Somatic growth model of juvenile loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta : duration of pelagic stage

The pelagic juvenile stage of sea turtles is poorly studied. We present a growth model and estimates for duration of the pelagic juvenile stage for loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta in the North Atlantic based on length-frequency analyses and sizes of young-of-the-year stranded in the Azores. T...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine ecology. Progress series (Halstenbek) 2000-01, Vol.202, p.265-272
Main Authors: BJORNDAL, K. A, BOLTEN, A. B, MARTINS, H. R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amphibia. Reptilia
Biological and medical sciences
Caretta caretta
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Marine
Vertebrates: general zoology, morphology, phylogeny, systematics, cytogenetics, geographical distribution
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Summary:The pelagic juvenile stage of sea turtles is poorly studied. We present a growth model and estimates for duration of the pelagic juvenile stage for loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta in the North Atlantic based on length-frequency analyses and sizes of young-of-the-year stranded in the Azores. The size-specific growth model is a monotonic, nonlinear, declining function. The growth model is consistent with growth rates calculated from recaptures of tagged loggerheads. Loggerheads leave the pelagic habitat and recruit to neritic habitats over a range of sizes from 46 to 64 cm curved carapace length (CCL). From this size range and the growth model, we estimate the duration of the pelagic stage varies from 6.5 to 11.5 yr. Nonparametric smooths of the size frequency distributions of loggerheads in pelagic (n = 1692) and neritic (n = 1803) habitats intersect at 53 cm CCL, which is equivalent to an 8.2 yr duration for the pelagic stage. More growth data from loggerheads
ISSN:0171-8630
1616-1599
DOI:10.3354/meps202265