Variable Production of Annual Growth Rings by Juvenile Chelonians WILLIAM R

Turtle and Tortoise Newsletter, Issue 11

Variable Production of Annual Growth Rings by Juvenile Chelonians WILLIAM R. BELZER[ AND SUSAN SEIBERT' 'Box Turtle Consen-ation Trust, 304 East Bissell Ave. Oil City. Pennsylvania 16301 USA {[email protected]] Corresponding author. 2AA Forestry and Wildlife Sen-ice, Inc, 2270 Raymilton Road, Utica, Pennsylvania 16362 USA {[email protected]]

The production of 1 annual growth ring (major growth (38 d'd'; 22 QQ) head-started box turtles. We divided each mark in nomenclature of Zug, 1991; cf. Wilson et al. 2003) juvenile's major ring count by its age (R = 1-2.5 years; s in a turtle's scute is a disputed assertion. The accuracy of us = 2 years) at the time when it was transferred from head ing growth mark (ring) counts to estimate the age of turtles start conditions into wild habitat and obtained a mean of 2.5 has been assessed in many species and debated extensively rings added per year (R = 1-7; SD = 0.8). in articles such as Germano and Bury (1998), Litzgus and We initiated head-start studies in 2000 in connection Brooks (1998), and Zug (1991). Many field workers (e.g.. with our eastern box turtle repatriation studies (Belzer Germano 1998) report a reliable scute ring:age correlation, 1999) after our work in the 1990s found that use of translo whereas others (e.g., Wilson et al. 2003) do not. Discern cated adults, nest protection, and short-term head starting ing narrow or shallow growth rings produced during low (Belzer 2002; Belzer et aJ. 2002) were inadequate strate growth years. especially as turtles become adults, is often gies for rebuilding extirpated populations. We therefore difficult, and deciding which rings are truly major annual began an assessment of potential success with 2-year-old marks (contrast Zug 1991; Tracy and Tracy 1995: Berry juveniles, head started by the Michell protocol (Michell 2002; Germano 1998; and Wilson et al. 2003) can be sub and Michell 1999). Our modified Michell regimen features jective and uncertain. 2 years of a 22°-25°C temperature range, moist peat moss Figure 1 documents a case of an eastern box turtle (Ter substrate in an 84-L Sterilite plastic box, 14 hId of light rapene carolina carolina Linneaus) conforming to the ideal from a 45.75-cm Lumichrome lXX 15-watt full-spectrum ized production of 1 ring per year. This juvenile female was plus fluorescent bulb, and twice-daily offerings of Repto rescued from a construction site near Washington. Pennsyl min aquatic turtle food sticks for the first 20 months or so vania in May 2001. Because the turtle could not be returned of life. This protocol generally produces large (250-300 to her native habitat, she was donated to our repatriation g, but sometimes exceeding 400 g or even 500 g) juvenile study (Belzer and Steisslinger 1999) in June 2001 with a eastern box turtles in less than 2 years. They are free of body weight of 170 g and a growth ring count of about 7, anatomic abnormalities sometimes seen by veterinarians as shown in Fig. lao During the next 4 years she lived and in pets grown rapidly on unbalanced diets. The health of foraged in an enclosure in wild habitat at the Buttermilk our 5 dozen Michell head-started animals appears excel Hill Nature Sanctuary (BHNS) near Utica, Pennsylvania. lent. Some are now 7 years old and have lived at large in and gained 67 g. Her 2005 photograph in Fig. Ib shows wild habitat at the 200-ha BHNS for 5 years. None has yet about 4 new rings added during that confinement, match contracted the common ailments of wild box turtle popu ing Germano's (1998) findings of annual ring production lations, such as aural abscesses (Brown et al 2003; Dodd in penned juvenile desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) in and Griffey 2004), or respiratory and eye infections (Evans natural habitat. 1993: Willer et aJ. 2003), whereas some of the adults who More than I ring per year, however, is often produced range among them have. by juvenile desert tortoises (Tracy and Tracy 1995; cf. Ger Because there are obvious differences in depth among mano 1998), as well as by wood turtles, Glyptemys insculpta the rings produced by our head-started animals, and because (formerly Clemmys insculpta) (Harding and Bloomer 1979) shallow rings are generally fine, closely packed, and diffi when they are reared in artificial conditions. Our findings cult to count, we counted only the deeper scute indentations with head-started hatchlings add the eastern box turtle to as major growth marks. and regard their shallow ones as that list. We counted the major growth rings on all of our 60 minor marks even when they formed complete rings. Our

Figure 1. (a) Wild juvenile female, 2001, 170 g body weight; 7-8 growth rings in second right pleural scute. (b) Same female as (a). 2005, 237 g; 11-12 rings in second right pleural scute.

