasitism and possible chronic exposure to a novel toxin present in the diet of LST.

  8. Salinity tolerances and use of saline environments by freshwater turtles: implications of sea level rise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agha, Mickey; Ennen, Joshua R; Bower, Deborah S; Nowakowski, A Justin; Sweat, Sarah C; Todd, Brian D

    2018-03-25

    The projected rise in global mean sea levels places many freshwater turtle species at risk of saltwater intrusion into freshwater habitats. Freshwater turtles are disproportionately more threatened than other taxa; thus, understanding the role of salinity in determining their contemporary distribution and evolution should be a research priority. Freshwater turtles are a slowly evolving lineage; however, they can adapt physiologically or behaviourally to various levels of salinity and, therefore, temporarily occur in marine or brackish environments. Here, we provide the first comprehensive global review on freshwater turtle use and tolerance of brackish water ecosystems. We link together current knowledge of geographic occurrence, salinity tolerance, phylogenetic relationships, and physiological and behavioural mechanisms to generate a baseline understanding of the response of freshwater turtles to changing saline environments. We also review the potential origins of salinity tolerance in freshwater turtles. Finally, we integrate 2100 sea level rise (SLR) projections, species distribution maps, literature gathered on brackish water use, and a phylogeny to predict the exposure of freshwater turtles to projected SLR globally. From our synthesis of published literature and available data, we build a framework for spatial and phylogenetic conservation prioritization of coastal freshwater turtles. Based on our literature review, 70 species (∼30% of coastal freshwater turtle species) from 10 of the 11 freshwater turtle families have been reported in brackish water ecosystems. Most anecdotal records, observations, and descriptions do not imply long-term salinity tolerance among freshwater turtles. Rather, experiments show that some species exhibit potential for adaptation and plasticity in physiological, behavioural, and life-history traits that enable them to endure varying periods (e.g. days or months) and levels of saltwater exposure. Species that specialize on

  9. A case study for biogas generation from covered anaerobic ponds treating abattoir wastewater: Investigation of pond performance and potential biogas production

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McCabe, Bernadette K.; Hamawand, Ihsan; Harris, Peter; Baillie, Craig; Yusaf, Talal

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • We report on the performance of a novel covered anaerobic pond system. • Potential biogas production was estimated using BioWin modelling software. • Ponds maintained stable operation; however, accumulation of crust was an issue. • Modelling indicated that biogas yield can be influenced by decomposition efficiency. • Configuration and operation of ponds can also impact potential biogas production. - Abstract: Covered anaerobic ponds offer significant advantages to the red meat processing industry by capturing methane rich gas as a fuel source for bioenergy while reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). This paper presents the results of a novel-designed anaerobic pond system at an Australian abattoir in relation to pond performance and potential biogas production. Key findings in assessing the effectiveness of the system revealed that the covered ponds are capable of efficient wastewater decomposition and biogas production. The primary issue with the covered ponds at the abattoir was the build-up of fat/crust that prevented the accurate measurement of biogas and effective use of the cover. In the absence of field biogas data the novel application of the computer modelling software BioWin® was carried out to simulate chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rates and subsequent biogas yield. The unique parameter used to fit field data was the fraction of the inlet COD due to a superficial crust which did not follow anaerobic digestion. Field data effluent COD removal rates were matched to simulated rates predicted by BioWin when measured influent COD was reduced to 30%. Biogas modelling results suggest significant variation in the economic benefit of biogas energy, with the quantity of biogas potentially varying tenfold (from 328 m 3 /d to 3284 m 3 /d) depending on site factors such as pond efficiency, pond configuration and operational practices

  10. 226Ra and 228Ra activities associated with agricultural drainage ponds and wetland ponds in the Kankakee Watershed, Illinois-Indiana, USA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sidle, W.C.; Shanklin, D.; Lee, P.Y.; Roose, D.L.

    2001-01-01

    Background radioactivity is elevated in many agricultural drainage ponds and also constructed wetland ponds in the Kankakee watershed. During 1995-1999, gross-α and -β activities were measured up to 455 and 1650 mBq L -1 , respectively. 226 Ra and 228 Ra averaged 139 and 192 mBq L -1 in controlled drainage ponds compared to 53 and 58 mBq L -1 for 226 Ra and 228 Ra, respectively, in native wetland ponds. Analyses of applied ammonium phosphate fertilizers near both native and controlled ponds indicate comparable 226 Ra/ 228 Ra and 228 Ra/ 232 Th activity ratios with only the surface waters in the controlled ponds. For example, 226 Ra/ 228 Ra activity ratios in controlled ponds ranged from 0.79 to 0.91 and group with a local fertilizer batch containing FL phosphate compounds with 226 Ra/ 228 Ra activity ratios of 0.83-1.04. Local soils of the Kankakee watershed have 226 Ra/ 228 Ra activity ratios of 0.54-0.70. Calculated Ra fluxes of waters, in drainage ditches associated with these controlled ponds, for 226 Ra ranged from 0.77 to 9.00 mBq cm -2 d -1 and for 228 Ra ranged from 1.22 to 8.43 mBq cm -2 d -1 . Ra activity gradients were measured beneath these controlled ponds both in agricultural landscapes and in constructed wetlands, all being associated with drainage ditches. Ra had infiltrated to the local water table but was below regulatory maximum contaminant limits. Still, measurable Ra activity was measured downgradient of even the constructed wetlands in the Kankakee watershed, suggesting that the attenuation of Ra was low. However, no Ra excess was observed in the riparian zone or the Kankakee River downgradient of the native wetland ponds

  11. Anti-predator meshing may provide greater protection for sea turtle nests than predator removal.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julie M O'Connor

    Full Text Available The problem of how to protect sea turtle nests from terrestrial predators is of worldwide concern. On Queensland's southern Sunshine Coast, depredation of turtle nests by the introduced European red fox (Vulpes vulpes has been recorded as the primary terrestrial cause of egg and hatchling mortality. We investigated the impact of foxes on the nests of the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta and occasional green turtle (Chelonia mydas over ten nesting seasons. Meshing of nests with fox exclusion devices (FEDs was undertaken in all years accompanied by lethal fox control in the first five-year period, but not in the second five-year period. Lethal fox control was undertaken in the study area from 2005 to February 2010, but foxes still breached 27% (range19-52% of turtle nests. In the second five-year period, despite the absence of lethal fox control, the average percentage of nests breached was less than 3% (range 0-4%. Comparison of clutch depredation rates in the two five-year periods demonstrated that continuous nest meshing may be more effective than lethal fox control in mitigating the impact of foxes on turtle nests. In the absence of unlimited resources available for the eradication of exotic predators, the use of FEDs and the support and resourcing of a dedicated volunteer base can be considered an effective turtle conservation tool on some beaches.

  12. Anti-predator meshing may provide greater protection for sea turtle nests than predator removal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Connor, Julie M; Limpus, Colin J; Hofmeister, Kate M; Allen, Benjamin L; Burnett, Scott E

    2017-01-01

    The problem of how to protect sea turtle nests from terrestrial predators is of worldwide concern. On Queensland's southern Sunshine Coast, depredation of turtle nests by the introduced European red fox (Vulpes vulpes) has been recorded as the primary terrestrial cause of egg and hatchling mortality. We investigated the impact of foxes on the nests of the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) and occasional green turtle (Chelonia mydas) over ten nesting seasons. Meshing of nests with fox exclusion devices (FEDs) was undertaken in all years accompanied by lethal fox control in the first five-year period, but not in the second five-year period. Lethal fox control was undertaken in the study area from 2005 to February 2010, but foxes still breached 27% (range19-52%) of turtle nests. In the second five-year period, despite the absence of lethal fox control, the average percentage of nests breached was less than 3% (range 0-4%). Comparison of clutch depredation rates in the two five-year periods demonstrated that continuous nest meshing may be more effective than lethal fox control in mitigating the impact of foxes on turtle nests. In the absence of unlimited resources available for the eradication of exotic predators, the use of FEDs and the support and resourcing of a dedicated volunteer base can be considered an effective turtle conservation tool on some beaches.

  13. Deepwater Horizon oil spill impacts on sea turtles could span the Atlantic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Putman, Nathan F; Abreu-Grobois, F Alberto; Iturbe-Darkistade, Iñaky; Putman, Emily M; Richards, Paul M; Verley, Philippe

    2015-12-01

    We investigated the extent that the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill potentially affected oceanic-stage sea turtles from populations across the Atlantic. Within an ocean-circulation model, particles were backtracked from the Gulf of Mexico spill site to determine the probability of young turtles arriving in this area from major nesting beaches. The abundance of turtles in the vicinity of the oil spill was derived by forward-tracking particles from focal beaches and integrating population size, oceanic-stage duration and stage-specific survival rates. Simulations indicated that 321 401 (66 199-397 864) green (Chelonia mydas), loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) turtles were likely within the spill site. These predictions compared favourably with estimates from in-water observations recently made available to the public (though our initial predictions for Kemp's ridley were substantially lower than in-water estimates, better agreement was obtained with modifications to mimic behaviour of young Kemp's ridley turtles in the northern Gulf). Simulations predicted 75.2% (71.9-76.3%) of turtles came from Mexico, 14.8% (11-18%) from Costa Rica, 5.9% (4.8-7.9%) from countries in northern South America, 3.4% (2.4-3.5%) from the United States and 1.6% (0.6-2.0%) from West African countries. Thus, the spill's impacts may extend far beyond the current focus on the northern Gulf of Mexico. © 2015 The Authors.

  14. Active dispersal in loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) during the 'lost years'.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Briscoe, D K; Parker, D M; Balazs, G H; Kurita, M; Saito, T; Okamoto, H; Rice, M; Polovina, J J; Crowder, L B

    2016-06-15

    Highly migratory marine species can travel long distances and across entire ocean basins to reach foraging and breeding grounds, yet gaps persist in our knowledge of oceanic dispersal and habitat use. This is especially true for sea turtles, whose complex life history and lengthy pelagic stage present unique conservation challenges. Few studies have explored how these young at-sea turtles navigate their environment, but advancements in satellite technology and numerical models have shown that active and passive movements are used in relation to open ocean features. Here, we provide the first study, to the best of our knowledge, to simultaneously combine a high-resolution physical forcing ocean circulation model with long-term multi-year tracking data of young, trans-oceanic North Pacific loggerhead sea turtles during their 'lost years' at sea. From 2010 to 2014, we compare simulated trajectories of passive transport with empirical data of 1-3 year old turtles released off Japan (29.7-37.5 straight carapace length cm). After several years, the at-sea distribution of simulated current-driven trajectories significantly differed from that of the observed turtle tracks. These results underscore current theories on active dispersal by young oceanic-stage sea turtles and give further weight to hypotheses of juvenile foraging strategies for this species. Such information can also provide critical geographical information for spatially explicit conservation approaches to this endangered population. © 2016 The Author(s).

  15. Identifying Critical Habitat for Australian Freshwater Turtles in a Large Regulated Floodplain: Implications for Environmental Water Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ocock, J. F.; Bino, G.; Wassens, S.; Spencer, J.; Thomas, R. F.; Kingsford, R. T.

    2018-03-01

    Freshwater turtles face many threats, including habitat loss and river regulation reducing occupancy and contributing to population decline. Limited knowledge of hydrological conditions required to maintain viable turtle populations in large floodplain wetlands hinders effective adaptive management of environmental water in regulated rivers. We surveyed three turtle species over 4 years across the Lower Murrumbidgee River floodplain, a large wetland complex with a long history of water resource development. Using site and floodplain metrics and generalized linear models, within a Bayesian Model Averaging framework, we quantified the main drivers affecting turtle abundance. We also used a hierarchical modeling approach, requiring large sample sizes, quantifying possible environmental effects while accounting for detection probabilities of the eastern long-necked turtle ( Chelodina longicollis). The three species varied in their responses to hydrological conditions and connectivity to the main river channel. Broad-shelled turtles ( Chelodina expansa) and Macquarie River turtles ( Emydura macquarii macquarii) had restricted distributions, centered on frequently inundated wetlands close to the river, whereas the eastern long-necked turtles were more widely distributed, indicating an ability to exploit variable habitats. We conclude that turtle communities would benefit from long-term management strategies that maintain a spatiotemporal mosaic of hydrological conditions. More specifically, we identified characteristics of refuge habitats and stress the importance of maintaining their integrity during dry periods. Neighboring habitats can be targeted during increased water availability years to enhance feeding and dispersal opportunities for freshwater turtles.

  16. Arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, and selenium levels in blood of four species of turtles from the Amazon in Brazil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burger, Joanna; Jeitner, Christian; Schneider, Larissa; Vogt, Richard; Gochfeld, Michael

    2010-01-01

    Using blood as a method of assessing metal levels in turtles may be useful for populations that are threatened or endangered or are decreasing. In this study the levels of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), and selenium (Se) in blood of four species of turtles from the tributaries of the Rio Negro in the Amazon of Brazil were examined. The turtles included the six-tubercled Amazon (river) turtle (Podocnemis sextuberculata), red-headed Amazon (river) turtle (Podocnemis erythrocephala), big-headed Amazon (river) turtle (Peltocephalus dumerilianus), and matamata turtle (Chelus fimbriatus). Blood samples were taken from the vein in the left hind leg of each turtle. There were significant interspecific differences in the sizes of the turtles from the Rio Negro, and in concentrations of Pb, Hg, and Se; the smallest species (red-headed turtles) had the highest levels of Pb in their blood, while Se levels were highest in big-headed turtles and lowest in red-headed turtles. Hg in blood was highest in matamata, intermediate in big-headed, and lowest in the other two turtles. Even though females were significantly larger than males, there were no significant differences in metal levels as a function of gender, and the only relationship of metals to size was for Cd. Variations in metal levels among species suggest that blood may be a useful bioindicator. Metal levels were not high enough to pose a health risk to the turtles or to consumers, such as humans.

  17. Hexavalent Chromium Is Cytotoxic and Genotoxic to Hawksbill Sea Turtle Cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wise, Sandra S.; Xie, Hong; Fukuda, Tomokazu; Thompson, W. Douglas; Wise, John Pierce

    2014-01-01

    Sea turtles are a charismatic and ancient ocean species and can serve as key indicators for ocean ecosystems, including coral reefs and sea grass beds as well as coastal beaches. Genotoxicity studies in the species are absent, limiting our understanding of the impact of environmental toxicants on sea turtles. Hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) is a ubiquitous environmental problem worldwide, and recent studies show it is a global marine pollutant of concern. Thus, we evaluated the cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of soluble and particulate Cr(VI) in hawksbill sea turtle cells. Particulate Cr(VI) was both cytotoxic and genotoxic to sea turtle cells. Concentrations of 0.1, 0.5, 1, and 5 μg/cm2 lead chromate induced 108, 79, 54, and 7 percent relative survival, respectively. Additionally, concentrations of 0, 0.1, 0.5, 1, and 5 μg/cm2 lead chromate induced damage in 4, 10, 15, 26, and 36 percent of cells and caused 4, 11, 17, 30, and 56 chromosome aberrations in 100 metaphases, respectively. For soluble Cr, concentrations of 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2.5, and 5 μM sodium chromate induced 84, 69, 46, 25, and 3 percent relative survival, respectively. Sodium chromate induced 3, 9, 9, 14, 21, and 29 percent of metaphases with damage, and caused 3, 10, 10, 16, 26, and 39 damaged chromosomes in 100 metaphases at concentrations of 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2.5, and 5 μM sodium chromate, respectively. These data suggest that Cr(VI) may be a concern for hawksbill sea turtles and sea turtles in general. PMID:24952338

  18. Optimal feeding frequency of captive head-started green turtles (Chelonia mydas).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kanghae, H; Thongprajukaew, K; Yeetam, P; Jarit-Ngam, T; Hwan-Air, W; Rueangjeen, S; Kittiwattanawong, K

    2017-08-01

    Optimal feeding frequency was investigated to improve head-started propagation programme of juvenile green turtles (Chelonia mydas). The 15-day-old turtles (25-26 g body weight) were fed for ad libitum intake at one (1MD), two (2MD), three (3MD) or four (4MD) meals daily over a 3-month trial. Responses in growth, feed utilization, faecal characteristics, haematological parameters and carapace elemental composition were used to compare treatment effects. At the end of the feeding trial, no treatment had induced mortality. Growth performance in terms of weight gain and specific growth rate was similar in turtles fed 2MD, 3MD or 4MD (p > 0.05), but 1MD differed from these (p Turtles fed 2MD had significantly lower feed intake than in 3MD and 4MD groups, but the feed conversion ratios were similar. Faecal digestive enzyme analysis indicated higher catabolism of lipid and protein in the deprivation group (1MD), when compared with turtles fed at least twice daily. The feeding frequency did not affect the specific activities of carbohydrate-digesting enzymes. The results on enzymes activities were corroborated by the transition enthalpy characteristics of faeces, indicating nutrients remaining after digestion. The 2MD treatment also improved the haematological characteristics and the carapace quality, relative to low or excess feeding. Overall, the findings indicate that feeding juvenile green turtles twice a day is the preferred option in their head-started propagation. This promotes growth, reduces feed consumption, and improves health and carapace quality. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition © 2016 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

  19. UHS, Ultimate Heat Sink Cooling Pond Analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Codell, R.; Nuttle, W.K.

