Sains Malaysiana 44(1)(2015): 49–55

Effects of Egg Incubation Methods on Locomotor Performances of Green Turtle

(Chelonia mydas) Hatchlings

(Kesan Kaedah Pengeraman Telur ke atas Prestasi Pergerakan Anak Penyu Agar Chelonia mydas)

MOHD UZAIR RUSLI¹*, JUANITA JOSEPH², HOCK-CHARK LIEW¹ & ZAINUDIN BACHOK¹

¹School of Marine Sciences and Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu

21030 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia

²Institute of Oceanography and Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu

21030 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia

Diserahkan: 12 Jun 2013/Diterima: 30 Jun 2014

ABSTRACT

Effects of different incubation methods on crawling and swimming ability of post-emergence green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) hatchlings at Cherating (Kuantan, Pahang) and Chagar Hutang (Pulau Redang, Terengganu) Turtle Sanctuary were analysed during nesting season in 2009. Mean crawling speed of hatchlings incubated in styrofoam box, beach hatchery and in situ were at 0.042±0.008, 0.136±0.026 and 0.143±0.045 m/s, respectively. Crawling performance of hatclings from styrofoam box can be improved by keeping them for at least 48 h after their emergence. For swimming performance, all types of incubation methods showed significant differences in mean power-stroke rate during their early swimming effort ranging at 93-114 strokes/min. However, no correlation was found between morphological characteristics of hatchlings and swimming performance. The results from this study may give different perspective in evaluating hatchling production, which is in terms of hatchling morphological characteristics and their locomotor performance.

Keywords: Chelonia mydas; conservation; incubation methods; locomotors performance

ABSTRAK

Kesan kaedah pengeraman ke atas prestasi merangkak dan berenang anak penyu agar (Chelonia mydas) yang baru menetas di Tempat Perlindungan Penyu Cherating (Kuantan, Pahang) dan Chagar Hutang (Pulau Redang, Terengganu) telah dianalisis pada musim bertelur tahun 2009. Purata kelajuan merangkak anak penyu yang dieram di dalam kotak polisterin, pantai tempat penetasan dan in situ adalah berbeza dengan masing-masing mencatatkan 0.042±0.008, 0.136±0.026 dan 0.143±0.045 m/s. Prestasi merangkak anak penyu daripada kotak polisterin boleh ditingkatkan dengan cara menyimpan mereka sekurang-kurangnya 48 jam selepas menetas. Daripada aspek prestasi renangan, semua jenis pengeraman telah menunjukkan perbezaan yang signifikan dengan julat 93-114 kuak seminit. Walau bagaimanapun, perkaitan antara ciri morfologi dengan prestasi renangannya tidak ditemui dalam kajian ini. Hasil kajian ini telah memberi satu perspektif yang berbeza kepada penilaian penghasilan anak penyu iaitu dalam bentuk ciri morfologi dan prestasi pergerakan anak penyu.

Kata kunci: Chelonia mydas; kaedah pengeraman; pemeliharaan; prestasi pergerakan

RUJUKAN

Balaam, L.N. 1972. Fundamental of biometry. Science of Biology Series. London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd.

Balazs, G.H. 1980. Synopsis of biological data on the green turtle in the Hawaii Islands. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS, Honolulu, Hawaii.

Carr, A. & Hirth, H. 1961. Social facilitation in green turtle siblings. Animal Behaviour 9(1-2): 68-70.

Chen, T.H. & Cheng, I. 1995. The breeding biology of the green turtle, Chelonia mydas (Reptilia: Cheloniidae) at Wan-An Island, Peng-Hu Archipelago, Taiwan. I. Nesting ecology. Marine Biology 124: 9-15.

Cheng, I.J., Huang, C.T., Hung, P.Y., Ke, B.Z., Kuo, C.W. & Fong, C.L. 2009. Ten years of monitoring the nesting ecology of the green turtle, Chelonia mydas, on Lanyu (Orchid Island), Taiwan. Zoological Studies 48(1): 83-94.

Chung, F.C., Pilcher, N.J., Salmon, M. & Wyneken, J. 2009. Offshore migratory activity of hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) hatchlings, II. Swimming gaits, swimming speed, and morphological comparisons. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 8(1): 35-42.

Dehn, M. 1990. Vigilance for predators: Detection and dilution effects. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 26: 337-342.