10 ... r December, 2007

Figure 3. Twenty-three-month-old head-started 237-g male. Three deep, and a few additional minor. growth rings in first right pleural scute.

Figure 2. Epoxy cast of third left pleural scute of a 23-month-old head-started 396-g male.

conservative counting standard is therefore a departure from the method that counts any complete ring as major (Tracy and Tracy 1995). Although subjectivity, involved in decid ing which rings are "deep enough" to count as major, can introduce some error into our ring counts, the prevalence of supernumerary annual growth rings was obvious. Wilson et Figure 4. Eleven-month-old head-started 299-g male. Two deep, plus al. (2003) instructively reviewed the confusion existing in multiple minor, rings in third left pleural scute. even the most basic biology and nomenclature of chelonian growth rings. Figure 2 is an example of one of our many head-started juvenile Box Turtles that display more than I major annual scute ring. The image is a negative epoxy impression of rings from a 23-month-old male (body weight 396 g). The five or six deepest rings are complete, as are many of the additional finer rings. Multiples of those finer rings are pro duced even by the rare individual among our head-started juveniles that added fewer than 2 major growth marks dur ing a year's rapid indoor growth (Fig. 3). Figure 5, Twenty-four-month-old head-started 523-g female. Before they reach the 250-g size sufficient to carry a ra Indeterminate major, but numerous minor, rings in first right pleural. compared to marginal, scute. diotransmitter and safely be released for field study (Yahner 1974; Murphy 1976; Belzer et al. 2002), our head-started animals display so much variation in numbers of major and chell head-starting regimen, and are often larger than their minor growth marks that considerable error would exist in mother within 2 years. age estimates made from counting their rings. Figures 4-8 The 3 turtles in Figs. 6-8 were slower-growing head-start provide a sample that illustrates that variety, the subjectivity ed juveniles from other mothers. The female in Fig. 6, at only required to decide which rings are major, and the conserva 12 months and 170 g, has 2 or 3 major rings and additional tive leaning in the ring counts reported in this article. minor rings. The 22-month-old juveniles in Figs. 7 and 8 are The male in Fig. 4 was only 11 months old at the time of each about 275 g, with mUltiple major, plus minor, rings. the photograph. He weighed 299 g (unusually fast growth The supernumerary annuli we see in our head-started box for our head-start regimen) and had already produced at least turtles extend the findings of Harding and Bloomer (1979) 2 deep major, as well as numerous minor, growth marks. and Tracy and Tracy (1995) for (respectively) artificially The female in Fig. 5 was 24 months old and weighed reared juvenile wood turtles and desert tortoises. Germano 523 g with numerous shallow growth marks. The rings on (1998) regarded such supernumeraries as peculiar to artifi the pleural scutes are not deeply indented and so appear to cial rearing conditions. However, juvenile chelonians in na include perhaps only 1, or maybe no, major rings. whereas tive habitats have produced multiple major marks in a year. her marginal scutes display as many as 5 major (deep) rings. Liztgus and Brooks (1998) found juvenile spotted turtles Most offspring from the 425-g mother of this female (who (Chlemmys guttata) that produced more (as well as fewer) also produced the large II-month-old male of Fig. 4 in a than the expected 1 ringly in native Canadian habitat. Berry previous season's clutch) grow unusually fast with the Mi (1998) found juvenile native desert tortoises that produced