    1998-01-01

    1 - Description of program or function: Three programs model performance of an ultimate heat sink cooling pond. National Weather Service data is read and analyzed to predict periods of lowest cooling performance and highest evaporative loss. The data is compared to local site data for significant differences. Then the maximum pond temperature is predicted. Five programs model performance of an ultimate heat sink spray pond. The cooling performance, evaporative water loss, and drift water loss as a function of wind speed are estimated for a spray field. These estimates are used in conjunction with National Weather Service data to predict periods of lowest cooling performance and highest evaporative loss. This data is compared to local site data for significant differences. Then the maximum pond temperature is predicted. 2 - Method of solution: The transfer of heat and water vapor is modeled using an equilibrium temperature procedure for an UHS cooling pond. The UHS spray pond model considers heat, mass, and momentum transfer from a single water drop with the surrounding air, and modification of the surrounding air resulting from the heat, mass, and momentum transfer from many drops in different parts of a spray field. 3 - Restrictions on the complexity of the problem: The program SPRCO uses RANF, a uniform random number generator which is an intrinsic function on the CDC. All programs except COMET use the NAMELIST statement, which is non standard. Otherwise these programs conform to the ANSI Fortran 77 standard. The meteorological data scanning procedure requires tens of years of recorded data to be effective. The models and methods, provided as useful tool for UHS analyses of cooling ponds and spray ponds, are intended as guidelines only. Use of these methods does not automatically assure NRC approval, nor are they required procedures for nuclear-power-plant licensing

  20. Incentive-based approaches in marine conservation: Applications for sea turtles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gjertsen Heidi

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Conservation practitioners are increasingly turning to incentive-based approaches to encourage local resource users to change behaviors that impact biodiversity and natural habitat. We assess the design and performance of marine conservation interventions with varying types of incentives through an analysis of case studies from around the world. Here we focus on seven examples that are particularly relevant to designing incentives for sea turtle conservation. Four of the cases are focused on sea turtle conservation, and the others contain elements that may be applied to turtle projects. Many more opportunities exist for interventions that combine the strengths of these approaches, such as performance-based agreements that provide funds for education or alternative livelihood development, and leasing fishing rights to reduce bycatch.

  1. Flocculation of retention pond water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hart, B.T.; McGregor, R.J.

    1982-05-01

    An integral part of the water management strategy proposed by Ranger Uranium Mining Pty. Ltd. involves the collection of runoff water in a series of retention ponds. This water will subsequently be used in the uranium milling plant or released to Magela Creek. Runoff water collected during the wet season caused a section of Magela Creek to become turbid when it was released. The eroded material causing the turbidity was very highly dispersed and showed little tendency to sediment out in the retention ponds. Results of a preliminary study to determine the feasibility of clarifying retention pond water by flocculation with alum are presented. A concentration of 30 Mg/L alum reduced turbidity from an initial 340 NTU to less than 30 NTU in four hours

  2. PERFORMANCES OF TIGER SHRIMP CULTURE IN ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY PONDS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Taufik Ahmad

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Mangrove ecosystem plays an obvious role in maintaining the biological balance in the coastal environment where shrimp ponds are usually constructed. The removal of mangroves around shrimp ponds has frequently brought about harvest failure. The study evaluated the performance of tiger shrimp culture in ponds provided with water from a water body where there was mangrove vegetation (hereafter mangrove reservoir. Twelve ponds, each measuring 2,500 m2, were filled with seawater from the mangrove reservoir until the water depth of 100 cm and then stocked with 20-40 PL/m2. In the first six ponds, the bottom water was released into the reservoir when the water depth reached 140 cm and then the water depth was maintained at 100 cm. In the second six ponds, the water was released from the ponds until the water depth reached 60 cm and then refilled with reservoir water until a depth of 100 cm. Both treatment ponds received water from the reservoir which also received the wastewater. The feeds for the shrimps were broadcast into the ponds twice a day to meet the 3% shrimp biomass requirement, which adjusted every other week through sampling. The result showed that mangrove  vegetation is capable of removing excessive nutrients, up to 70% for NO3- N and NH4 +-N, reducing PO4 =-P fluctuation, and producing bioactive  compounds. In the second treatment ponds, shrimp mortality started to occur in day 28 and most died by day 54 after stocking due to white spot disease outbreak. Mass mortality took place 54 days after stocking in two out of six of the first treatment ponds.

  3. PIR Marine Turtle Ocean Captures & Observations

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Effective management of marine turtle data is essential to maximize their research value and enable timely population assessments and recovery monitoring. To provide...

  4. RDF 1.1 Turtle : terse RDF triple language

    OpenAIRE

    World Wide Web Consortium

    2014-01-01

    RDF es un lenguaje de objetivo general para la representación de la información en la Web. Este documento define una sintaxis textual para RDF llamada Turtle que permite a un grafo RDF ser completamente escrito en un formulario de texto compacto y natural, con las abreviaturas para los patrones y tipos de datos de uso común. Turtle ofrece niveles de compatibilidad con el formato N-Triples, así como la sintaxis de patrón triple de la Recomendación SPARQL del W3C.

  5. Sea Turtles and Strategies for Language Skills.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tippins, Deborah; And Others

    1993-01-01

    Describes teaching strategies, including science activities, for challenging students' misconceptions about turtles and helping limited-English-proficiency students enhance their language proficiency. (PR)

  6. LEGACY - Photographs resulting from experiment remote camera viewing of sea turtles and habitats

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Photos collected in marine turtle research programs are diverse, ranging from isolated observations of incidental encounters with turtles to voluminous, complex...

  7. Videography reveals in-water behavior of loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta at a foraging ground

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Samir Harshad Patel

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Assessing sea turtle behavior at the foraging grounds has been primarily limited to the interpretation of remotely-sensed data. As a result, there is a general lack of detailed understanding regarding the habitat use of sea turtles during a phase that accounts for a majority of their lives. Thus, this study aimed to fill these data gaps by providing detailed information about the feeding habits, prey availability, buoyancy control and water column usage by 73 loggerhead turtles across 45.7 hours of video footage obtained from a remotely operated vehicle (ROV from 2008 – 2014. We developed an ethogram to account for 27 potential environmental and behavioral parameters. Turtles were filmed through the entire water column and we quantified the frequency of behaviors such as flipper beats, breaths, defecations, feedings and reactions to the ROV. We used the ROV’s depth sensor and visible cues (i.e. water surface or benthic zone in view to distinguish depth zones and assess the turtles’ use of the water column. We also quantified interactions with sympatric biota, including potential gelatinous and non-gelatinous prey species, fish (including sharks, marine mammals and other sea turtles. We discovered that turtles tended to remain within the near surface and surface zones of the water column through the majority of the footage. During benthic dives, turtles consistently exhibited negative buoyancy and some turtles exhibited a dichotomous foraging behavior, first foraging within the water column, then diving to the benthic environment. Videography allowed us to combine behavioral observations and habitat features that cannot be captured by traditional telemetry methods, resulting in a broader understanding of loggerheads’ ecological role in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic.

  8. The Comparative Kinetics of Ca, Sr, and Ra within the Yellow-Bellied Turtle. Trachemys scripta, as influenced by Dietary Calcium, Season, Age and Sex of the Animal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hinton, T.G.; Pinder, J.E.; Hinton, T.G.; Whicker, F.W.

    1988-01-01

    Most of the data on assimilation and retention of radionuclides by animals is from homeothermic mammals. The assimilation and retention of radionuclides have only recently been investigated in reptiles. In both groups, interesting conjectures can be made concerning the kinetics of radionuclides in relation to temperature and to the abundance of the radioisotope chemical analogue. Temperature plays an important role in the metabolism and behavior of ectotherms and can thus affect radionuclide kinetics. The abundance of chemical analogues has been shown to decrease the assimilation and retention of radionuclides in homeotherms but such relationships have not been well documented in vertebrate ectotherms. The kinetics of Ca, Sr, and Ra in the freshwater turtle, Trachemys scripta is studied. It is ectothermic and 40% of its wet mass is comprised of a calcareous shell. What role does the shell play in calcium homeostasis, and how do the kinetics of analogous radioisotopes behave in such a calcium-rich system. T. scripta have a long life span of 20-30 years. They demonstrate reserved sexual dimorphism with females being larger, and they grow continuously, which results in large ranges in adult body size. Much of the winter is spent in hibernation. The spring is an active period related to mating, yet one in which little food is consumed. How do such oscillating changes in metabolic rate, as well as differences in body size, affect radionuclide elimination. To address such questions, radionuclide assimilation and retention as influenced by the amount of stable calcium in the turtle diet, season of the year and age and sex of the animal, are examined. The results demonstrate the complex nature of radionuclide kinetics within ectotherms and give insights into the basic biology of turtles

  9. TURTLE with MAD input (Trace Unlimited Rays Through Lumped Elements) -- A computer program for simulating charged particle beam transport systems and DECAY TURTLE including decay calculations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carey, D.C.

    1999-12-09

    TURTLE is a computer program useful for determining many characteristics of a particle beam once an initial design has been achieved, Charged particle beams are usually designed by adjusting various beam line parameters to obtain desired values of certain elements of a transfer or beam matrix. Such beam line parameters may describe certain magnetic fields and their gradients, lengths and shapes of magnets, spacings between magnetic elements, or the initial beam accepted into the system. For such purposes one typically employs a matrix multiplication and fitting program such as TRANSPORT. TURTLE is designed to be used after TRANSPORT. For convenience of the user, the input formats of the two programs have been made compatible. The use of TURTLE should be restricted to beams with small phase space. The lumped element approximation, described below, precludes the inclusion of the effect of conventional local geometric aberrations (due to large phase space) or fourth and higher order. A reading of the discussion below will indicate clearly the exact uses and limitations of the approach taken in TURTLE.

  10. TURTLE with MAD input (Trace Unlimited Rays Through Lumped Elements) -- A computer program for simulating charged particle beam transport systems and DECAY TURTLE including decay calculations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carey, D.C.

    1999-01-01

    TURTLE is a computer program useful for determining many characteristics of a particle beam once an initial design has been achieved, Charged particle beams are usually designed by adjusting various beam line parameters to obtain desired values of certain elements of a transfer or beam matrix. Such beam line parameters may describe certain magnetic fields and their gradients, lengths and shapes of magnets, spacings between magnetic elements, or the initial beam accepted into the system. For such purposes one typically employs a matrix multiplication and fitting program such as TRANSPORT. TURTLE is designed to be used after TRANSPORT. For convenience of the user, the input formats of the two programs have been made compatible. The use of TURTLE should be restricted to beams with small phase space. The lumped element approximation, described below, precludes the inclusion of the effect of conventional local geometric aberrations (due to large phase space) or fourth and higher order. A reading of the discussion below will indicate clearly the exact uses and limitations of the approach taken in TURTLE

  11. Development of a Summarized Health Index (SHI for use in predicting survival in sea turtles.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tsung-Hsien Li

    Full Text Available Veterinary care plays an influential role in sea turtle rehabilitation, especially in endangered species. Physiological characteristics, hematological and plasma biochemistry profiles, are useful references for clinical management in animals, especially when animals are during the convalescence period. In this study, these factors associated with sea turtle surviving were analyzed. The blood samples were collected when sea turtles remained alive, and then animals were followed up for surviving status. The results indicated that significantly negative correlation was found between buoyancy disorders (BD and sea turtle surviving (p < 0.05. Furthermore, non-surviving sea turtles had significantly higher levels of aspartate aminotranspherase (AST, creatinine kinase (CK, creatinine and uric acid (UA than surviving sea turtles (all p < 0.05. After further analysis by multiple logistic regression model, only factors of BD, creatinine and UA were included in the equation for calculating summarized health index (SHI for each individual. Through evaluation by receiver operating characteristic (ROC curve, the result indicated that the area under curve was 0.920 ± 0.037, and a cut-off SHI value of 2.5244 showed 80.0% sensitivity and 86.7% specificity in predicting survival. Therefore, the developed SHI could be a useful index to evaluate health status of sea turtles and to improve veterinary care at rehabilitation facilities.

  12. High levels of maternally transferred mercury disrupt magnetic responses of snapping turtle hatchlings (Chelydra serpentina).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Landler, Lukas; Painter, Michael S; Coe, Brittney Hopkins; Youmans, Paul W; Hopkins, William A; Phillips, John B

    2017-09-01

    The Earth's magnetic field is involved in spatial behaviours ranging from long-distance migration to non-goal directed behaviours, such as spontaneous magnetic alignment (SMA). Mercury is a harmful pollutant most often generated from anthropogenic sources that can bio-accumulate in animal tissue over a lifetime. We compared SMA of hatchling snapping turtles from mothers captured at reference (i.e., low mercury) and mercury contaminated sites. Reference turtles showed radio frequency-dependent SMA along the north-south axis, consistent with previous studies of SMA, while turtles with high levels of maternally inherited mercury failed to show consistent magnetic alignment. In contrast, there was no difference between reference and mercury exposed turtles on standard performance measures. The magnetic field plays an important role in animal orientation behaviour and may also help to integrate spatial information from a variety of sensory modalities. As a consequence, mercury may compromise the performance of turtles in a wide variety of spatial tasks. Future research is needed to determine the threshold for mercury effects on snapping turtles, whether mercury exposure compromises spatial behaviour of adult turtles, and whether mercury has a direct effect on the magnetoreception mechanism(s) that mediate SMA or a more general effect on the nervous system. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Transition in the fractal geometry of Arctic melt ponds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. Hohenegger

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available During the Arctic melt season, the sea ice surface undergoes a remarkable transformation from vast expanses of snow covered ice to complex mosaics of ice and melt ponds. Sea ice albedo, a key parameter in climate modeling, is determined by the complex evolution of melt pond configurations. In fact, ice–albedo feedback has played a major role in the recent declines of the summer Arctic sea ice pack. However, understanding melt pond evolution remains a significant challenge to improving climate projections. By analyzing area–perimeter data from hundreds of thousands of melt ponds, we find here an unexpected separation of scales, where pond fractal dimension D transitions from 1 to 2 around a critical length scale of 100 m2 in area. Pond complexity increases rapidly through the transition as smaller ponds coalesce to form large connected regions, and reaches a maximum for ponds larger than 1000 m2, whose boundaries resemble space-filling curves, with D ≈ 2. These universal features of Arctic melt pond evolution are similar to phase transitions in statistical physics. The results impact sea ice albedo, the transmitted radiation fields under melting sea ice, the heat balance of sea ice and the upper ocean, and biological productivity such as under ice phytoplankton blooms.

  14. Description of work for 216-U-Pond cone penetrometer demonstration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kelty, G.G.