Godfrey, M.H. & Mrosovsky, N. 1997. Estimating the time between hatching of sea turtle and their emergence from the nest. Chelonian Research Foundation 2(4): 581-585.

Goff, M., Salmon, M. & Lohmann, K. 1998. Hatchling sea turtles use surface waves to establish a magnetic compass direction. Animal Behaviour 55(1): 69-77.

Guinea, M.L. 1995. Report to Australian Nature Conservation Agency: The sea turtles and sea snakes of Ashmore Reef National Nature Reserve. School of Biological Sciences, Northern Territory University, Darwin (unpublished).

Gyuris, E. 2000. The relationship between body size and predation rates on hatchlings of the green turtle (Chelonia mydas): Is bigger better. In Sea Turtles of the Indo-Pacific: Research Management and Conservation, edited by Pilcher, N.J. & Ismail, G. Devon, UK: Asean Academic Press. pp. 143-147.

Hamann, M., Jessop, T.S. & Schäuble, C.S. 2007. Fuel use and corticosterone dynamics in hatchling green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) during natal dispersal. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 353(1): 13-21.

Hamann, M., Jessop, T., Limpus, C. & Whittier, J. 2002. Aspects of the emergence and dispersal physiology in hatchling green sea turtles from Heron Island, Australia. 20th Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation, National Marine Fisheries Service.

Ischer, T., Ireland, K. & Booth, D.T. 2009. Locomotion performance of green turtle hatchlings from the Heron Island Rookery, Great Barrier Reef. Marine Biology 156(7): 1399-1409.

Joseph, J. 2006. Conservation genetics of green (Chelonia mydas) and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) sea turtles of Southeast Asia. PhD Thesis. University of London, London (unpublished).

Limpus, C.J. 1980. The green turtle in eastern Australia. In Management of Turtle Resources, Research Monograph 1, Townville: James Cook University of Queensland.

Limpus, C.J., Miller, J.D., Parmenter, C.J. & Limpus, D.J. 2003. The green turtle, Chelonia mydas, population of Raine Island and the northern Great Barrier Reef: 1843-2001. Memoirs Queensland Museum 49(1): 349-440.

Limpus, C.J., Fleay, A. & Guinea, M. 1984. Sea turtles of the Capricornia Section, Great Barrier Reef. In The Capricornia Section of the Great Barrier Reef: Past, Present and Future, edited by Ward, W.T. & Saenger, P.P. Brisbane: Royal Society of Queensland and Australian Coral Reef Society.

Lutcavage, M.E., Plotkin, P. & Peter, L. 1997. Human impacts on sea turtle survival. In The Biology of Sea Turtles, edited by Lutz, P.L. & Musick, J. Boca Raton: CRC Press. pp. 387-409.

Moritz, C., Broderick, D., Dethmers, K., Fitz Simmons, N. & Limpus, C.J. 2002. Population genetics of Southeast Asian and Western Pacific green turtles, Chelonia mydas. Final Report to UNEP/CMS. 20th June.

Mortimer, J.A. 1999. Reducing threats to eggs and hatchlings. Hatcheries. In Research and Management Techniques for the Conservation of Sea Turtles, edited by Eckert, K.L., Bjorndal, K.A., Abreu-Grobois, F.A. & Donnelly, M. Washington, DC: IUCN/SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group Publication No. 4. pp. 175-178.

Ozdemir, B. & Turkozan, O. 2005. Carapacial scute variation in green turtle, Chelonia mydas hatchlings in northern Cyprus. Turkish Journal of Zoology 30: 141-146.

Parmenter, C.J. 1978. Resume of Bramble Cay - results 1977/78 season. Unpublished report to Applied Ecology Pty. Ltd. (Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service, Canberra.)

Pritchard, P.C.H. 1971. Galapagos sea turtle - preliminary findings. Journal of Herpetology 5(1-2): 1-9.

Seminoff, J.A. 2004. Chelonia mydas. In IUCN 2014. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1. <www. iucnredlist.org>. Accessed on 15 June 2014.

Wyneken, J., Madrak, S.V., Salmon, M. & Foote, J. 2008. Migratory activity by hatchling loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta L.): Evidence for divergence between nesting groups. Marine Biology 156(2): 171-178.

Wyneken, J. & Salmon, M. 1992. Frenzy and postfrenzy swimming activity in loggerhead, green, and leatherback hatchling sea turtles. Copeia 2: 478-484.

*Pengarang untuk surat-menyurat; email: uzair@umt.edu.my