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ever, indicate that even the juvenile stages of various spe cies, living in native habitat, can deviate from the expected 1 annulus per year of age. Those field observations suggest that the occurrence of supernumerary annuli that we find among our head-started box turtles is not a deviation that occurs only under artificial rearing conditions, a recogni tion that recommends that an allowance for error be given to age estimates of native juvenile chelonians that are based on growth ring counts. Figure 6. Twelve-month-old head-started 170-g female with at least 2 major, and mUltiple minor, rings in first right pleural scute. Acknowledgments We are grateful to 1. Stanley and K. Goodblood for per mission to conduct our protracted field studies within their BHNS, to K. Michell for sharing her head-start protocol, to R. Rondon for preparation of this article's figures; to head starter volunteers too numerous to list, to Jude Holdsworth for sharing unpublished data, and to B. Shundler of the Sc hundler Co. for African Grade #4 vermiculite used as egg incubation medium. We also thank the Bebko family of the Pittsburgh Cat Clinic and Hospital, the Bartramian Audu bon Society, and Donald Santillo for extraordinary philan Figure 7. Twenty-two-month-old head-started 281-g male with thropy toward the Turtle Conservation Fund that sustains at least 3 deep, plus additional minor. rings in second right pleural our field work, and The Venango Area Community Founda scute. tion for its fiscal management of that Conservation Fund. Our field work is conducted under a Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission special permit, continuously in force since 1993, and in accordance with SSAR Guidelines for -Use of Live Amphibians and Reptiles in Field Research. We acknowledge helpful criticisms from 2 anonymous review ers on an earlier draft of this article.

Literature Cited BELZER, B. 1999. Home range establishment by translocat ed eastern box turtles. Box Turtle Research and Con Figure 8. Twenty-two-month-old head-started 268-g female with at servation Newsletter 8:3-7 and 20-22. least 2 deep, and numerous minor, rings in second right pleural scute. BELZER, B~ 2002. A nine-year study of box turtle courtship with implications for reproductive success and conser vation in a translocated population. Turtle and Tortoise multiple annual rings. Similarly, J. Holdsworth (pers. Newsletter 6: 19-22. comm., 20 August 2006), studying Blandings turtles (Emy BELZER, B., AND STEISSLINGER, M.B. 1999. The box turtle: doidea blandingii) in their native New York habitat at James room with a view on species decline. American Biol Baird State Park, found that extra major rings are some ogy Teacher 61:510-513. times produced in 1 year by juveniles. For example, 2 of the BELZER, W.R., SEIBERT, S., AND ATKINSON, B. 2002. Puta Blandings juveniles (Baird Park archival IDs: LlOIR8 and tive chipmunk predation of juvenile eastern box turtles. LlIIR2) in which she counted 8 annuli in 2005, and who Turtle and Tortoise Newsletter 5:8-9. grew about 10 mm during the ensuing season, each had 11 BERRY, K.H. 2002. Using growth ring counts to age juve annuli in spring 2006. In contrast, a smaller juvenile with 4 nile desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) in the wild. annuli, and negligible growth during the ensuing 2005 sea Chelonian Conservation and Biology 4:416-424. son, had just 5 annuli in spring 2006. BROWN, J.D., SLEEMAN 1.M., AND ELVINGER, F. 2003. Epi Whereas Germano (1998), Bury and Germano (1998), demiologic determinants of aural abcessation in free and Germano and Bury (1998) noted that ring counting is living eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina) in Vir not reliable for determining age in later life stages, they and ginia. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 39:918-921. others deem it dependable for juvenile stages in wild popu BURY, B.R., AND GERMANO, DJ. 1998. Annual deposi lations. The field observations of juveniles by Berry (1998) tion of scute rings in the western pond turtle, Clem for the desert tortoise, and Litgus and Brooks (1998) for mys marmorata. Chelonian Conservation and Biology spotted turtles, and Holdsworth for Blandings turtles, how 3:108-109.