    1993-01-01

    This description of work details the Proposed field activities associated with Cone Penetrometer (CPT) work at the 216-U-10 Pond (U-10 Pond) in the 200 West Area and will serve as a field guide for those performing the work. The U-10 Pond was constructed in 1944 to receive low-level liquid effluent from the various chemical reprocessing facilities within the 200 West Area. The U-10 Pond covered 30 acres and received approximately 4.3 x 10 10 gal of contaminated liquid. Sampling conducted in 1980 indicated that the most significant radionuclides were 90 Sr, 137 Cs, plutonium, and uranium (DOE-RL 1993). The pond was deactivated and stabilized in 1985 with clean fill dirt. The thickness of the stabilization cover is variable across the former pond and ranges between 2 ft near the pond margins and delta area to 8 feet in the deepest section of the pond. The purpose of this work is to establish the extent of contamination beneath the U-10 pond

  15. Effects of ultraviolet radiation on 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 synthesis in red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Acierno, Mark J; Mitchell, Mark A; Roundtree, Marlana K; Zachariah, Trevor T

    2006-12-01

    To determine whether there are increased concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitaminn D(3) in red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans) after exposure to UV radiation. 12 yearling turtles recently removed from aestivation. Turtles were randomly allocated to 2 groups (6 turtles/group). An initial blood sample was collected from all turtles for measurement of 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3) concentrations. Turtles of 1 group were then provided no supplemental lighting, whereas turtles of the other group were exposed to full-spectrum coil bulbs at a distance of 22.86 cm. The UV-A and UV-B radiation generated by the supplemental lighting was measured by use of a radiometer-photometer at weekly intervals. Measurements were collected 2.54 and 22.86 cm from the bulb surface. The study was continued for a 4-week period. At the end of the study, a second blood sample was collected from all turtles for measurement of 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3). Mean +/- SD 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3) concentrations differed significantly between turtles provided supplemental UV radiation (71.7 +/- 46.9 nmol/L) and those not provided UV radiation (31.4 +/- 13.2 nmol/L). Appropriate husbandry recommendations for raising and maintaining red-eared slider turtles should include use of sunlight that is unobstructed by UV-B filtering material or provision of an artificial source of UV-B radiation.

  16. The effects of large beach debris on nesting sea turtles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fujisaki, Ikuko; Lamont, Margaret M.

    2016-01-01

    A field experiment was conducted to understand the effects of large beach debris on sea turtle nesting behavior as well as the effectiveness of large debris removal for habitat restoration. Large natural and anthropogenic debris were removed from one of three sections of a sea turtle nesting beach and distributions of nests and false crawls (non-nesting crawls) in pre- (2011–2012) and post- (2013–2014) removal years in the three sections were compared. The number of nests increased 200% and the number of false crawls increased 55% in the experimental section, whereas a corresponding increase in number of nests and false crawls was not observed in the other two sections where debris removal was not conducted. The proportion of nest and false crawl abundance in all three beach sections was significantly different between pre- and post-removal years. The nesting success, the percent of successful nests in total nesting attempts (number of nests + false crawls), also increased from 24% to 38%; however the magnitude of the increase was comparably small because both the number of nests and false crawls increased, and thus the proportion of the nesting success in the experimental beach in pre- and post-removal years was not significantly different. The substantial increase in sea turtle nesting activities after the removal of large debris indicates that large debris may have an adverse impact on sea turtle nesting behavior. Removal of large debris could be an effective restoration strategy to improve sea turtle nesting.

  17. To Swim or Not to Swim: Potential Transmission of Balaenophilus manatorum (Copepoda: Harpacticoida) in Marine Turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Domènech, Francesc; Tomás, Jesús; Crespo-Picazo, José Luis; García-Párraga, Daniel; Raga, Juan Antonio; Aznar, Francisco Javier

    2017-01-01

    Species of Balaenophilus are the only harpacticoid copepods that exhibit a widespread, obligate association with vertebrates, i.e., B. unisetus with whales and B. manatorum with marine turtles and manatees. In the western Mediterranean, juveniles of the loggerhead sea turtle, Caretta caretta are the only available hosts for B. manatorum, which has been found occurring at high prevalence (>80%) on them. A key question is how these epibionts are transmitted from host to host. We investigated this issue based on experiments with live specimens of B. manatorum that were cultured with turtle skin. Specimens were obtained from head-started hatchlings of C. caretta from the western Mediterranean. Hatched nauplii crawled only on rough substrates and lacked the ability to swim. Only copepodites IV and V, and adults, were able to perform directional swimming. Legs 2, 3 and 4 played a major role in swimming and were only well-developed in these stages. Nauplii reared in wells with turtle skin readily fed on this item. Late copepodites and adults also fed on turtle skin but did not consume other potential food items such as fish skin, baleen plates or planktonic algae. Evidences suggest that the transmission of B. manatorum should rely on hosts' bodily contacts and/or swimming of late developmental stages between spatially close hosts. The possibility of long-ranged dispersal is unlikely for two reasons. First, all developmental stages seem to depend on turtle skin as a food resource. Second, the average clutch size of ovigerous females was small (turtles that occur at very low densities (turtles·km-2) in the western Mediterranean. The high prevalence of B. manatorum in loggerhead turtles in this area raises the question whether these turtles have contacts, or tend to closely aggregate, more than is currently believed.

  18. To Swim or Not to Swim: Potential Transmission of Balaenophilus manatorum (Copepoda: Harpacticoida in Marine Turtles.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesc Domènech

    Full Text Available Species of Balaenophilus are the only harpacticoid copepods that exhibit a widespread, obligate association with vertebrates, i.e., B. unisetus with whales and B. manatorum with marine turtles and manatees. In the western Mediterranean, juveniles of the loggerhead sea turtle, Caretta caretta are the only available hosts for B. manatorum, which has been found occurring at high prevalence (>80% on them. A key question is how these epibionts are transmitted from host to host. We investigated this issue based on experiments with live specimens of B. manatorum that were cultured with turtle skin. Specimens were obtained from head-started hatchlings of C. caretta from the western Mediterranean. Hatched nauplii crawled only on rough substrates and lacked the ability to swim. Only copepodites IV and V, and adults, were able to perform directional swimming. Legs 2, 3 and 4 played a major role in swimming and were only well-developed in these stages. Nauplii reared in wells with turtle skin readily fed on this item. Late copepodites and adults also fed on turtle skin but did not consume other potential food items such as fish skin, baleen plates or planktonic algae. Evidences suggest that the transmission of B. manatorum should rely on hosts' bodily contacts and/or swimming of late developmental stages between spatially close hosts. The possibility of long-ranged dispersal is unlikely for two reasons. First, all developmental stages seem to depend on turtle skin as a food resource. Second, the average clutch size of ovigerous females was small (< 70 eggs for free-living phases to successfully contact turtles that occur at very low densities (< 0.6 turtles·km-2 in the western Mediterranean. The high prevalence of B. manatorum in loggerhead turtles in this area raises the question whether these turtles have contacts, or tend to closely aggregate, more than is currently believed.

  19. Integrative demographic modeling reveals population level impacts of PCB toxicity to juvenile snapping turtles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salice, Christopher J.; Rowe, Christopher L.; Eisenreich, Karen M.

    2014-01-01

    A significant challenge in ecotoxicology and risk assessment lies in placing observed contaminant effects in a meaningful ecological context. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been shown to affect juvenile snapping turtle survival and growth but the ecological significance of these effects is difficult to discern without a formal, population-level assessment. We used a demographic matrix model to explore the potential population-level effects of PCBs on turtles. Our model showed that effects of PCBs on juvenile survival, growth and size at hatching could translate to negative effects at the population level despite the fact that these life cycle components do not typically contribute strongly to population level processes. This research points to the utility of using integrative demographic modeling approaches to better understand contaminant effects in wildlife. The results indicate that population-level effects are only evident after several years, suggesting that for long-lived species, detecting adverse contaminant effects could prove challenging. -- Highlights: • Previous studies have shown the PCBs can impact juvenile snapping turtles. • We used a demographic model of turtles to evaluate population-level PCB effects. • PCB effects on turtles may translate to negative population responses. • Long-term monitoring is needed to detect contaminant effects on natural turtle populations. • Demographic models can improve our understanding contaminant ecotoxicity. -- A demographic model was used to show that PCB induced effects on young snapping turtles can result in adverse effects at the population level

  20. The laboratory environmental algae pond simulator (LEAPS) photobioreactor: Validation using outdoor pond cultures of Chlorella sorokiniana and Nannochloropsis salina

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Huesemann, M.; Williams, P.; Edmundson, S.; Chen, P.; Kruk, R.; Cullinan, V.; Crowe, B.; Lundquist, T.

    2017-09-01

    A bench-scale photobioreactor system, termed Laboratory Environmental Algae Pond Simulator (LEAPS), was designed and constructed to simulate outdoor pond cultivation for a wide range of geographical locations and seasons. The LEAPS consists of six well-mixed glass column photobioreactors sparged with CO2-enriched air to maintain a set-point pH, illuminated from above by a programmable multicolor LED lighting (0 to 2,500 µmol/m2-sec), and submerged in a temperature controlled water-bath (-2 °C to >60 °C). Measured incident light intensities and water temperatures deviated from the respective light and temperature set-points on average only 2.3% and 0.9%, demonstrating accurate simulation of light and temperature conditions measured in outdoor ponds. In order to determine whether microalgae strains cultured in the LEAPS exhibit the same linear phase biomass productivity as in outdoor ponds, Chlorella sorokiniana and Nannochloropsis salina were cultured in the LEAPS bioreactors using light and temperature scripts measured previously in the respective outdoor pond studies. For Chlorella sorokiniana, the summer season biomass productivity in the LEAPS was 6.6% and 11.3% lower than in the respective outdoor ponds in Rimrock, Arizona, and Delhi, California; however, these differences were not statistically significant. For Nannochloropsis salina, the winter season biomass productivity in the LEAPS was statistically significantly higher (15.2%) during the 27 day experimental period than in the respective outdoor ponds in Tucson, Arizona. However, when considering only the first 14 days, the LEAPS biomass productivity was only 9.2% higher than in the outdoor ponds, a difference shown to be not statistically significant. Potential reasons for the positive or negative divergence in LEAPS performance, relative to outdoor ponds, are discussed. To demonstrate the utility of the LEAPS in predicting productivity, two other strains – Scenedesmus obliquus and Stichococcus minor

  1. Multi-modal homing in sea turtles: modeling dual use of geomagnetic and chemical cues in island-finding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Courtney S Endres

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Sea turtles are capable of navigating across large expanses of ocean to arrive at remote islands for nesting, but how they do so has remained enigmatic. An interesting example involves green turtles (Chelonia mydas that nest on Ascension Island, a tiny land mass located approximately 2000 km from the turtles' foraging grounds along the coast of Brazil. Sensory cues that turtles are known to detect, and which might hypothetically be used to help locate Ascension Island, include the geomagnetic field, airborne odorants, and waterborne odorants. One possibility is that turtles use magnetic cues to arrive in the vicinity of the island, then use chemical cues to pinpoint its location. As a first step toward investigating this hypothesis, we used oceanic, atmospheric, and geomagnetic models to assess whether magnetic and chemical cues might plausibly be used by turtles to locate Ascension Island. Results suggest that waterborne and airborne odorants alone are insufficient to guide turtles from Brazil to Ascension, but might permit localization of the island once turtles arrive in its vicinity. By contrast, magnetic cues might lead turtles into the vicinity of the island, but would not typically permit its localization because the field shifts gradually over time. Simulations reveal, however, that the sequential use of magnetic and chemical cues can potentially provide a robust navigational strategy for locating Ascension Island. Specifically, one strategy that appears viable is following a magnetic isoline into the vicinity of Ascension Island until an odor plume emanating from the island is encountered, after which turtles might either: (1 initiate a search strategy; or (2 follow the plume to its island source. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that sea turtles, and perhaps other marine animals, use a multi-modal navigational strategy for locating remote islands.

  2. Multi-Modal Homing in Sea Turtles: Modeling Dual Use of Geomagnetic and Chemical Cues in Island-Finding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Endres, Courtney S; Putman, Nathan F; Ernst, David A; Kurth, Jessica A; Lohmann, Catherine M F; Lohmann, Kenneth J

    2016-01-01

    Sea turtles are capable of navigating across large expanses of ocean to arrive at remote islands for nesting, but how they do so has remained enigmatic. An interesting example involves green turtles (Chelonia mydas) that nest on Ascension Island, a tiny land mass located approximately 2000 km from the turtles' foraging grounds along the coast of Brazil. Sensory cues that turtles are known to detect, and which might hypothetically be used to help locate Ascension Island, include the geomagnetic field, airborne odorants, and waterborne odorants. One possibility is that turtles use magnetic cues to arrive in the vicinity of the island, then use chemical cues to pinpoint its location. As a first step toward investigating this hypothesis, we used oceanic, atmospheric, and geomagnetic models to assess whether magnetic and chemical cues might plausibly be used by turtles to locate Ascension Island. Results suggest that waterborne and airborne odorants alone are insufficient to guide turtles from Brazil to Ascension, but might permit localization of the island once turtles arrive in its vicinity. By contrast, magnetic cues might lead turtles into the vicinity of the island, but would not typically permit its localization because the field shifts gradually over time. Simulations reveal, however, that the sequential use of magnetic and chemical cues can potentially provide a robust navigational strategy for locating Ascension Island. Specifically, one strategy that appears viable is following a magnetic isoline into the vicinity of Ascension Island until an odor plume emanating from the island is encountered, after which turtles might either: (1) initiate a search strategy; or (2) follow the plume to its island source. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that sea turtles, and perhaps other marine animals, use a multi-modal navigational strategy for locating remote islands.

  3. Bioaccumulation of heavy metals in two wet retention ponds

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Søberg, Laila C.; Vollertsen, Jes; Blecken, Godecke-Tobias

    2016-01-01

    Metal accumulation in stormwater ponds may contaminate the inhabiting fauna, thus jeopardizing their ecosystem servicing function. We evaluated bioaccumulation of metals in natural fauna and caged mussel indicator organisms in two wet retention ponds. Mussel cages were distributed throughout...... the ponds to detect bioaccumulation gradients and obtain a time-integrated measure of metal bioavailability. We further investigated if sediment metal concentrations correlate with those in the fauna and mussels. Metal concentrations in the fauna tended to be higher in the ponds than in a reference lake......, but statistical significance was only shown for Cu. Positive correlations were found for some metals in fauna and sediment. Sediment metal concentrations in one pond decreased from inlet to outlet while no gradients were observed in the mussels in either pond. These findings indicate that metal accumulation...

  4. Recent hybrid origin of three rare chinese turtles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stuart, Bryan L.; Parham, James F.

    2006-02-07

    Three rare geoemydid turtles described from Chinese tradespecimens in the early 1990s, Ocadia glyphistoma, O. philippeni, andSacalia pseudocellata, are suspected to be hybrids because they are knownonly from their original descriptions and because they have morphologiesintermediate between other, better-known species. We cloned the allelesof a bi-parentally inherited nuclear intron from samples of these threespecies. The two aligned parental alleles of O. glyphistoma, O.philippeni, and S. pseudocellata have 5-11.5 times more heterozygouspositions than do 13 other geoemydid species. Phylogenetic analysis showsthat the two alleles from each turtle are strongly paraphyletic, butcorrectly match sequences of other species that were hypothesized frommorphology to be their parental species. We conclude that these rareturtles represent recent hybrids rather than valid species. Specifically,"O. glyphistoma" is a hybrid of Mauremys sinensis and M. cf. annamensis,"O. philippeni" is a hybrid of M. sinensis and Cuora trifasciata, and "S.pseudocellata" is a hybrid of C. trifasciata and S. quadriocellata.Conservation resources are better directed toward finding and protectingpopulations of other rare Southeast Asian turtles that do representdistinct evolutionary lineages.

  5. A Multi-Temporal Remote Sensing Approach to Freshwater Turtle Conservation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mui, Amy B.

    Freshwater turtles are a globally declining taxa, and estimates of population status are not available for many species. Primary causes of decline stem from widespread habitat loss and degradation, and obtaining spatially-explicit information on remaining habitat across a relevant spatial scale has proven challenging. The discipline of remote sensing science has been employed widely in studies of biodiversity conservation, but it has not been utilized as frequently for cryptic, and less vagile species such as turtles, despite their vulnerable status. The work presented in this thesis investigates how multi-temporal remote sensing imagery can contribute key information for building spatially-explicit and temporally dynamic models of habitat and connectivity for the threatened, Blanding's turtle (Emydoidea blandingii) in southern Ontario, Canada. I began with outlining a methodological approach for delineating freshwater wetlands from high spatial resolution remote sensing imagery, using a geographic object-based image analysis (GEOBIA) approach. This method was applied to three different landscapes in southern Ontario, and across two biologically relevant seasons during the active (non-hibernating) period of Blanding's turtles. Next, relevant environmental variables associated with turtle presence were extracted from remote sensing imagery, and a boosted regression tree model was developed to predict the probability of occurrence of this species. Finally, I analysed the movement potential for Blanding's turtles in a disturbed landscape using a combination of approaches. Results indicate that (1) a parsimonious GEOBIA approach to land cover mapping, incorporating texture, spectral indices, and topographic information can map heterogeneous land cover with high accuracy, (2) remote-sensing derived environmental variables can be used to build habitat models with strong predictive power, and (3) connectivity potential is best estimated using a variety of approaches

  6. The fossil record of turtles in Colombia; a review of the discoveries, research and future challenges

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cadena, Edwin A

    2014-01-01

    This is a review article on the fossil record of turtles in colombia that includes: the early cretaceous turtles from Zapatoca and Villa de Leyva localities; the giant turtles from the Paleocene Cerrejon and Calenturitas Coal Mines; the early Miocene, earliest record of Chelus from Pubenza, Cundinamarca; the early to late Miocene large podocnemids, chelids and testudinids from Castilletes, Alta Guajira and La Venta; and the small late Pleistocene kinosternids from Pubenza, Cundinamarca. I also discuss here the current gaps in the fossil record of tropical South American turtles, as well as the ongoing research and future projects to be developed in order to understand better the evolutionary history of Colombian turtles.

