Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The stomach contents of post-hatchling green and loggerhead sea turtles in the southwest Pacific: an insight into habitat association

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Dietary information obtained from stomach contents can provide a wealth of information on an animal’s ecology. Where animals are cryptic, such as the post-hatchling life history stage of a sea turtle, the ecological insight that dietary analyses can provide, may be otherwise unobtainable. Investigations into post-hatchling turtle stomach contents have found planktonic organisms, dominated by pelagic molluscs and crustaceans, hydrozoans, Sargassum and fish eggs. The nature of these dietary organisms provides evidence for the widely accepted hypothesis that, with the exception of the flatback turtle (Natator depressus), the post-hatchling stage of a sea turtle’s life history is pelagic and oceanic. As the majority of studies that have investigated the stomach contents of post-hatchling sea turtles have been conducted on loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) in the northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, insight derived from dietary investigations into post-hatchling ecology is biased. This study investigates the diet of post-hatchling green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and loggerhead turtles in the southwest Pacific Ocean. Stomach contents were obtained from 55 green and loggerhead post-hatchling turtles that had stranded or been consumed by Coryphaena hippurus. Our findings demonstrate that loggerhead and green post-hatchlings in the southwest Pacific share similar feeding ecology and feed on a variety of neustonic items that are indicative of an oceanic and pelagic existence. The dietary items consumed by both species investigated belong to similar taxonomic groups as those found in previous studies with species level distinctions occurring owing to the different geographical location.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alagarswami K (1977) Larval transport and settlement of pearl oysters (genus Pinctada) in the Gulf of Manna Proceedings of the Symposium on Warm Water Zooplankton. NIO, Goa, pp 678–686

    Google Scholar 

  • Arthur KE, Boyle MC, Limpus CJ (2008) Ontogenetic changes in diet and habitat use in green turtle Chelonia mydas life history. Mar Ecol Prog Ser (in press).

  • Bennett JM, Taplin LE, Grigg GC (1986) Sea water drinking as a homeostatic response to dehydration in hatchling loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta. Comp Biochem Physiol Physiol 83A:507–513. doi:10.1016/0300-9629(86)90137-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernard HJ, Hedgepeth JB, Reilly SB (1985) Stomach contents of albacore, skipjack, and bonito caught of southern California during summer 1983. CCOFI Rep 26:175–182

    Google Scholar 

  • Bertrand A, Bard FX, Josse E (2002) Tuna food habits related to the micronekton distribution in French Polynesia. Mar Biol (Berl) 140:1023–1037. doi:10.1007/s00227-001-0776-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beu AG (2001) Gradual Miocene to Pleistocene uplift of the central American Isthmus: evidence from tropical American Tonnoidean gastropods. J Paleontol 75:706–720. doi: 10.1666/0022-3360(2001)075≤0706:GMTPUO≥2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bjorndal K (1997) Foraging ecology and nutrition of sea turtles. In: Lutz PL, Musick JA (eds) The biology of sea turtles. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 199–231

  • Bolten AB (2003) Variation in sea turtle life history patterns: neritic vs oceanic developmental stages. In: Lutz PL, Musick JA, Wyneken J (eds) The biology of sea turtles. Volume II. CRC Press,  pp 243–257

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolten AB, Balazs GH (1982) Biology of the early pelagic stage - the “lost year”. In: Bjorndal K (ed) Biology and conservation of sea turtles. Smithsonian Institute Press, Washington, DC, pp 579–581

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyle MC (2006) Post-hatching sea turtle biology. Dissertation

  • Brongersma LD (1970) Miscellaneous notes on turtles III. Proc K Ned Akad Wet Ser C Biol Med Sci 73:323–335

  • Carr A (1986) Rips, FADS and little loggerheads. Bioscience 36:92–101. doi:10.2307/1310109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carr A (1987) New perspectives on the pelagic stage of sea turtle development. Conserv Biol 1:103–121. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.1987.tb00020.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carr AF, Meylan AB (1980) Evidence of passive migration of green turtle hatchlings in sargassum. Copeia 1980:366–368. doi:10.2307/1444022