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DODD, C,K., JR., AND GRIFFEY, M.L. 2004. Aural abscesses MURPHY, J. 1976. The natural history of the box turtle. on Florida box turtles are associated with abnormally Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society wet winters. Herpetology Review 35:233-235. 11:2-47. EVANS, R.H. 1983. Chronic bacterial pneumonia in free TRACY, CR., AND TRACY, CR. 1995. Estimating age of ranging eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina caro desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) from scute rings. lina). Journal of Wildlife Diseases 19:349-352. Copeia 1995:964-966. GERMANO, DJ. 1998. Scutes and age determination of des WILLER, CJ., LEWBART, G.A., AND LEMONS, C 2003. ert tortoises revisited. Copeia 1998:482-484. Aural abscesses in wild eastern box turtles, Terrapene GERMANO, DJ., AND BURY, B.R 1998. Age determination carolina carolina, from North Carolina: Aerobic bacte in turtles: evidence of annual deposition of scute rings. rial isolates and distribution of lesions. Journal of Her Chelonian Conservation and Biology 3: 123-132. petological Medicine and Surgery 13:4-9. HARDING. J.H. AND BLOOMER TJ. 1979. The wood turtle, WILSON, D.S., TRACY, CR., AND TRACY, CR. 2003 Es Clemmy's insculpta...a natural history. HERP: Bulletin timating age of turtles from growth rings: a critical of the New York Herpetological Society, 15: 9-26. evaluation of the technique. Herpetologica 59: 178 LiTZGUS, J.D., AND BROOKS, RJ. 1998. Testing the valid 194. ity of counts of plastral scute rings in spotted turtles, YAHNER, RH. 1974. Weight change, survival rate and home Clemmys guttata. Copeia 1998:222-225. range change in the box turtle, Terrapene carolina. Co MICHELL, K., AND MICHELL, R.G. 1999. Translocation, re peia 1974:546-548. habilitation and headstarting of wood turtles. Abstracts ZUG. G.R 1991. Age determination in turtles. Society for of the 1999 SSAR Joint Meeting, Penn State Univer the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Herpetological sity, University Park, PA. Circular No. 20, 28pp.

Thrtle Toll in Etawah, Uttar Pradesh, India SHAILENDRA SINGH Center For Herpetology/Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, Post Bag 4, Mamallapuram-603 104. Tamil Nadu, South India, India [mcbtindia@ vsnl.net. [email protected]/

On 6 January 2007, a consignment of 1664 live turtles had small and medium fresh wounds on their plastron and packed in 34 gunnysacks and 38 kg dried turtle cartilage limbs. Predators (feral dogs and jackals) had partially eaten packed in 4 gunnysacks was seized by local police from a 58 of the turtles, possibly when they left the water. Turtle house in Jaswantnagar, a small town 16 km west of Etawah body remains such as gut, heads, and limbs were scattered district headquarters. Etawah is 215 km from Lucknow, state all along the release site. Turtles possibly died from tem capital of Uttar Pradesh (UP). Offenders were nabbed when perature shock. they were about to transport the turtle consignment to Kol Twenty-four turtles found in a moribund state were kata by truck. Police nabbed 1 turtle trader from Kolkata, transported to the MCBTrrSA in situ turtle nursery, Na 2 middlemen, and 3 Kanjars (nomad tribe). Seized turtles tional Chambal Sanctuary, Uttar Pradesh. We put them in were Lissemys punctata (1000+) and 1 Geochalamys ham KMNO4 for half an hour and kept them in a clean open gun iltonii; the dried cartilage was possibly that of Aspideretes nysack for a while to raise their body temperature. Turtles gangeticus. The suspects told police that all turtles were were subsequently transferred in a small muddy pond on caught from nearby ponds, wetlands, and streams. Within the nursery premises for further observation. Five blood 30 hours of seizure, police with the UP Forest Department samples of Lissemys were also collected and sent to a lab to released all live turtles into the Chambal River near Udi confirm the origin of the specimens. Bridge on Gwalior-Etawah (Figure 1). Likewise, on 2 December 2006, a truckload turtle con A field team from the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust signment was seized in Etawah town. The consignment was (MCBT) took quick note of the incident and surveyed the being transported to the Kolkata market. That truck was place of release. The team found 956 dead and 24 moribund seized with 7000+ specimens of L. punctata and A. gange L. punctata along a 900- m stretch downriver from the Udi ticus. Those turtles were also released by local police and bridge from 10 to 14 January 2007. Semiconscious turtles the Forest Department into the Chambal River of NCS near were trying to burrow in comparatively shallow muddy wa the Udi bridge. Only 1 offender (the truck cleaner) could be ter, and some of them were trying to come out of the river. sent to jail. Reportedly all these turtles were captured from Several of the dead turtles were found 150 m away from nearby wetlands and marshes of the town. The fate of the the river's edge, with clear tracks on the sand. Most of the turtles released in the river could not be determined. turtles apparently died while they were trying to come out Presently the Chambal River in NCS is home to 8 spe of the water. Bleeding was observed from the nostrils and cies of freshwater turtles and is one of the last repositories mouths of dead turtles. Two hundred twenty-three turtles of several endangered turtle species, including Kachuga lw