  7. Solar pond design for Arabian Gulf conditions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hassab, M.A.; Tag, I.A.; Jassim, I.A.; Al-Juburi, F.Y.

    1987-01-01

    Collection and storage of solar energy in salt gradient solar ponds under conditions of high ambient and ground temperatures and all year-round sunny weather are investigated theoretically. A transient model based on measured local environmental conditions is developed to predict solar transmission, temperature distribution and salt distribution inside the pond for any day of the year. In the model the effects of heat dissipation into the ground, bottom reflection, pond dimensions, load extraction and variation of the pond's physical properties with temperature and concentration are investigated. The generated non-linear coupled system of heat and salt concentration equations for the composite media, considered to have isothermal boundary conditions, is solved numerically using the implicit finite-difference scheme.

  8. Cooling pond fog studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hicks, B.B.

    1978-01-01

    The Fog Excess Water Index (FEWI) method of fog prediction has been verified by the use of data obtained at the Dresden cooling pond during 1976 and 1977 and by a reanalysis of observations made in conjunction with a study of cooling pond simulators during 1974. For applications in which the method is applied to measurements or estimates of bulk water temperature, a critical value of about 0.7 mb appears to be most appropriate. The present analyses confirm the earlier finding that wind speed plays little part in determining the susceptibility for fog generation

  9. Comparing Acoustic Tag Attachments Designed for Mobile Tracking of Hatchling Sea Turtles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aimee L. Hoover

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available The poorly understood movements of sea turtles during the “lost years” of their early life history have been characterized as a “passive drifter” stage. Biologging technology allows us to study patterns of dispersal, but the small body size of young life stages requires particular consideration that such tagging does not significantly impede animal movements. We tested the effect of instrument attachment methods for mobile acoustic tracking of hatchling sea turtles, including a design that would be suitable for leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea. We obtained 8-week-old hatchery-reared green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas (n = 12 individuals and examined the effect of attaching Vemco V5 acoustic tags. Each animal's swim speed, swimming depth, and stroke frequency were determined under three scenarios: control, direct Velcro® attachment to the carapace, and harness attachment, to determine if there was a significant difference amongst treatments. Turtle swimming speed was significantly slower during the middle period of the trial for the harness attachment compared with the control. No significant change in swim speed was observed when the tag was attached directly with Velcro®, and no significant change in dive depth was observed for either treatment compared to the control. Stroke frequency was significantly greater compared to the control at the end of the trial for the Velcro® attachment only, although there was no corresponding increase in swimming speed. This information can be used to design effective approaches for actively tracking free-ranging hatchling sea turtles to understand dispersal and survival of these vulnerable marine species.

  10. Fine-scale foraging ecology of leatherback turtles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bryan P Wallace

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Remote tracking of migratory species and statistical modeling of behaviors have enabled identification of areas that are of high ecological value to these widely distributed taxa. However, direct observations at fine spatio-temporal scales are often needed to correctly interpret behaviors. In this study, we combined GPS-derived locations and archival dive records (1 sec sampling rate with animal-borne video footage from foraging leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea in Nova Scotia, Canada (Northwest Atlantic Ocean to generate the most highly detailed description of natural leatherback behavior presented to date. Turtles traveled shorter distances at slower rates and increased diving rates in areas of high prey abundance, which resulted in higher prey capture rates. Increased foraging effort (e.g., dive rate, dive duration, prey handling time, number of bites was not associated with increased time at the surface breathing to replenish oxygen stores. Instead, leatherbacks generally performed short, shallow dives in the photic zone to or above the thermocline, where they disproportionately captured prey at bottoms of dives and during ascents. This foraging strategy supports visual prey detection, allows leatherbacks to exploit physically structured prey at relatively shallow depths (typically <30m, and increases time turtles spend in warmer water temperatures, thus optimizing net energy acquisition. Our results demonstrate that leatherbacks appear to be continuously foraging during daylight hours while in continental shelf waters of Nova Scotia, and that leatherback foraging behavior is driven by prey availability, not by whether or not a turtle is in a resource patch characterized by a particular size or prey density. Our study demonstrates the fundamental importance of obtaining field-based, direct observations of true behaviors at fine spatial and temporal scales to enhance our efforts to both study and manage migratory species.

  11. Long-term changes in pond permanence, size, and salinity in Prairie Pothole Region wetlands: The role of groundwater-pond interaction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    James W. LaBaugh

    2018-06-01

    New hydrological insights for the study region: Compared to all other measured budget components, groundwater flow into the pond often contributed the least water (8–28 percent but the largest amount (>90 percent of specific solutes to the water and solute budgets of the pond. In drier years flow from the pond into groundwater represented > 10 percent of water loss, and in 1992 was approximately equal to evapotranspiration loss. Also during the drier years, export of calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride, and sulfate by flow from the pond to groundwater was substantial compared with previous or subsequent years, a process that would have been undetected if groundwater flux had been calculated as a net value. Independent quantification of water and solute gains and losses were essential to understand controls on water-level and salinity fluctuations in the pond in response to variable climate conditions.

  12. Genetic studies of freshwater turtle and tortoises: a review of the past 70 years

    Science.gov (United States)

    FitzSimmons, Nancy N.; Hart, Kristen M.

    2007-01-01

    Powerful molecular techniques have been developed over many decades for resolving genetic relationships, population genetic structure, patterns of gene flow, mating systems, and the amount of genetic diversity in animals. Genetic studies of turtles were among the earliest and the rapid application of new genetic tools and analytical techniques is still apparent in the literature on turtles. At present, of the 198 freshwater turtles and tortoises that are listed as not extinct by the IUCN Red List, 69 species worldwide are listed as endangered or critically endangered, and an additional 56 species are listed as vulnerable. Of the ca. 300 species of the freshwater turtles and tortoises in the world, ca. 42% are considered to be facing a high risk extinction, and there is a need to focus intense conservation attention on these species. This includes a need to (i) assess our current state of knowledge regarding the application of genetics to studies of freshwater turtles and tortoises and (ii) determine future research directions. Here, we review all available published studies for the past 70 years that were written in English and used genetic markers (e.g. karyotypes, allozymes, DNA loci) to better understand the biology of freshwater turtles and tortoises. We review the types of studies conducted in relation to the species studied and quantify the countries where the studies were performed. We rack the changing use of different genetic markers through time and report on studies focused on aspects of molecular evolution within turtle genomes. We address the usefulness of particular genetic markers to answer phylogenetic questions and present data comparing population genetic structure and mating systems across species. We draw specific attention to whether authors have considered issues to turtle conservation in their research or provided new insights that have been translated into recommendations for conservation management.

  13. Models and observations of Arctic melt ponds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Golden, K. M.

    2016-12-01

    During the Arctic melt season, the sea ice surface undergoes a striking transformation from vast expanses of snow covered ice to complex mosaics of ice and melt ponds. Sea ice albedo, a key parameter in climate modeling, is largely determined by the complex evolution of melt pond configurations. In fact, ice-albedo feedback has played a significant role in the recent declines of the summer Arctic sea ice pack. However, understanding melt pond evolution remains a challenge to improving climate projections. It has been found that as the ponds grow and coalesce, the fractal dimension of their boundaries undergoes a transition from 1 to about 2, around a critical length scale of 100 square meters in area. As the ponds evolve they take complex, self-similar shapes with boundaries resembling space-filling curves. I will outline how mathematical models of composite materials and statistical physics, such as percolation and Ising models, are being used to describe this evolution and predict key geometrical parameters that agree very closely with observations.

  14. 75 FR 47825 - Emergency Exemption; Issuance of Emergency Permit to Rehabilitate Sea Turtles Affected by the...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-08-09

    ...] Emergency Exemption; Issuance of Emergency Permit to Rehabilitate Sea Turtles Affected by the Deepwater... threaten the Gulf of Mexico environment and its inhabitants, including five sea turtle species. We, the U.S...) permit, to aid sea turtles affected by the oil spill. ADDRESSES: Documents and other information...

  15. Ecotourism and sea turtle harvesting in a fishing village of Bahia, Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pegas Fernanda

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Many environmentalists believe ecotourism has the potential to generate net benefits for people and nature. For more than two decades, the Brazilian Sea Turtle Conservation Program (TAMAR has provided jobs and income through ecotourism in Praia do Forte, Brazil, in exchange for reduced harvesting of sea turtles. In this article we evaluate the relationships between ecotourism at TAMAR and local support for sea turtle conservation. Nine months of ethnographic research (2006-2008 suggest that ecotourism-related employment and income have been somewhat stable and reliable. The average income of respondents who worked with TAMAR was lower than that reported by people not working with TAMAR. Workers noted other non-economic benefits. Though the majority supported sea turtle conservation, it is unclear how feelings will waver with new mass tourism developments in the region. As the cost of living increases, residents may increasingly be inclined to look for work outside TAMAR. Development also attracts new immigrants, making it difficult for locals to control sea turtle harvesting. These trends challenge the notion that economic incentives for locals alone will ensure conservation. Further research is needed to understand the conditions under which ecotourism may foster long-term conservation in the face of larger developments surrounding community ecotourism projects.

  16. Plastic ingestion by sea turtles in Paraíba State, Northeast Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Camila Poli

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT Currently, plastics are recognized as a major pollutant of the marine environment, representing a serious threat to ocean wildlife. Here, we examined the occurrence and effects of plastic ingestion by sea turtles found stranded along the coast of Paraíba State, Brazil from August 2009 to July 2010. Ninety-eight digestive tracts were examined, with plastic found in 20 (20.4%. Sixty five percent (n = 13 of turtles with plastic in the digestive tract were green turtles (Chelonia mydas, 25% (n = 5 were hawksbills (Eretmochelys imbricata, and 10% (n = 2 were olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea. More plastic was found in the intestine (85% than in other parts of the gastrointestinal tract. We observed complete blockage of the gastrointestinal tract due to the presence of plastic in 13 of the 20 turtles that had ingested plastic. No correlation was found between the curved carapace length (CCL and the number or mass of the plastic ingested items. Significant differences were found between the intake of hard and soft plastic and the ingestion of white/transparent and colored plastic, with soft and white/transparent plastics being more commonly ingested. This study reveals the serious problem of plastic pollution to sea turtles at the area.

  17. Leatherback sea turtle age and growth

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This study involves analysis of skeletal growth marks in scleral ossicle bones of 33 leatherback sea turtles stranded dead along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico US...

  18. Geohydrology and limnology of Walden Pond, Concord, Massachusetts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colman, John A.; Friesz, Paul J.

    2001-01-01

    The trophic ecology and ground-water contributing area of Walden Pond, in Concord and Lincoln, Mass., were investigated by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management from April 1997 to July 2000. Bathymetric investigation indicated that Walden Pond (24.88 hectares), a glacial kettle-hole lake with no surface inlet or outlet, has three deep areas. The maximum depth (30.5 meters) essentially was unchanged from measurements made by Henry David Thoreau in 1846. The groundwater contributing area (621,000 square meters) to Walden Pond was determined from water-table contours in areas of stratified glacial deposits and from land-surface contours in areas of bedrock highs. Walden Pond is a flow-through lake: Walden Pond gains water from the aquifer along its eastern perimeter and loses water to the aquifer along its western perimeter. Walden Pond contributing area also includes Goose Pond and its contributing area. A water budget calculated for Walden Pond, expressed as depth of water over the lake surface, indicated that 45 percent of the inflow to the lake was from precipitation (1.215 meters per year) and 55 percent from ground water (1.47 meters per year). The groundwater inflow estimate was based on the average of two different approaches including an isotope mass-balance approach. Evaporation accounted for 26 percent of the outflow from the lake (0.71 meters per year) whereas lake-water seepage to the groundwater system contributed 74 percent of the outflow (1.97 meters per year). The water-residence time of Walden Pond is approximately 5 years. Potential point sources of nutrients to ground water, the Concord municipal landfill and a trailer park, were determined to be outside the Walden Pond groundwater contributing area. A third source, the septic leach field for the Walden Pond State Reservation facilities, was within the groundwater contributing area. Nutrient budgets for the lake indicated that

  19. QUALITATIVE COMPOSITION OF PHYTOPLANKTONS IN DIFFERENTLY MANURED CARP PONDS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ljubica Debeljak

    1997-04-01

    Full Text Available Researches on qualitative composition of phytoplanktons in differently manured fish-ponds "Jelas" were carried out in 1996. The carp fingerling from larve to its second month was nurtured in three fish-ponds (A,B,C with the plantation of larves of 1,000,000 ind.ha-1. Larves and carp fry were nurtured by trouvit and wheat flour. The fish-pond A was controlled but not manured; the fish-pond B was fertilized by the total of 200 kg.ha-1 NPK (15:15:15 and the fish-pond C was fertilized by the total of 75 l.ha-1 of UAN and 75 kg.l-1 of NP (12:52. All fish-ponds had similar water chemism. In the qualitative composition of phytoplanktons there were stated 93 kinds, members of systematic groups Cyanophyta (10%, Euglenophyta (16.2%, Pyrrophyta (2%, Chrysophyta (39.4% and Chlorophyta (32%. All fish-ponds had similar qualitative composition of phytoplanktons with the flora similarity quotient from 65.5% to 72%.

  20. Samples of Asteroid Surface Ponded Deposits in Chondritic Meteorites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zolensky, M. E.; Lee, R.; Le, L.

    2004-01-01

    One of the many unexpected observations of asteroid 433 Eros by the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission was the many ponds of fine-grained materials [1-3]. The ponds have smooth surfaces, and define equipotential surfaces up to 10's of meters in diameter [4]. The ponds have a uniformly sub-cm grain size and appear to be cohesive or indurated to some degree, as revealed by slumping. The ponds appear to be concentrated within 30 degrees of the equator of Eros, where gravity is lowest. There is some insight into the mineralogy and composition of the ponds surfaces from NEAR spectroscopy [2,4,5,6]. Compared to the bulk asteroid, ponds: (1) are distinctly bluer (high 550/760 nm ratio), (2) have a deeper 1um mafic band, (3) have reflectance elevated by 5%.

  1. WWER-type NPP spray ponds screen

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nikolova, M.; Jordanov, M.; Denev, J.; Markov, D.

    2003-01-01

    The objective of this study is to develop a protection screen of WWER-type NPP spray ponds. The screen design is to ensure reduction of the water droplets blown by the wind and, if possible, their return back to the spray ponds. The cooling capacity of the ponds is not to be changed below the design level for safety reasons. Computational fluid dynamics analysis is used to assess the influence of each design variant on the behavior of the water droplets distribution. Two variants are presented here. The one with plants is found not feasible. The second variant, with steel screen and terrain profile modification is selected for implementation. (author)

  2. The evaporation from ponds in the French Midwest

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad AL DOMANY

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available This research shows the results of a study about evaporation in five ponds in the Midwest of France. To realize this study we used climate data from the meteorological station of the Limoges-Bellegarde airport and the data of a weather station installed by us near one of the ponds. We used eight different methods to calculate the evaporation rate and we modified the Penman-Monteith method by replacing the air temperature by water temperature. To understand the role of ponds in water loss through evaporation, we proposed a hypothesis that says : if the pond did not exist, what results would we get? Based on this hypothesis we calculated the potential evapotranspiration rate taking into account the percentage of interception by vegetation. In conclusion, this study indicates that the ponds in the French Midwest present a gain of water

  3. Turtle cleaners: reef fishes foraging on epibionts of sea turtles in the tropical Southwestern Atlantic, with a summary of this association type

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristina Sazima

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available In the present study we record several instances of reef fish species foraging on epibionts of sea turtles (cleaning symbiosis at the oceanic islands of Fernando de Noronha Archipelago and near a shipwreck, both off the coast of Pernambuco State, northeast Brazil. Nine reef fish species and three turtle species involved in cleaning are herein recorded. Besides our records, a summary of the literature on this association type is presented. Postures adopted by turtles during the interaction are related to the habits of associated fishes. Feeding associations between fishes and turtles seem a localized, albeit common, phenomenon.No presente estudo registramos diversos episódios de peixes recifais alimentando-se de epibiontes sobre o corpo de tartarugas marinhas (simbiose de limpeza nas ilhas oceânicas do arquipélago de Fernando de Noronha e próximo a um naufrágio na costa de Pernambuco, nordeste do Brasil. Nove espécies de peixes recifais e três espécies de tartarugas envolvidas nas associações são aqui registradas. Além de nossos registros, apresentamos também um resumo da literatura sobre o tema. As posturas adotadas pelas tartarugas durante as interações estão relacionadas com os hábitos dos peixes associados. Associações alimentares entre peixes e tartarugas podem ser consideradas como um fenômeno local, embora comum.