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frick J (1976) Orientation and behaviour of hatchling green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in the sea. Anim Behav 1976:849–857. doi:10.1016/S0003-3-3472(76)80015-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes GR (1974) The sea turtles of south-east Africa II. The biology of the Tongaland loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta L. with comments on the leatherback turtle Dermochelys coriacea L. and the green turtle Chelonia mydas L. in the study region. Oceanogr Res Inst Invest Rep 36:1–48

    Google Scholar 

  • Lalli CM, Gilmer RW (1989) Pelagic snails: the biology of holoplanktonic gastropod mollusks. Standford University Press, Standford

    Google Scholar 

  • Limpus CJ, Limpus DJ (2003) Biology of the loggerhead turtle in western South Pacific Ocean foraging. In: Bolten AB, Witherington BE (eds) Loggerhead sea turtles. Smithsonian Books, Washington, DC, pp 93–113

    Google Scholar 

  • Limpus CJ, Limpus DJ (2007) Recruitment of Eretmochelys imbricata from the pelagic to the benthic feeding life history phase. In: Limpus CJ, Miller JD (eds) The hawksbill turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata, in eastern and northern Australia. Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Brisbane

    Google Scholar 

  • Limpus CJ, Limpus DJ, Arthur KE, Parmenter CJ (2005) Monitoring green turtle population dynamics in Shoalwater Bay: 2000–2004. GBRMPA Res Pub 83:1–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Mann MA, Mellgren RL, Paz RF, Cardozo CA, Aguilar JDM, Rios MTC (2000) Diet dependent growth in green sea turtle hatchlings. In: Kalb HJ, Wibbels T (eds) The 19th Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation. U.S. Dept. Commerce NOAA Tech Memo NMFS-SEFSC-443, Miami, pp 110–111

  • Marshall AT, Cooper PD (1988) Secretory capacity of the Lachrymal salt gland of hatchling sea turtles Chelonia mydas. J Comp Physiol B Biochem Syst Environ Physiol 157:821–828. doi:10.1007/BF00691014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCauley SJ, Bjorndal KA (1999) Conservation implications of dietary dilutions from debris ingestion: sublethal effects in post-hatchling loggerhead sea turtles. Conserv Biol 13:925–929. doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.1999.98264.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meylan AB (1984) Feeding ecology of the hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata): spongivory as a feeding niche in the coral reef community. Dissertation

  • Nichols WJ, Resendiz A, Mayor-Russeau C (2000) Biology and conservation of loggerhead turtles in Baja California, Mexico. In: Kalb HJ, Wibbels T (eds) Proceedings of the 19th Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation. U.S. Dept. Commerce NOAA Tech Memo NMFS-SEFSC-443, Miami, pp 169–171

  • Parker DM, Cooke WJ, Balazs GH (2005) Diet of oceanic loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) in the central North Pacific. Fish Bull (Wash DC) 103:142–152

    Google Scholar 

  • Peckham H, Nichols WJ (2002) Why did the turtle cross the ocean? Pelagic red crabs and loggerhead turtles along the Baja California coast. In: Seminoff JA (ed) Proceedings of the 22nd annual symposium on sea turtle biology and conservation. U.S. Dept. Commerce NOAA Tech Memo NMFS-SEFSC-503, Miami, pp 47–48

  • Plotkin PT (1999) Feeding ecology of the loggerhead sea turtle in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. In: Eckert SA, Eckert KL, Richardson TH (eds) Proceedings of the 9th annual workshop on sea turtle conservation and biology. U.S. Dept. Commerce NOAA Tech Memo NMFS-SESC-232, Miami, pp 139–141

  • Polovina JJ, Kobayashi DR, Parker DM, Seki MP, Balazs GH (2000) Turtles on the edge: movement of loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) along oceanic fronts, spanning longline fishing grounds in the central North Pacific, 1997–1998. Fish Oceanogr 9:71–82. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2419.2000.00123.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polovina JJ, Howell E, Parker DM, Balazs GH (2003) Dive-depth distribution of loggerhead (Carretta carretta) and olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) sea turtles in the central North Pacific: might deep longline sets catch fewer turtles? Fish Bull (Wash DC) 101:189–193

