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Sea turtle hatchling locomotor performance: incubation moisture effects, ontogeny and species-specific patterns

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Abstract

Incubation conditions are critical in determining numerous traits in reptilian neonates. This is particularly significant in species with low offspring survival such as sea turtle species, because of the extremely high predation rates that hatchlings face during their initial dispersal from nesting beaches. Hatchlings that develop in suboptimal nest environments are likely to be smaller, slower and more susceptible to predation than hatchlings from optimal nest environments. Previous studies have focused on the effects of temperature on hatchling traits, but few have investigated the effects of moisture concentrations, despite moisture levels in nests influencing hatchling size, sex, incubation duration, and hatching success. Here, we incubated eggs of three sea turtle species at various moisture levels and tested the terrestrial and aquatic locomotor performance of the resultant hatchlings during the frenzy and post-frenzy period. We also compared and evaluated the ontogeny of early locomotor performance for each species over the first months of life. Drier incubation conditions produced hatchlings that crawled more slowly and took longer to self-right than hatchlings from wetter incubation conditions. There was no difference in swimming performance associated with moisture treatments. We suggest that moisture in the nest environment during incubation may influence hatchling performance via their initial hydration levels. Thus, nest moisture influences terrestrial performance (i.e., escaping from the nest and dispersing across the beach), although upon entering the ocean hatchlings have the opportunity to rehydrate by drinking and thus, differences in locomotor performance associated with moisture treatments cease.

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Acknowledgements

We thank everyone at the Heron Island research station, the Curtis Island flatback research team and James and the Tiwi Land Council for their help collecting eggs and releasing turtles. Thanks to Jan, Rod and Neal from Aquacore for all of their help housing the turtles and to Fran, Vanessa and Jade for their help measuring and caring for the turtles. Thanks to Jeanette Wyneken, Amanda Southwood Williard, Stephen Dunbar and two anonymous reviewers for their insightful and useful comments on a draft of this manuscript. Thanks to the Herpetological Conservation International Michael Dee grant, the Australian Wildlife Society University Student grant, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority Reef Guardians grant and the Monash University School of Biological Sciences for their financial support. CG was also supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) scholarship.

Funding

CG was supported by the Herpetological Conservation International Michael Dee grant, the Australian Wildlife Society University Student grant, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority Reef Guardians grant and the Monash University School of Biological Sciences. CG was also supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) scholarship.

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  1. School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, 25 Rainforest Walk, Clayton, VIC, 3800, Australia

    Christopher R. Gatto & Richard D. Reina

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  1. Christopher R. Gatto
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CG and RR developed the experimental design. CG conducted the experiment and performed the statistical analysis. CG and RR discussed the results and contributed to final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Christopher R. Gatto.

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Ethical approval

Eggs were collected under Queensland scientific purposes permit WITK17747816 (Chelonia mydas) and WITK18685417 (Natator depressus) and Northern Territory permit to take wildlife 62703 (Lepidochelys olivacea). Hatchlings were housed and tested under research permit 10008208 and all procedures were approved by the Monash University Biological Sciences Animal Ethics Committee (BSCI/2016/23).

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Communicated by Philip Withers.

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Gatto, C.R., Reina, R.D. Sea turtle hatchling locomotor performance: incubation moisture effects, ontogeny and species-specific patterns. J Comp Physiol B 190, 779–793 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-020-01307-z

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