  4. Molecular identification of fungal isolates and hatching success of green turtle (Chelonia mydas) nests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Candan, Esra Deniz

    2018-02-26

    The aim of this study is to investigate the fungal diversity of green turtle nests and to examine phylogenetic relationships among these isolates. During the nesting season, samples of intra-nest sand and failed eggs were collected from 25% of the surviving nests in Sugözü Beaches, which are amongst the most important nesting beaches for endangered green turtles in the Mediterranean. Twenty-three fungi were identified by molecular techniques. Fungal isolates belonged to genera Aspergillus, Emericella, Rhizopus, Actinomucor and Apophysomyces with two undescribed species. Aspergillus variecolor, Aspergillus quadrilinieatus, Aspergillus tubingensis, Rhizopus oryzae, Actinomucor elegans and Apophysomyces variabilis were firstly detected in all sea turtle nests within this study. Our results demonstrate that 36.4% of the nests had fungal contamination. Also hatching success of the nests contaminated by fungi were significantly lower than the uncontaminated nests (P = 0.029). Also, this may represent a threat to marine turtles and a risk for the health of conservation workers. This study is the first molecular phylogenetic study associated with sea turtle nests in the eastern Mediterranean coast and contributes to the wider body of literature on fungal invasion of sea turtle nests with firstly isolated species. These findings are important for improving potential conservation measures for the nest sites.

  5. Abundance of juvenile eastern box turtles in manages forest stands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Z. Felix; Y. Wang; H. Czech; C. Schweitzer

    2008-01-01

    Between 2002 and 2005, we used drift fences and artificial pools to sample juvenile eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina) in northeastern Alabama in forest stands experimentally treated to retain various amounts of overstory trees—clear-cuts and those with 25%–50% and 75%–100% of trees retained.We captured juvenile turtles only in clear-cut and 25%–50% retention...

  6. 77 FR 31062 - Programs To Reduce Incidental Capture of Sea Turtles in Shrimp Fisheries; Certifications Pursuant...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-05-24

    ... DEPARTMENT OF STATE [Public Notice 7894] Programs To Reduce Incidental Capture of Sea Turtles in... programs to reduce the incidental capture of sea turtles in their shrimp fisheries comparable to the... other countries and one economy do not pose a threat of the incidental taking of sea turtles protected...

  7. 76 FR 37050 - Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for Sea Turtle Conservation and Recovery...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-06-24

    ... requirements are proposed to protect threatened and endangered sea turtles in the western Atlantic Ocean and... Pacific coast of Mexico, which are listed as endangered. Sea turtles are incidentally taken, and some are... variety of regulatory measures to reduce the bycatch of threatened and endangered sea turtles in the...

  8. Mitochondrial haplotype distribution and phylogenetic relationship of an endangered species Reeve's turtle (Mauremys reevesii in East Asia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hong-Shik Oh

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available This study was examined to reveal haplotype distribution and phylogenetic relationship using mitochondrial DNA CYTB gene sequences of Reeve’s turtle (Mauremys reevesii of East Asia. CYTB sequences of Reeve’s turtles were divided into 6 haplotypes (Hap01–Hap06. Chinese turtles were found in Hap01, Hap02, Hap04, and Hap05, and Hap01 was the highest frequency of 85.0%. Korean Turtles were found in Hap01, Hap03, Hap04, and Hap05, and Hap03 was the highest frequency of 52.1%. Although there was no haplotype which includes only the CYTB sequence exclusive for Reeve’s turtles of Korea, since no CYTB sequence of China was found in Hap03, it would be possible that Hap03 turtles of Korea are separated from those of China. The haplotypes of Reeve’s turtles of East Asia were monophyletic, which indicated that they had been evolved from a single maternal lineage, but went through local evolution after geographical migration and isolation in East Asia.

  9. A novel, bounding gait in swimming turtles: implications for aquatic locomotor diversity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mayerl, Christopher J; Blob, Richard W

    2017-10-15

    Turtles are an iconic lineage in studies of animal locomotion, typifying the use of slow, alternating footfalls during walking. Alternating movements of contralateral limbs are also typical during swimming gaits for most freshwater turtles. Here, we report a novel gait in turtles, in which the pleurodire Emydura subglobosa swims using a bounding gait that coordinates bilateral protraction of both forelimbs with bilateral retraction of both hindlimbs. Use of this bounding gait is correlated with increased limb excursion and decreased stride frequency, but not increased velocity when compared with standard swimming strokes. Bounding by E. subglobosa provides a second example of a non-mammalian lineage that can use bounding gaits, and may give insight into the evolution of aquatic flapping. Parallels in limb muscle fascicle properties between bounding turtles and crocodylids suggest a possible musculoskeletal mechanism underlying the use of bounding gaits in particular lineages. © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  10. Behavioral Response of Reef Fish and Green Sea Turtles to Midfrequency Sonar.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watwood, Stephanie L; Iafrate, Joseph D; Reyier, Eric A; Redfoot, William E

    2016-01-01

    There is growing concern over the potential effects of high-intensity sonar on wild fish populations and commercial fisheries. Acoustic telemetry was employed to measure the movements of free-ranging reef fish and sea turtles in Port Canaveral, FL, in response to routine submarine sonar testing. Twenty-five sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus), 28 gray snapper (Lutjanus griseus), and 29 green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) were tagged, with movements monitored for a period of up to 4 months using an array of passive acoustic receivers. Baseline residency was examined for fish and sea turtles before, during, and after the test event. No mortality of tagged fish or sea turtles was evident from the sonar test event. There was a significant increase in the daily residency index for both sheepshead and gray snapper at the testing wharf subsequent to the event. No broad-scale movement from the study site was observed during or immediately after the test.

  11. An Analysis of Sea Turtle Demographics along Maryland Shores, 1990-2015

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rhoades, C.; Driscoll, C.; Weschler, A.; Crawford, M.

    2016-02-01

    The Maryland Department of Natural Resources Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Stranding Program was established in the fall of 1990, and responded to their first documented sea turtle stranding in the summer of 1991. Over this twenty-five year period, 575 dead strandings of sea turtles have been documented. This research project analyzes all sea turtle case files from the initiation of this program for the following parameters in order to associate stranding trends; species, location (Atlantic Ocean v. Chesapeake Bay), seasonality, length, relative age, condition code, and sex. Further understanding these protected species will assist in conserving their coastal ecosystem and securing these species a sustainable future. Along with the parameters previously discussed, this study will also consider the factors contributing to the animal's death, if determined. These potential causes incorporate natural causes such as disease, and also detail instances of human interaction, including: dredge takes, commercial or recreational fishing interaction, power plant entrainment, propeller and boat strikes. A total of approximately 17% of the dead stranded sea turtles Maryland Department of Natural Resources responded to were found to have some proven aspect of human interaction. Lastly, in order to further investigate for human interaction stomach contents were analyzed for plastics or other forms of marine debris. This project will contribute to MD DNR and NOAA's mission, goals, and objectives by further understanding these protected species in order to conserve their coastal ecosystem and secure these species a sustainable future.

  12. Post-breeding migration routes of marine turtles from Bonaire and Klein Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands

    OpenAIRE

    Becking, L.E.; Christianen, M.J.A.; Nava, M.I.; Miller, N.; Willis, S.; Dam, Van, R.P.

    2016-01-01

    The management of small rookeries is key to conserving the regional genetic diversity of marine turtle populations and requires knowledge on population connectivity between breeding and foraging areas. To elucidate the geographic scope of the populations of marine turtles breeding at Bonaire and Klein Bonaire (Caribbean Netherlands) we examined the post-breeding migratory behavior of 5 female loggerheads Caretta caretta, 4 female green turtles Chelonia mydas, and 2 male and 13 female hawksbil...

  13. The critical role of islands for waterbird breeding and foraging habitat in managed ponds of the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, South San Francisco Bay, California

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ackerman, Joshua T.; Hartman, C. Alex; Herzog, Mark P.; Smith, Lacy M.; Moskal, Stacy M.; De La Cruz, Susan E. W.; Yee, Julie L.; Takekawa, John Y.

    2014-01-01

    The South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project aims to restore 50–90 percent of former salt evaporation ponds into tidal marsh in South San Francisco Bay, California. However, large numbers of waterbirds use these ponds annually as nesting and foraging habitat. Islands within ponds are particularly important habitat for nesting, foraging, and roosting waterbirds. To maintain current waterbird populations, the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project plans to create new islands within former salt ponds in South San Francisco Bay. In a series of studies, we investigated pond and individual island attributes that are most beneficial to nesting, foraging, and roosting waterbirds.

  14. Heavy metals, PAHs and toxicity in stormwater wet detention ponds

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wium-Andersen, Tove; Nielsen, Asbjørn Haaning; Hvitved-Jacobsen, Thorkild

    2011-01-01

    Concentrations of 6 different heavy metals and total Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) were determined in stormwater runoff and in the pond water of two Danish wet detention ponds. The pond water samples were analyzed for toxic effects, using the algae Selenastrum capricornutum as a test...... organism. Stormwater and pond water from a catchment with light industry showed high levels of heavy metals, especially zinc and copper. The pond water showed high toxic effects and copper were found to be the main toxicant. Additionally, a large part of the copper was suspected to be complex bound......, reducing the potential toxicity of the metal. Another catchment (residential) produced stormwater and pond water with moderate concentration of heavy metals. The pond water occasionally showed toxic effects but no correlation between heavy metals and toxicity was identified. PAHs concentrations were...

  15. Simple Rules Govern the Patterns of Arctic Sea Ice Melt Ponds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Popović, Predrag; Cael, B. B.; Silber, Mary; Abbot, Dorian S.

    2018-04-01

    Climate change, amplified in the far north, has led to rapid sea ice decline in recent years. In the summer, melt ponds form on the surface of Arctic sea ice, significantly lowering the ice reflectivity (albedo) and thereby accelerating ice melt. Pond geometry controls the details of this crucial feedback; however, a reliable model of pond geometry does not currently exist. Here we show that a simple model of voids surrounding randomly sized and placed overlapping circles reproduces the essential features of pond patterns. The only two model parameters, characteristic circle radius and coverage fraction, are chosen by comparing, between the model and the aerial photographs of the ponds, two correlation functions which determine the typical pond size and their connectedness. Using these parameters, the void model robustly reproduces the ponds' area-perimeter and area-abundance relationships over more than 6 orders of magnitude. By analyzing the correlation functions of ponds on several dates, we also find that the pond scale and the connectedness are surprisingly constant across different years and ice types. Moreover, we find that ponds resemble percolation clusters near the percolation threshold. These results demonstrate that the geometry and abundance of Arctic melt ponds can be simply described, which can be exploited in future models of Arctic melt ponds that would improve predictions of the response of sea ice to Arctic warming.

  16. Simple Rules Govern the Patterns of Arctic Sea Ice Melt Ponds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Popović, Predrag; Cael, B B; Silber, Mary; Abbot, Dorian S

    2018-04-06

    Climate change, amplified in the far north, has led to rapid sea ice decline in recent years. In the summer, melt ponds form on the surface of Arctic sea ice, significantly lowering the ice reflectivity (albedo) and thereby accelerating ice melt. Pond geometry controls the details of this crucial feedback; however, a reliable model of pond geometry does not currently exist. Here we show that a simple model of voids surrounding randomly sized and placed overlapping circles reproduces the essential features of pond patterns. The only two model parameters, characteristic circle radius and coverage fraction, are chosen by comparing, between the model and the aerial photographs of the ponds, two correlation functions which determine the typical pond size and their connectedness. Using these parameters, the void model robustly reproduces the ponds' area-perimeter and area-abundance relationships over more than 6 orders of magnitude. By analyzing the correlation functions of ponds on several dates, we also find that the pond scale and the connectedness are surprisingly constant across different years and ice types. Moreover, we find that ponds resemble percolation clusters near the percolation threshold. These results demonstrate that the geometry and abundance of Arctic melt ponds can be simply described, which can be exploited in future models of Arctic melt ponds that would improve predictions of the response of sea ice to Arctic warming.

  17. Radial glia in the proliferative ventricular zone of the embryonic and adult turtle, Trachemys scripta elegans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clinton, Brian K; Cunningham, Christopher L; Kriegstein, Arnold R; Noctor, Stephen C; Martínez-Cerdeño, Verónica

    2014-01-01

    To better understand the role of radial glial (RG) cells in the evolution of the mammalian cerebral cortex, we investigated the role of RG cells in the dorsal cortex and dorsal ventricular ridge of the turtle, Trachemys scripta elegans. Unlike mammals, the glial architecture of adult reptile consists mainly of ependymoradial glia, which share features with mammalian RG cells, and which may contribute to neurogenesis that continues throughout the lifespan of the turtle. To evaluate the morphology and proliferative capacity of ependymoradial glia (here referred to as RG cells) in the dorsal cortex of embryonic and adult turtle, we adapted the cortical electroporation technique, commonly used in rodents, to the turtle telencephalon. Here, we demonstrate the morphological and functional characteristics of RG cells in the developing turtle dorsal cortex. We show that cell division occurs both at the ventricle and away from the ventricle, that RG cells undergo division at the ventricle during neurogenic stages of development, and that mitotic Tbr2+ precursor cells, a hallmark of the mammalian SVZ, are present in the turtle cortex. In the adult turtle, we show that RG cells encompass a morphologically heterogeneous population, particularly in the subpallium where proliferation is most prevalent. One RG subtype is similar to RG cells in the developing mammalian cortex, while 2 other RG subtypes appear to be distinct from those seen in mammal. We propose that the different subtypes of RG cells in the adult turtle perform distinct functions.

  18. Economic Incentives, Perceptions and Compliance with Marine Turtle Egg Harvesting Regulation in Nicaragua

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Róger Madrigal-Ballestero

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available La Flor Wildlife Refuge and nearby beaches on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua are important nesting sites for various species of endangered marine turtles. However, illegal harvesting of turtle eggs threatens the survival of marine turtles. In this study, we analysed the different motivations of local villagers for complying with a ban on harvesting marine turtle eggs in a context, in which government authorities do not have the means to fully enforce existing regulations. We also analysed the effectiveness and the participation of locals in an incipient performance-based nest conservation payment programme to protect turtle eggs. The analysis of survey-based data from 180 households living in Ostional, the largest village near La Flor Wildlife Refuge, indicates remarkable socio-economic differences between harvesters and non-harvesters. Our findings suggest that harvesters are associated mainly with a lack of income from other activities and the absence of productive assets, such as land for cattle and/or agriculture. In addition, the lack of legitimacy of prevailing institutions (i.e., actual regulations also seems to perpetuate illegal harvesting. The performance-based payments programme is an effective option for protecting nests on isolated beaches, however, it is not clear if it changes harvesting behaviour overall. Normative motivations to protect the turtles are important determinants of participation in this programme, although the financial reward is also an important incentive, particularly since most participants who are egg harvesters depend on this activity as their main source of income.

  19. Vanishing Ponds and Regional Water Resources in Taoyuan, Taiwan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuei-An Liou

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Taiwan has a Subtropic to Tropical climate, but its precipitation varies widely in response to seasonal effects and weather events such as Typhoon and Meiyu systems. Precipitation must be held back in reservoirs to provide and regulate sufficient water supply. Balancing the irregular precipitation and increasing water demands generates tremendous pressure on water resources management for the water stored in the Shihmen Reservoir, which is the major unitary water supply system in the Greater Taoyuan Area. Such pressure will be significantly enlarged due to the huge 17 billion USD Taoyuan Aerotropolis Project. In earlier days many small artificial ponds (a common terminology in this article, including irrigation ponds, fishery ponds and others, were built to cope with water shortages in Taoyuan County. These small storage ponds provided a solution that resolved seasonal precipitation shortages. Unfortunately, these ponds have been vanishing one after another one due to regional industrialization and urbanization in recent decades and less than 40% of them still remain today. There is great urgency and importance to investigating the link between vanishing ponds and water resources management. Remote sensing technology was used in this study to monitor the environmental consequences in the Taoyuan area by conducting multi-temporal analysis on the changes in water bodies, i.e., ponds. SPOT satellite images taken in 1993, 2003, and 2010 were utilized to analyze and assess the importance of small-scale ponds as water conservation facilities. It was found that, during the seventeen years from 1993 - 2010, the number of irrigation ponds decreased by 35.94%. These ponds can reduce the burden on the major reservoir and increase the water recycling rate if they are properly conserved. They can also improve rainfall interception and surface detention capabilities, and provide another planning advantage for regional water management.

  20. Pupil constriction evoked in vitro by stimulation of the oculomotor nerve in the turtle (Trachemys scripta elegans).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dearworth, James R; Brenner, J E; Blaum, J F; Littlefield, T E; Fink, D A; Romano, J M; Jones, M S

    2009-01-01

    The pond turtle (Trachemys scripta elegans) exhibits a notably sluggish pupillary light reflex (PLR), with pupil constriction developing over several minutes following light onset. In the present study, we examined the dynamics of the efferent branch of the reflex in vitro using preparations consisting of either the isolated head or the enucleated eye. Stimulation of the oculomotor nerve (nIII) using 100-Hz current trains resulted in a maximal pupil constriction of 17.4% compared to 27.1% observed in the intact animal in response to light. When current amplitude was systematically increased from 1 to 400 microA, mean response latency decreased from 64 to 45 ms, but this change was not statistically significant. Hill equations fitted to these responses indicated a current threshold of 3.8 microA. Stimulation using single pulses evoked a smaller constriction (3.8%) with response latencies and threshold similar to that obtained using train stimulation. The response evoked by postganglionic stimulation of the ciliary nerve using 100-Hz trains was largely indistinguishable from that of train stimulation of nIII. However, application of single-pulse stimulation postganglionically resulted in smaller pupil constriction at all current levels relative to that of nIII stimulation, suggesting that there is amplification of efferent drive at the ganglion. Time constants for constrictions ranged from 88 to 154 ms with relaxations occurring more slowly at 174-361 ms. These values for timing from in vitro are much faster than the time constant 1.66 min obtained for the light response in the intact animal. The rapid dynamics of pupil constriction observed here suggest that the slow PLR of the turtle observed in vivo is not due to limitations of the efferent pathway. Rather, the sluggish response probably results from photoreceptive mechanisms or central processing.

  1. Notes on the status and incidental capture of marine turtles by the ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    turtle by eight subsistence fishing communities in south west Madagascar. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with fishers from each community over a period of three weeks during March 2002. Turtles were captured as part of a seasonal, multi-species fishery using spear guns and shark gill nets.

  2. Notes upon some Sea Turtles

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Brongersma, L.D.

    1961-01-01

    In recent years much attention is being paid to marine turtles, and it is the merit of Deraniyagala, Carr, and others to have contributed much to our knowledge of this group. Nevertheless, our knowledge of the species and subspecies that may be recognized, and that of their distribution is as yet

  3. Heating an aquaculture pond with a solar pool blanket

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wisely, B; Holliday, J E; MacDonald, R E

    1982-01-01

    A floating solar blanket of laminated bubble plastic was used to heat a 0.11 ha seawater pond of 1.3 m depth. The covered pond maintained daily temperatures 6 to 9/sup 0/C above two controls. Local air temperatures averaged 14 to 19/sup 0/C. Oysters, prawns, seasquirts, and fish in the covered pond all survived. After three weeks, the blanket separated. This was the result of pond temperatures exceeding 30/sup 0/C, the maximum manufacturer's specification. Floating blankets fabricated to higher specifications would be useful for maintaining above-ambient temperatures in small ponds or tanks in temporary situations during cold winter months and might have a more permanent use.

  4. Spatial ecology and behavior of eastern box turtles on the hardwood ecosystem experiment: pre-treatment results

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andrea F. Currylow; Brian J. MacGowan; Rod N. Williams

    2013-01-01

    To understand better how eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina) are affected by forest management practices, we monitored movements of box turtles prior to silvicultural treatments within the Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment (HEE) in Indiana. During 2007 and 2008, we tracked 23-28 turtles on six units of the HEE. Estimated minimum convex...

  5. Serotonin‐induced bistability of turtle motoneurones caused by a nifedipine‐sensitive calcium plateau potential

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hounsgaard, J.; Kiehn, O.

    1989-01-01

    1. The effect of serotonin on the firing properties of motoneurones was studied in transverse sections of the adult turtle spinal cord in vitro with intracellular recording techniques. 2. In normal medium, turtle motoneurones adapt from an initial high frequency to a low steady firing during...... of the frequency jump was shortened as the amplitude of the activation pulse was increased. From a positive holding potential the after‐depolarization exceeded spike threshold and its duration increased with an increase in steady bias current. The effect of serotonin on turtle motoneurones could be blocked....... It is concluded that serotonin induces a Ca2+‐dependent and nifedipine‐sensitive plateau potential in turtle motoneurones primarily by reducing a K+‐current responsible for the slow after‐hyperpolarization....

  6. Phylogenomic analyses support the position of turtles as the sister group of birds and crocodiles (Archosauria)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Background The morphological peculiarities of turtles have, for a long time, impeded their accurate placement in the phylogeny of amniotes. Molecular data used to address this major evolutionary question have so far been limited to a handful of markers and/or taxa. These studies have supported conflicting topologies, positioning turtles as either the sister group to all other reptiles, to lepidosaurs (tuatara, lizards and snakes), to archosaurs (birds and crocodiles), or to crocodilians. Genome-scale data have been shown to be useful in resolving other debated phylogenies, but no such adequate dataset is yet available for amniotes. Results In this study, we used next-generation sequencing to obtain seven new transcriptomes from the blood, liver, or jaws of four turtles, a caiman, a lizard, and a lungfish. We used a phylogenomic dataset based on 248 nuclear genes (187,026 nucleotide sites) for 16 vertebrate taxa to resolve the origins of turtles. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian concatenation analyses and species tree approaches performed under the most realistic models of the nucleotide and amino acid substitution processes unambiguously support turtles as a sister group to birds and crocodiles. The use of more simplistic models of nucleotide substitution for both concatenation and species tree reconstruction methods leads to the artefactual grouping of turtles and crocodiles, most likely because of substitution saturation at third codon positions. Relaxed molecular clock methods estimate the divergence between turtles and archosaurs around 255 million years ago. The most recent common ancestor of living turtles, corresponding to the split between Pleurodira and Cryptodira, is estimated to have occurred around 157 million years ago, in the Upper Jurassic period. This is a more recent estimate than previously reported, and questions the interpretation of controversial Lower Jurassic fossils as being part of the extant turtles radiation. Conclusions These results

  7. Phylogenomic analyses support the position of turtles as the sister group of birds and crocodiles (Archosauria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chiari Ylenia

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The morphological peculiarities of turtles have, for a long time, impeded their accurate placement in the phylogeny of amniotes. Molecular data used to address this major evolutionary question have so far been limited to a handful of markers and/or taxa. These studies have supported conflicting topologies, positioning turtles as either the sister group to all other reptiles, to lepidosaurs (tuatara, lizards and snakes, to archosaurs (birds and crocodiles, or to crocodilians. Genome-scale data have been shown to be useful in resolving other debated phylogenies, but no such adequate dataset is yet available for amniotes. Results In this study, we used next-generation sequencing to obtain seven new transcriptomes from the blood, liver, or jaws of four turtles, a caiman, a lizard, and a lungfish. We used a phylogenomic dataset based on 248 nuclear genes (187,026 nucleotide sites for 16 vertebrate taxa to resolve the origins of turtles. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian concatenation analyses and species tree approaches performed under the most realistic models of the nucleotide and amino acid substitution processes unambiguously support turtles as a sister group to birds and crocodiles. The use of more simplistic models of nucleotide substitution for both concatenation and species tree reconstruction methods leads to the artefactual grouping of turtles and crocodiles, most likely because of substitution saturation at third codon positions. Relaxed molecular clock methods estimate the divergence between turtles and archosaurs around 255 million years ago. The most recent common ancestor of living turtles, corresponding to the split between Pleurodira and Cryptodira, is estimated to have occurred around 157 million years ago, in the Upper Jurassic period. This is a more recent estimate than previously reported, and questions the interpretation of controversial Lower Jurassic fossils as being part of the extant turtles radiation

  8. Identification of Chelonid herpesvirus 5 (ChHV5) in endangered green turtles (Chelonia mydas) with fibropapillomatosis in Asia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Tsung-Hsien; Hsu, Wei-Li; Lan, Yu-Ching; Balazs, George H.; Work, Thierry M.; Tseng, Cheng-Tsung; Chang, Chao-Chin

    2017-01-01

    Fibropapillomatosis (FP), a debilitating tumor disease of sea turtles, was first identified in green turtles [Chelonia mydas (Linnaeus, 1758)] in Florida in 1938. In recent decades, FP has been observed globally and is an emerging panzootic disease in sea turtles. However, few reports of FP in Asia exist. Here, we provide the first evidence of Chelonid herpesvirus 5 (ChHV5) DNA associated with FP in endangered green turtles from Taiwan, through molecular characterization, phylogenetic analysis, and histopathological examination. In our study, ChHV5 was successfully detected by PCR in the FP tumor lesions of green turtles. The sequences were found to be consistent with those of tumor-inducing viruses shown to affect sea turtles in the other parts of the world. ChHV5 RNA from the FP tissues was further detected by RT-PCR, indicating active replication of the viruses inside FP tumors. In addition to the molecular evidence of ChHV5 in FP, epidermal intranuclear inclusions were identified in tumor lesions upon histopathological examination. This further suggests that ChHV5 should be in a transcriptionally active (i.e., non-latent) state in FP tumors of affected green turtles. The phylogenetic tree revealed that ChHV5 from the green turtles in Taiwan were closest to the ChHV5 from Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Sao Tome. For conservation of endangered sea turtles, ChHV5 should be considered an emerging virus, which threatens sea turtles in marine waters in Asia.

  9. Yellow fever: epidemiology and prevention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barnett, Elizabeth D

    2007-03-15

    Yellow fever continues to occur in regions of Africa and South America, despite the availability of effective vaccines. Recently, some cases of severe neurologic disease and multiorgan system disease have been described in individuals who received yellow fever vaccine. These events have focused attention on the need to define criteria for judicious use of yellow fever vaccine and to describe the spectrum of adverse events that may be associated with yellow fever vaccine. Describing host factors that would increase risk of these events and identifying potential treatment modalities for yellow fever and yellow fever vaccine-associated adverse events are subjects of intense investigation.

  10. Review of potential impacts to sea turtles from underwater explosive removal of offshore structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Viada, Stephen T.; Hammer, Richard M.; Racca, Roberto; Hannay, David; Thompson, M. John; Balcom, Brian J.; Phillips, Neal W.

    2008-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to collect and synthesize existing information relevant to the explosive removal of offshore structures (EROS) in aquatic environments. Data sources were organized and summarized by topic - explosive removal methods, physics of underwater explosions, sea turtle resources, documented impacts to sea turtles, and mitigation of effects. Information was gathered via electronic database searches and literature source review. Bulk explosive charges are the most commonly used technique in EROS. While the physical principles of underwater detonations and the propagation of pressure and acoustic waves are well understood, there are significant gaps in the application of this knowledge. Impacts to sea turtles from explosive removal operations may range from non-injurious effects (e.g. acoustic annoyance; mild tactile detection or physical discomfort) to varying levels of injury (i.e. non-lethal and lethal injuries). Very little information exists regarding the impacts of underwater explosions on sea turtles. Effects of explosions on turtles often must be inferred from documented effects to other vertebrates with lungs or other gas-containing organs, such as mammals and most fishes. However, a cautious approach should be used when determining impacts to sea turtles based on extrapolations from other vertebrates. The discovery of beached sea turtles and bottlenose dolphins following an explosive platform removal event in 1986 prompted the initiation of formal consultation between the U.S. Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service (MMS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), authorized through the Endangered Species Act Section 7, to determine a mechanism to minimize potential impacts to listed species. The initial consultation resulted in a requirement for oil and gas companies to obtain a permit (through separate consultations on a case-by-case basis) prior to using explosives in Federal waters. Because many offshore

  11. Using expert opinion surveys to rank threats to endangered species: a case study with sea turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Donlan, C Josh; Wingfield, Dana K; Crowder, Larry B; Wilcox, Chris

    2010-12-01

    Little is known about how specific anthropogenic hazards affect the biology of organisms. Quantifying the effect of regional hazards is particularly challenging for species such as sea turtles because they are migratory, difficult to study, long lived, and face multiple anthropogenic threats. Expert elicitation, a technique used to synthesize opinions of experts while assessing uncertainty around those views, has been in use for several decades in the social science and risk assessment sectors. We conducted an internet-based survey to quantify expert opinion on the relative magnitude of anthropogenic hazards to sea turtle populations at the regional level. Fisheries bycatch and coastal development were most often ranked as the top hazards to sea turtle species in a geographic region. Nest predation and direct take followed as the second and third greatest threats, respectively. Survey results suggest most experts believe sea turtles are threatened by multiple factors, including substantial at-sea threats such as fisheries bycatch. Resources invested by the sea turtle community, however, appear biased toward terrestrial-based impacts. Results from the survey are useful for conservation planning because they provide estimates of relative impacts of hazards on sea turtles and a measure of consensus on the magnitude of those impacts among researchers and practitioners. Our survey results also revealed patterns of expert bias, which we controlled for in our analysis. Respondents with no experience with respect to a sea turtle species tended to rank hazards affecting that sea turtle species higher than respondents with experience. A more-striking pattern was with hazard-based expertise: the more experience a respondent had with a specific hazard, the higher the respondent scored the impact of that hazard on sea turtle populations. Bias-controlled expert opinion surveys focused on threatened species and their hazards can help guide and expedite species recovery plans.

  12. Demographics of an ornate box turtle population experiencing minimal human-induced disturbances

    Science.gov (United States)

    Converse, S.J.; Iverson, J.B.; Savidge, J.A.

    2005-01-01

    Human-induced disturbances may threaten the viability of many turtle populations, including populations of North American box turtles. Evaluation of the potential impacts of these disturbances can be aided by long-term studies of populations subject to minimal human activity. In such a population of ornate box turtles (Terrapene ornata ornata) in western Nebraska, we examined survival rates and population growth rates from 1981-2000 based on mark-recapture data. The average annual apparent survival rate of adult males was 0.883 (SE = 0.021) and of adult females was 0.932 (SE = 0.014). Minimum winter temperature was the best of five climate variables as a predictor of adult survival. Survival rates were highest in years with low minimum winter temperatures, suggesting that global warming may result in declining survival. We estimated an average adult population growth rate (????) of 1.006 (SE = 0.065), with an estimated temporal process variance (????2) of 0.029 (95% CI = 0.005-0.176). Stochastic simulations suggest that this mean and temporal process variance would result in a 58% probability of a population decrease over a 20-year period. This research provides evidence that, unless unknown density-dependent mechanisms are operating in the adult age class, significant human disturbances, such as commercial harvest or turtle mortality on roads, represent a potential risk to box turtle populations. ?? 2005 by the Ecological Society of America.