    Google Scholar 

  • Polovina JJ, Uchida I, Balazs GH, Howell E, Parker DM, Dutton P (2006) The Kuroshio extension bifurcation region: a pelagic hotspot for juvenile loggerhead sea turtles. Deep Sea Res Part II Top Stud Oceanogr 53:326–339. doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2006.01.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reich KJ, Bjorndal KA, Bolten AB (2007) The ‘lost years’ of green turtles: using stable isotopes to study cryptic lifestages. Biol Lett 3:712–714. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2007.0394

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson JI, McGillivary P (2001) Post-hatchling loggerhead turtles eat insects in Sargassum community. Mar Turtle Newsl 55:2–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seki MP, Polovina JJ (2001) The generalized open-ocean food web. In: Steele JH, Turekian KK, Thorpe SA (eds) Encyclopaedia of Ocean Sciences. Academic Press, London, pp 1959–1965

  • Shaver DJ (1991) Feeding ecology of wild and head-started Kemp’s ridley sea turtles in south Texas waters. J Herpetol 25:327–334. doi:10.2307/1564592

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith DL (1977) A guide to marine coastal plankton and marine invertebrate larvae. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque

  • Southgate P, Lucas J (2003) Reproduction, life cycles and growth. In: Lucas J, Southgate P (eds) Aquaculture: farming aquatic animals and plants. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, pp 111–122

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomas J, Aznar FJ, Raga JA (2001) Feeding ecology of the loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta in the western Mediterranean. J Zool (Lond) 255:525–532

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Nierop MM, den Hartog JC (1984) A study of the gut contents of five juvenile loggerhead turtles, Caretta caretta (Linnaeus) (Reptilia Cheloniidae), from the south-eastern part of the North Atlantic Ocean, with emphasis on coelenterate identification. Zool Mededelingen Leiden 59:35–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Witherington BE (1994) Flotsam, jetsam, post-hatchling loggerheads, and the advecting surface smorgasbord. In: Bjorndal KA, Bolten AB, Johnson DA, Eliazar PJ (eds) Proceedings of the 14th international symposium on sea turtle biology and conservation. U.S. Dept. Commerce NOAA Tech Memo NMFS-SEFSC-351, Miami, pp 166–168

  • Witherington BE (1998) Habitats and bad habits of young loggerhead turtles in the open ocean. In: Abreu-Grobois FA, Briseño-Dueñas R, Márquez-Millán R, Sarti-Martínez L (eds) Proceedings of the 18th international symposium on sea turtle biology and conservation. U.S. Dept. Commerce NOAA Tech Memo MFS-SEFSC-436, Miami, pp 34–35

  • Wrobel D, Mills C (1998) Pacific coast pelagic invertebrates: A guide to common gelatinous animals. A Sea Challengers and Monterey Bay Aquarium Publication, Monterey, CA

    Google Scholar 

  • Zangerl R, Hendrickson LP, Hendrickson JR (1988) A rediscription of the Australian flatback sea turtle Natator depressus. Bishop Museum Bulletins in Zoology I, Honolulu

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was undertaken in collaboration with the Queensland Marine Turtle Conservation Project of the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency and was funded in part by Australian Geographic and the Queensland Government Smart State Funding Program. The authors wish to thank the following people and organisations for their assistance with post-hatchling collection; Brian Deacon, Brian Gill, Geoff Kelly, David Kreutz, Duncan Limpus, Elton Robinson, Grant Taylor, Underwater World, Seaworld, and New South Wales Parks and Wildlife Service. We are grateful to the following people for their assistance with the identification of various organisms from the turtle’s stomachs: Dianna Jones, Roger Springthorp, Ian Loch, Dave Britten and Peter Arnold. We would also like to acknowledge the review and comments of anonymous reviewers. This work was conducted in compliance with the current Australian laws.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Angus Smith Drive, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia

    M. C. Boyle

  2. Queensland Environmental Protection Agency, 160 Ann St, Brisbane, QLD, 4000, Australia

    C. J. Limpus

Authors
  1. M. C. Boyle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. C. J. Limpus
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. C. Boyle.

Additional information

Communicated by X. Irigoien.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Boyle, M.C., Limpus, C.J. The stomach contents of post-hatchling green and loggerhead sea turtles in the southwest Pacific: an insight into habitat association. Mar Biol 155, 233–241 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-008-1022-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-008-1022-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation