Differences in Resource Allocation Between Post-Mating Male and Female Olive Ridley Sea Turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea)

Abstract

Olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) are a vulnerable species. During their reproductive season these turtles migrate great distances to mate and lay eggs. Poor nutrition before this migration can result in fitness costs including skipped breeding years, longer inter-nesting intervals, and fewer eggs, thus hindering species recovery. Recovery could be facilitated by better information on nutrition in wild populations. Subcutaneous fat ultrasonography and blood β-hydroxybutyrate measurement are considerably less invasive than traditional techniques to evaluate nutritional state, and have provided useful results in other sea turtle species, but have not been applied to olive ridleys. This study aimed to evaluate if these methods are effective for determining possible changes in fat storage and mobilization in reproducing olive ridleys. Both subcutaneous fat and blood β-hydroxybutyrate were measurable in samples collected from a nesting turtle population in Costa Rica, thus showing promise of these techniques in nutritional assessment of wild olive ridleys.