  13. Advances in the Application of Genetics in Marine Turtle Biology and Conservation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lisa M. Komoroske

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Marine turtles migrate across long distances, exhibit complex life histories, and occupy habitats that are difficult to observe. These factors present substantial challenges to understanding fundamental aspects of their biology or assessing human impacts, many of which are important for the effective conservation of these threatened and endangered species. The early development and application of genetic tools made important contributions to understanding marine turtle population and evolutionary biology, such as providing evidence of regional natal homing by breeding adults, establishing connectivity between rookeries and foraging habitats, and determining phylogeography and broad scale stock structure for most marine turtle species. Recent innovations in molecular technologies, statistical methods, and creative application of genetic tools have significantly built upon this knowledge to address key questions in marine turtle biology and conservation management. Here, we evaluate the latest major advances and potential of marine turtle genetic applications, including improved resolution and large-scale syntheses of population structure, connectivity and phylogeography, estimation of key demographic rates such as age to maturity and operational or breeding sex ratios, insight into reproductive strategies and behavior, and assessment of differential human impacts among populations. We then discuss remaining challenges and emerging capabilities, such as rapid, multiplexed genotyping, and investigation of the genomic underpinnings of adaptive variation afforded by high-throughput sequencing technologies.

  14. Distribution and Feeding Behavior of Omorgus suberosus (Coleoptera: Trogidae in Lepidochelys olivacea Turtle Nests.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martha L Baena

    Full Text Available Omorgus suberosus (Fabricius, 1775 has been identified as a potential predator of the eggs of the turtle Lepidochelys olivacea (Eschscholtz, 1829 on one of the main turtle nesting beaches in the world, La Escobilla in Oaxaca, Mexico. This study presents an analysis of the spatio-temporal distribution of the beetle on this beach (in areas of high and low density of L. olivacea nests over two arrival seasons and an evaluation, under laboratory conditions, of the probability of damage to the turtle eggs by this beetle. O. suberosus adults and larvae exhibited an aggregated pattern at both turtle nest densities; however, aggregation was greater in areas of low nest density, where we found the highest proportion of damaged eggs. Also, there were fluctuations in the temporal distribution of the adult beetles following the arrival of the turtles on the beach. Under laboratory conditions, the beetles quickly damaged both dead eggs and a mixture of live and dead eggs, but were found to consume live eggs more slowly. This suggests that O. suberosus may be recycling organic material; however, its consumption of live eggs may be sufficient in some cases to interrupt the incubation period of the turtle. We intend to apply these results when making decisions regarding the L. olivacea nests on La Escobilla Beach, one of the most important sites for the conservation of this species.

  15. The eastern box turtle at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center 1940s to the present: another view

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henry, P.F.P.

    2003-01-01

    Several long-term mark recapture studies have been conducted on box turtles (Terrapene c. carolina) providing valuable information on life span, basic demography, home range, and apparent effects of environmental changes on box turtle survival. One of the longest studied populations was first marked in 1942 on the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland, and has been surveyed every 10 years until 1995. The age structure and gender ratio of these turtles in the field may support differential habitat use and survival estimates. A few of the turtles first marked during the 1945 study are still observed throughout the Center. Data collected from turtles marked in the more upland habitats during 1985-2002 indicate a younger age class distribution than that observed in the more protected biota of the bottomland floodplain study area. Extrapolating ages of turtles described in data collected throughout the long-term study, it was estimated that turtles, both males and females, can show reproduction-intent behaviors at ages greater than 54 years old. It is suggested that count data collection be continued on a more frequent cycle, extending over a larger part of the Center.

  16. The first Oligocene sea turtle (Pan-Cheloniidae record of South America

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edwin Cadena

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The evolution and occurrence of fossil sea turtles at the Pacific margin of South America is poorly known and restricted to Neogene (Miocene/Pliocene findings from the Pisco Formation, Peru. Here we report and describe the first record of Oligocene (late Oligocene, ∼24 Ma Pan-Cheloniidae sea turtle remains of South America. The fossil material corresponds to a single, isolated and well-preserved costal bone found at the Montañita/Olón locality, Santa Elena Province, Ecuador. Comparisons with other Oligocene and extant representatives allow us to confirm that belongs to a sea turtle characterized by: lack of lateral ossification, allowing the dorsal exposure of the distal end of ribs; dorsal surface of bone sculptured, changing from dense vermiculation at the vertebral scute region to anastomosing pattern of grooves at the most lateral portion of the costal. This fossil finding shows the high potential that the Ecuadorian Oligocene outcrops have in order to explore the evolution and paleobiogeography distribution of sea turtles by the time that the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans were connected via the Panama basin.

  17. Land use, macroalgae, and a tumor-forming disease in marine turtles.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kyle S Van Houtan

    Full Text Available Wildlife diseases are an increasing concern for endangered species conservation, but their occurrence, causes, and human influences are often unknown. We analyzed 3,939 records of stranded Hawaiian green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas over 28 years to understand fibropapillomatosis, a tumor-forming disease linked to a herpesvirus. Turtle size is a consistent risk factor and size-standardized models revealed considerable spatial and temporal variability. The disease peaked in some areas in the 1990s, in some regions rates remained constant, and elsewhere rates increased. Land use, onshore of where the turtles feed, may play a role. Elevated disease rates were clustered in watersheds with high nitrogen-footprints; an index of natural and anthropogenic factors that affect coastal eutrophication. Further analysis shows strong epidemiological links between disease rates, nitrogen-footprints, and invasive macroalgae and points to foraging ecology. These turtles now forage on invasive macroalgae, which can dominate nutrient rich waters and sequester environmental N in the amino acid arginine. Arginine is known to regulate immune activity, promote herpesviruses, and contribute to tumor formation. Our results have implications for understanding diseases in aquatic organisms, eutrophication, herpesviruses, and tumor formation.

  18. Observations of the transmittance in two solar ponds

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Almanza, R.; Bryant, M.C.

    1983-11-01

    A NaCl salt gradient solar pond has been in continuous operation at the University of New Mexico since the fall of 1975; a smaller pond, using KNO/sub 3/ to produce the salinity gradient, was commissioned in the fall of 1981. The distribution of absorbed radiation in the ponds is of key importance in the determination of their efficiencies for collecting and storing solar energy. The absorption coefficient of light in an aqueous solution is very dependent upon wavelength; the spectral distribution of sunlight shifts toward the blue and the amount of solar energy absorbed per unit length of path declines with depth of penetration. The presence of suspended solids and bioforms further complicate the transmittance of sun light through the pond, specially since this contamination tends to vary strongly with depth. Because of its importance to the phytoplankton population , considerable work has been done by oceanographers on the absorption and scattering of light for different wavelengths. However, in a solar pond the big question is the amount of energy reaching the lower convective layer (storage). Several attempts have been made to measure the transmittance in solar ponds, mainly NaCl but the problem is to find a temperature-insensitive submersible pyranometer. Convenient formulas have been offered for the attenuation of solar radiation in pond water by considering it to be divided into spectral bands, or by fitting simple analytical functions, or specifying the extintion coefficient. (For the first method, it is necessary to know the absorption and scattering of light for different lambda.) In this paper some measurements of transmittance in the UNM ponds, are presented thereby exhibiting a simple procedure which may be of interest to others in this field.

  19. Locomotor activity during the frenzy swim: analysing early swimming behaviour in hatchling sea turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pereira, Carla M; Booth, David T; Limpus, Colin J

    2011-12-01

    Swimming effort of hatchling sea turtles varies across species. In this study we analysed how swim thrust is produced in terms of power stroke rate, mean maximum thrust per power stroke and percentage of time spent power stroking throughout the first 18 h of swimming after entering the water, in both loggerhead and flatback turtle hatchlings and compared this with previous data from green turtle hatchlings. Loggerhead and green turtle hatchlings had similar power stroke rates and percentage of time spent power stroking throughout the trial, although mean maximum thrust was always significantly higher in green hatchlings, making them the most vigorous swimmers in our three-species comparison. Flatback hatchlings, however, were different from the other two species, with overall lower values in all three swimming variables. Their swimming effort dropped significantly during the first 2 h and kept decreasing significantly until the end of the trial at 18 h. These results support the hypothesis that ecological factors mould the swimming behaviour of hatchling sea turtles, with predator pressure being important in determining the strategy used to swim offshore. Loggerhead and green turtle hatchlings seem to adopt an intensely vigorous and energetically costly frenzy swim that would quickly take them offshore into the open ocean in order to reduce their exposure to near-shore aquatic predators. Flatback hatchlings, however, are restricted in geographic distribution and remain within the continental shelf region where predator pressure is probably relatively constant. For this reason, flatback hatchlings might use only part of their energy reserves during a less vigorous frenzy phase, with lower overall energy expenditure during the first day compared with loggerhead and green turtle hatchlings.

  20. Calcium spikes and calcium plateaux evoked by differential polarization in dendrites of turtle motoneurones in vitro

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hounsgaard, J; Kiehn, O

    1993-01-01

    The ability of dendrites in turtle motoneurones to support calcium spikes and calcium plateaux was investigated using differential polarization by applied electric fields. 2. Electric fields were generated by passing current through transverse slices of the turtle spinal cord between two plate......+ spikes and Ca2+ plateaux are present in dendrites of spinal motoneurones of the turtle....

  1. Causes of mortality in green turtles from Hawaii and the insular Pacific exclusive of fibropapillomatosis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Work, Thierry M.; Balazs, George H.; Summers, Tammy M.; Hapdei, Jessy R.; Tagarino, Alden P.

    2015-01-01

    Fibropapillomatosis (FP) comprises a majority of green turtle stranding in Hawaii; however, green turtles in the Pacific are also susceptible to non-FP related causes of death. We present here necropsy findings from 230 free-ranging green turtles originating from Hawaii, the Mariana archipelago, Palmyra Atoll, American Samoa, and Johnston Atoll that died from non-FP related causes. Most turtles died from fishing-induced or boat strike trauma followed by infectious/inflammatory diseases, nutritional problems (mainly cachexia), and an array of physiologic problems. Infectious/inflammatory problems included bacterial diseases of the lungs, eyes, liver or intestines, spirorchid fluke infection, or polyarthritis of unknown origin. Likelihood of a successful diagnosis of cause of death was a function of post-mortem decomposition. Fibropapillomatosis was not seen in turtles submitted from outside Hawaii. The preponderance of anthropogenic causes of mortality offers some management opportunities to mitigate causes of death in these animals by, for example, implementing measures to decrease boating and fishing interactions.

  2. Thermal evolutions of two kinds of melt pond with different salinity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Joo-Hong; Wilkinson, Jeremy; Moon, Woosok; Hwang, Byongjun; Granskog, Mats

    2016-04-01

    Melt ponds are water pools on sea ice. Their formation reduces ice surface albedo and alter surface energy balance, by which the ice melting and freezing processes are regulated. Thus, better understanding of their radiative characteristics has been vital to improve the simulation of melting/freezing of sea ice in numerical models. A melt pond would preserve nearly fresh water if it formed on multi-year ice and no flooding of sea water occurred, whereas a melt pond would contain more salty water if it formed on thinner and porous first-year ice, if there were an inflow of sea water by streams or cracks. One would expect that the fluid dynamic/thermodynamic properties (e.g., turbulence, stability, etc.) of pond water are influenced by the salinity, so that the response of pond water to any heat input (e.g., shortwave radiation) would be different. Therefore, better understanding of the salinity-dependent thermal evolution also has significant potential to improve the numerical simulation of the sea ice melting/freezing response to radiative thermal forcing. To observe and understand the salinity-dependent thermal evolution, two ice mass balance buoys (IMBs) were deployed in two kinds (fresh and salty) of melt pond on a same ice floe on 13 August 2015 during Araon Arctic cruise. The thermistor chain, extending from the air through the pond and ice into the sea water, was deployed through a drilled borehole inside the pond. Besides, the IMBs were also accompanied with three broadband solar radiation sensors (two (up and down) in the air over melt pond and one upward-looking under sea ice) to measure the net shortwave radiation at the pond surface and the penetrating solar radiation through ice. Also, the web camera was installed to observe any updates in the conditions of equipment and surrounding environment (e.g., weather, surface state, etc.). On the date of deployment, the fresh pond had salinity of 2.3 psu, light blue color, lots of slush ice particles which

  3. Global Analysis of Anthropogenic Debris Ingestion by Sea Turtles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schuyler, Qamar; Hardesty, Britta Denise; Wilcox, Chris; Townsend, Kathy

    2014-01-01

    Ingestion of marine debris can have lethal and sublethal effects on sea turtles and other wildlife. Although researchers have reported on ingestion of anthropogenic debris by marine turtles and implied incidences of debris ingestion have increased over time, there has not been a global synthesis of the phenomenon since 1985. Thus, we analyzed 37 studies published from 1985 to 2012 that report on data collected from before 1900 through 2011. Specifically, we investigated whether ingestion prevalence has changed over time, what types of debris are most commonly ingested, the geographic distribution of debris ingestion by marine turtles relative to global debris distribution, and which species and life-history stages are most likely to ingest debris. The probability of green (Chelonia mydas) and leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) ingesting debris increased significantly over time, and plastic was the most commonly ingested debris. Turtles in nearly all regions studied ingest debris, but the probability of ingestion was not related to modeled debris densities. Furthermore, smaller, oceanic-stage turtles were more likely to ingest debris than coastal foragers, whereas carnivorous species were less likely to ingest debris than herbivores or gelatinovores. Our results indicate oceanic leatherback turtles and green turtles are at the greatest risk of both lethal and sublethal effects from ingested marine debris. To reduce this risk, anthropogenic debris must be managed at a global level. Análisis Global de la Ingesta de Residuos Antropogénicos por Tortugas Marinas La ingesta de residuos marinos puede tener efectos letales y subletales sobre las tortugas marinas y otros animales. Aunque hay investigadores que han reportado la ingesta de residuos antropogénicos por tortugas marinas y la incidencia de la ingesta de residuos ha incrementado con el tiempo, no ha habido una síntesis global del fenómeno desde 1985. Por esto analizamos 37 estudios publicados, desde

  4. Enhancing Ecoefficiency in Shrimp Farming through Interconnected Ponds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ramón Héctor Barraza-Guardado

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The future development of shrimp farming needs to improve its ecoefficiency. The purpose of this study was to evaluate water quality, flows, and nitrogen balance and production parameters on a farm with interconnected pond design to improve the efficiency of the semi-intensive culture of Litopenaeus vannamei ponds. The study was conducted in 21 commercial culture ponds during 180 days at densities of 30–35 ind m−2 and daily water exchange <2%. Our study provides evidence that by interconnecting ponds nutrient recycling is favored by promoting the growth of primary producers of the pond as chlorophyll a. Based on the mass balance and flow of nutrients this culture system reduces the flow of solid, particulate organic matter, and nitrogen compounds to the environment and significantly increases the efficiency of water (5 to 6.5 m3 kg−1 cycle−1, when compared with traditional culture systems. With this culture system it is possible to recover up to 34% of the total nitrogen entering the system, with production in excess of 4,000 kg ha−1 shrimp. We believe that the production system with interconnected ponds is a technically feasible model to improve ecoefficiency production of shrimp farming.

  5. Oxidative stress induced by glyphosate-based herbicide on freshwater turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Héritier, Laurent; Duval, David; Galinier, Richard; Meistertzheim, Anne-Leila; Verneau, Olivier

    2017-12-01

    Freshwater ecosystems face very strong anthropogenic pressures, among which overexploitation, habitat degradation, flow modification, species invasion, and water pollution lead to growing threats on biodiversity. Urbanization through wastewater treatment, industry through the release of inorganic and organic chemicals, and agriculture through the use of pesticides and herbicides are the main factors involved in water pollution. In France, more precisely in the Pyrénées-Orientales department, the poor quality of the watercourses is attributable overall to the use of glyphosate-based herbicides in agricultural activities. Because these chemicals can impact individuals, populations, and biodiversity, we investigated, under experimental conditions, the physiological response of animals facing abiotic contaminants. We selected as a model, juveniles of the freshwater turtle Trachemys scripta elegans. We measured the gene expression and activity of the catalase and superoxide dismutase enzymes as well as the levels of lipid peroxidation, which are all oxidative stress biomarkers, in turtles challenged with high concentrations of glyphosate-based herbicides, on the one hand, and with degraded waters collected from a local watercourse, on the other. We also measured the acetylcholinesterase activity across the same animals. We showed through variations in gene expression and enzyme activity that a glyphosate commercial formulation induced a stress in turtles. A similar outcome was obtained when turtles faced degraded waters. The results indicated that the poor quality of regional waters could be a real threat for animal health. Because turtles are globally less sensitive to contaminants than amphibians, which are lacking in the degraded waters of the Pyrénées-Orientales department, they could constitute an excellent model to follow the evolution of water quality through the study of oxidative stress biomarkers. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:3343-3350. © 2017 SETAC.

  6. Diversity, habitat distribution, and indigenous hunting of marine turtles in the Calamian Islands, Palawan, Republic of the Philippines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christopher N.S. Poonian

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available All of the world’s seven species of marine turtle are threatened by a multitude of anthropogenic pressures across all stages of their life history. The Calamian Islands, Palawan, Philippines provide important foraging and nesting grounds for four species: green turtles (Chelonia mydas, hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata, loggerheads (Caretta caretta, and leatherbacks (Dermochelys coriacea. This work aimed to assess the relative importance of turtle nesting beaches and local threats using a combination of social science and ecological research approaches. Endangered green turtles and critically endangered hawksbills were found to nest in the Calamianes. The most important nesting sites were located on the islands off the west of Busuanga and Culion, particularly Pamalican and Galoc and along the north coast of Coron, particularly Linamodio Island. Opportunistic hunting and egg collection, conducted legally by indigenous communities, is the most significant threat to sea turtles in the area. Sites particularly vulnerable to hunting were found to be Galoc Island, Pamalican Island, and Panlaitan Island. Raising awareness, community engagement, and understanding of socio-cultural drivers of sea turtle exploitation, particularly among indigenous communities, are essential to gain support for any effective conservation program. Additionally, more effective enforcement of laws related to the trade in sea turtle products is required to close the commercial and export markets.

  7. First description of underwater acoustic diversity in three temperate ponds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Camille Desjonquères

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The past decade has produced an increased ecological interest in sonic environments, or soundscapes. However, despite this rise in interest and technological improvements that allow for long-term acoustic surveys in various environments, some habitats’ soundscapes remain to be explored. Ponds, and more generally freshwater habitats, are one of these acoustically unexplored environments. Here we undertook the first long term acoustic monitoring of three temperate ponds in France. By aural and visual inspection of a selection of recordings, we identified 48 different sound types, and according to the rarefaction curves we calculated, more sound types are likely present in one of the three ponds. The richness of sound types varied significantly across ponds. Surprisingly, there was no pond-to-pond daily consistency of sound type richness variation; each pond had its own daily patterns of activity. We also explored the possibility of using six acoustic diversity indices to conduct rapid biodiversity assessments in temperate ponds. We found that all indices were sensitive to the background noise as estimated through correlations with the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR. However, we determined that the AR index could be a good candidate to measure acoustic diversities using partial correlations with the SNR as a control variable. Yet, research is still required to automatically compute the SNR in order to apply this index on a large data set of recordings. The results showed that these three temperate ponds host a high level of acoustic diversity in which the soundscapes were variable not only between but also within the ponds. The sources producing this diversity of sounds and the drivers of difference in daily song type richness variation both require further investigation. Such research would yield insights into the biodiversity and ecology of temperate ponds.

  8. A thin-shelled reptile from the Late Triassic of North America and the origin of the turtle shell.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joyce, Walter G; Lucas, Spencer G; Scheyer, Torsten M; Heckert, Andrew B; Hunt, Adrian P

    2009-02-07

    A new, thin-shelled fossil from the Upper Triassic (Revueltian: Norian) Chinle Group of New Mexico, Chinlechelys tenertesta, is one of the most primitive known unambiguous members of the turtle stem lineage. The thin-shelled nature of the new turtle combined with its likely terrestrial habitat preference hint at taphonomic filters that basal turtles had to overcome before entering the fossil record. Chinlechelys tenertesta possesses neck spines formed by multiple osteoderms, indicating that the earliest known turtles were covered with rows of dermal armour. More importantly, the primitive, vertically oriented dorsal ribs of the new turtle are only poorly associated with the overlying costal bones, indicating that these two structures are independent ossifications in basal turtles. These novel observations lend support to the hypothesis that the turtle shell was originally a complex composite in which dermal armour fused with the endoskeletal ribs and vertebrae of an ancestral lineage instead of forming de novo. The critical shell elements (i.e. costals and neurals) are thus not simple outgrowths of the bone of the endoskeletal elements as has been hypothesized from some embryological observations.

  9. 50 CFR 222.309 - Permits for listed species of sea turtles involving the Fish and Wildlife Service.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 7 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Permits for listed species of sea turtles... species of sea turtles involving the Fish and Wildlife Service. (a) This section establishes specific... survival of endangered or threatened species of sea turtles; zoological exhibition or educational purposes...

  10. Recovery of aquatic insect-mediated methylmercury flux from ponds following drying disturbance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chumchal, Matthew M; Drenner, Ray W; Greenhill, Frank M; Kennedy, James H; Courville, Ashlyn E; Gober, Charlie A A; Lossau, Luke O

    2017-08-01

    Small ponds exist across a permanence gradient, and pond permanence is hypothesized to be a primary determinant of insect community structure and insect-mediated methylmercury (MeHg) flux from ponds to the surrounding terrestrial landscape. The present study describes the first experiment examining the recovery of insect-mediated MeHg flux following a drying disturbance that converted permanent ponds with insectivorous fish to semipermanent ponds without fish. Floating emergence traps were used to collect emergent insects for 10 wk in the spring and summer from 5 ponds with fish (permanent) and 5 ponds that were drained to remove fish, dried, and refilled with water (semipermanent). During the 73-d period after semipermanent ponds were refilled, total MeHg flux from semipermanent ponds was not significantly different than total MeHg flux from permanent ponds, indicating that insect-mediated MeHg flux had rapidly recovered in semipermanent ponds following the drying disturbance. Methylmercury fluxes from dragonflies (Odonata: Anisoptera) and phantom midges (Diptera: Chaoboridae) were significantly greater from newly refilled semipermanent ponds than permanent ponds, but the MeHg fluxes from the other 8 emergent insect taxa did not differ between treatments. The present study demonstrates the impact of drying disturbance and the effect of community structure on the cross-system transport of contaminants from aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:1986-1990. © 2017 SETAC. © 2017 SETAC.

  11. Effect of thermal acclimation on thermal preference, resistance and locomotor performance of hatchling soft-shelled turtle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mei-Xian WU,Ling-Jun HU, Wei DANG, Hong-Liang LU, Wei-Guo DU

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The significant influence of thermal acclimation on physiological and behavioral performance has been documented in many ectothermic animals, but such studies are still limited in turtle species. We acclimated hatchling soft-shelled turtles Pelodiscus sinensis under three thermal conditions (10, 20 and 30 °C for 4 weeks, and then measured selected body temperature (Tsel, critical thermal minimum (CTMin and maximum (CTMax, and locomotor performance at different body temperatures. Thermal acclimation significantly affected thermal preference and resistance of P. sinensis hatchlings. Hatchling turtles acclimated to 10 °C selected relatively lower body temperatures and were less resistant to high temperatures than those acclimated to 20 °C and 30 °C. The turtles’ resistance to low temperatures increased with a decreasing acclimation temperature. The thermal resistance range (i.e. the difference between CTMax and CTMin, TRR was widest in turtles acclimated to 20 °C, and narrowest in those acclimated to 10 °C. The locomotor performance of turtles was affected by both body temperature and acclimation temperature. Hatchling turtles acclimated to relatively higher temperatures swam faster than did those acclimated to lower temperatures. Accordingly, hatchling turtles acclimated to a particular temperature may not enhance the performance at that temperature. Instead, hatchlings acclimated to relatively warm temperatures have a better performance, supporting the “hotter is better” hypothesis [Current Zoology 59 (6 : 718–724, 2013 ].

  12. Response properties of motoneurones in a slice preparation of the turtle spinal cord

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hounsgaard, J.; Kiehn, O.; Mintz, I.

    1988-01-01

    1. Motoneurones in transverse sections of the turtle spinal cord were investigated in vitro with intracellular recording techniques. 2. Turtle motoneurones had a resting membrane potential of ‐60 to ‐80 mV, spike height of 90‐110 mV and were able to maintain rhythmic firing during depolarization......‐dependent inward rectification was selectively blocked by extracellular Cs+ at concentrations below 1 mM. 6. The results show that the response properties of spinal motoneurones of the turtle are closely similar to those known from mammals in vivo. The experiments confirm and extend the identification of the ionic...

  13. The story of invasive algae, arginine, and turtle tumors does not make sense

    Science.gov (United States)

    Work, Thierry M.; Ackermann, Mathias; Casey, James W.; Chaloupka, Milani; Herbst, Lawrence; Lynch, Jennifer M.; Stacy, Brian A.

    2014-01-01

    We are presenting a rebuttal letter to the following article that appeared recently on PeerJ: Van Houtan KS, Smith CM, Dailer ML, and Kawachi M. 2014. Eutrophication and the dietary promotion of sea turtle tumors. PeerJ 2:e602. This article is available at the following URL: https://peerj.com/articles/602/. We argue that the article lacks an inferential framework to answer the complex question regarding the drivers of the turtle tumor disease fibropapillomatosis in Hawaii. The article also contains procedural flaws and does not provide any compelling evidence of a link between algae, arginine, and turtle tumors.

  14. Plasma Vitellogenin in Free-Ranging Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta caretta of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kimberly Smelker

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Vitellogenin is the egg yolk precursor protein produced by oviparous vertebrates. As endogenous estrogen increases during early reproductive activity, hepatic production of vitellogenin is induced and is assumed to be complete in female sea turtles before the first nesting event. Until the present study, innate production of vitellogenin has not been described in free-ranging sea turtles. Our study describes circulating concentrations of vitellogenin in loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta from the Northwest Atlantic Ocean. We collected blood samples from juveniles and adults via in-water captures off the coast of the Southeast USA from May to August, and from nesting females in June and July at Hutchinson Island, Florida. All samples were analyzed using an in-house ELISA developed specifically to measure Caretta caretta vitellogenin concentration. As expected, plasma vitellogenin declined in nesting turtles as the nesting season progressed, although it still remained relatively elevated at the end of the season. In addition, mean vitellogenin concentration in nesting turtles was 1,000 times greater than that measured in samples from in-water captures. Our results suggest that vitellogenesis may continue throughout the nesting season, albeit at a decreasing rate. Further, vitellogenin detected in turtles captured in-water may have resulted from exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals.

  15. Hydrodynamic effect of a satellite transmitter on a juvenile green turtle (Chelonia mydas)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watson; Granger

    1998-09-01

    Wind tunnel tests were performed to measure the effect of a satellite transmitter on a juvenile green turtle (Chelonia mydas). A full-scale turtle model was constructed from an 11.5 kg specimen with a 48 cm carapace length, and a transmitter model was constructed from a Telonics ST-6. The turtle model was tested in a wind tunnel with and without the transmitter, which was mounted on the forward, topmost part of the carapace. Drag, lift and pitch moment were measured for several speeds and flow angles, and the data were scaled for application to the marine environment. At small flow angles representative of straight-line swimming, the transmitter increased drag by 27-30 %, reduced lift by less than 10 % and increased the pitch moment by 11-42 %. On the basis of the drag data at zero angle of attack, it is estimated that the backpack will reduce swimming speed by 11 %, assuming that the turtle produces the same thrust with the unit attached. The drag data are also used to estimate the effect of a transmitter on the swimming energetics of an adult green turtle. Design guidelines are included to minimize the adverse forces and moments caused by the transmitter.

  16. The Ozobranchus leech is a candidate mechanical vector for the fibropapilloma-associated turtle herpesvirus found latently infecting skin tumors on Hawaiian green turtles (Chelonia mydas)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Greenblatt, Rebecca J.; Work, Thierry M.; Balazs, George H.; Sutton, Claudia A.; Casey, Rufina N.; Casey, James W.

    2004-01-01

    Fibropapillomatosis (FP) of marine turtles is a neoplastic disease of ecological concern. A fibropapilloma-associated turtle herpesvirus (FPTHV) is consistently present, usually at loads exceeding one virus copy per tumor cell. DNA from an array of parasites of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) was examined with quantitative PCR (qPCR) to determine whether any carried viral loads are sufficient to implicate them as vectors for FPTHV. Marine leeches (Ozobranchus spp.) were found to carry high viral DNA loads; some samples approached 10 million copies per leech. Isopycnic sucrose density gradient/qPCR analysis confirmed that some of these copies were associated with particles of the density of enveloped viruses. The data implicate the marine leech Ozobranchus as a mechanical vector for FPTHV. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis of FPTHV gene expression indicated that most of the FPTHV copies in a fibropapilloma have restricted DNA polymerase expression, suggestive of latent infection

  17. Green sea turtle age, growth, population characteristics

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Morphology, sex ratio, body condition, disease status, age structure, and growth patterns were characterized for 448 green sea turtles cold stunned in St. Joseph...

  18. Groundwater impact assessment report for the 100-D Ponds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alexander, D.J.

    1993-07-01

    The 183-D Water Treatment Facility (WTF) discharges effluent to the 120-0-1 Ponds (100-D Ponds) located north of the 100-D Area perimeter fence. This report satisfies one of the requirements of the Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (Tri-Party Agreement) Milestone M-17-00B as agreed by the US Department of Energy, Washington State Department of Ecology, and the US Environmental Protection Agency. Tri-Party Agreement Milestone M-17-00B includes a requirement to assess impacts to groundwater from disposal of the 183-D WTF effluent to the 100-D Ponds. In addition, the 100-D Ponds are a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 treatment, storage, and disposal facility covered by the 100-D Ponds Closure Plan (DOE-RL 1993a). There is evidence of groundwater contamination, primarily nitrate, tritium, and chromium, in the unconfined aquifer beneath the 100-D Area and 100 Areas in general. The contaminant plumes are area wide and are a result of past-practice reactor and disposal operations in the 100-D Area currently being investigated as part of the 100-DR-1 and 100-HR-3 Operable Units (DOE-RL 1992b, 1992a). Based on current effluent conditions, continued operation of the 100-D Ponds will not adversely affect the groundwater quality in the 100-D Area. Monitoring wells near the pond have slightly higher alkaline pH values than wells in the rest of the area. Concentrations of known contaminants in these wells are lower than ambient 100-D Area groundwater conditions and exhibit a localized dilution effect associated with discharges to the pond. Hydraulic impact to the local groundwater system from these discharges is minor. The groundwater monitoring well network for the 100-D Ponds is adequate

  19. 2101-M pond closure plan. Volume 1, Revision 2

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Izatt, R. D.; Lerch, R. E.

    1993-06-01

    This document describes activities for the closure of a surface impoundment (2101-M Pond) at the Hanford Site. The 2101-H Pond was initially constructed in 1953 to serve as a drainage collection area for the 2101-H Building. (Until the Basalt Waste Isolation Project (BWIP) Laboratory was constructed in the 2101-M Building in 1979--1981, the only source contributing discharge to the pond was condensate water from the 2101-H Building heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system. The drains for the BWIP Laboratory rooms were plumbed into a 4-in., cast-iron, low-pressure drain pipe that carries waste water from the HVAC system to the pond. During the active life of the BWIP Laboratory, solutions of dissolved barium in groundwater samples were discharged to the 2101-M Pond via the laboratory drains. As a result of the discharges, a Part A permit application was initially submitted to the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) in August 1986 which designates the 2101-M Pond as a surface impoundment.

  20. How Much Are Floridians Willing to Pay for Protecting Sea Turtles from Sea Level Rise?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamed, Ahmed; Madani, Kaveh; Von Holle, Betsy; Wright, James; Milon, J Walter; Bossick, Matthew

    2016-01-01

    Sea level rise (SLR) is posing a great inundation risk to coastal areas. Some coastal nesting species, including sea turtle species, have experienced diminished habitat from SLR. Contingent valuation method (CVM) was used in an effort to assess the economic loss impacts of SLR on sea turtle nesting habitats for Florida coasts; and to elicit values of willingness to pay (WTP) of Central Florida residents to implement certain mitigation strategies, which would protect Florida's east coast sea turtle nesting areas. Using the open-ended and dichotomous choice CVM, we sampled residents of two Florida communities: Cocoa Beach and Oviedo. We estimated the WTP of households from these two cities to protect sea turtle habitat to be between $42 and $57 per year for 5 years. Additionally, we attempted to assess the impact of the both the respondents' demographics and their perception toward various situations on their WTP value. Findings include a negative correlation between the age of a respondent and the probability of an individual willing to pay the hypothetical WTP amount. We found that WTP of an individual was not dependent on prior knowledge of the effects of SLR on sea turtle habitat. The greatest indicators of whether or not an individual was willing to pay to protect sea turtle habitat were the respondents' perception regarding the trustworthiness and efficiency of the party which will implement the conservation measures and their confidence in the conservation methods used. Respondents who perceive sea turtles having an effect on their life were also more likely to pay.