Lazo-Wasem Et Al | Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 52(2)
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Epibionts Associated with the Nesting Marine Turtles Lepidochelys olivacea and Chelonia mydas in Jalisco, Mexico: A Review and Field Guide Eric A. Lazo-Wasem,1 Theodora Pinou,2 Alejandro Peña de Niz3 and Amanda Feuerstein2,4 1 Corresponding author: Division of Invertebrate Zoology, Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8118 USA —email: [email protected] 2 Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Western Connecticut State University, 181 White Street, Danbury CT 06810 USA 3 Centro Para la Protección y Conservación de Tortugas Marinas “Playa Teopa”; Municipio de La Huerta, Jalisco 48894 Mexico 4 Department of Invertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560 USA Abstract The diversity and frequency of epibiota collected over three years (2001, 2002, 2008) from sea tur- tles (Lepidochelys olivacea and Chelonia mydas) nesting on Teopa Beach in Jalisco State, Mexico, are described. This diversity is compared to epibiotic assemblages procured from these same tur- tle species nesting on other Mexican beaches, and the role these turtles play in the conservation and dispersal of these epibiota is discussed. Given the increased awareness of epibionts and the desire of many researchers to make positive identifications, specific diagnoses, photographs and a collecting protocol will serve as a basic aid to the collection and accurate identification of epibionts found on turtles living along the Pacific coast of Mexico. Resumen Se describe la diversidad y la frecuencia de los epibiota colectados durante tres años de las tortu- gas marinas (Lepidochelys olivacea y Chelonia mydas) que anidan en la playa de Teopa en el es- tado de Jalisco, México. Esta diversidad es comparada a los conjuntos epibionticos adquiridas por estas mismas especies de tortugas que anidan en otras playas Méxicanas, y se discute el papel que estas tortugas desempeñan en la conservación y en la dispersión de estos epibiotas. Dado el conocimiento creciente de epibiontes y el deseo de muchos investigadores de hacer identifica- ciones positivas, diagnosis específicas, fotografías y un protocolo de colecta servirán como ayuda básica a la colección y la identificación de epibiontes encontrados en las tortugas que viven a lo largo de la Costa del Pacífico de México. Introduction vector candidate implicated in transmitting tur- tle herpes virus; subsequently, Lazo-Wasem et al. Conservation of sea turtles includes management (2007) suggested a potentially similar role for the of nesting beaches, nest translocation to protect copepod Balaenophilus. There are several studies hatcheries, head starting, reduction or elimina- on the distribution and abundance of epibionts tion of natural predators, and protection against on Atlantic Ocean turtles, in particular on nest- poaching and fishing (Bjorndal 1995). What has ing loggerheads (Caretta caretta). Previous work only recently received attention are the coevolu- on these turtles showed variation of epizoic diver- tionary interrelationships that exist between sity dependent in part on relatively localized geog- turtles and their epibionts, and how these rela- raphy (Caine 1986; Frick et al. 1998). Both these tionships can affect turtle health and ecology. For studies documented large numbers of epibionts, example, Greenblatt et al. (2004) proposed the with Frick et al. (1998) reporting nearly 90 species parasitic leech Ozobranchus branchiatus as a on loggerheads from Georgia, USA. Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 52(2):221–240, October 2011. © 2011 Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University. All rights reserved. • http://peabody.yale.edu 222 Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 52(2) • October 2011 Turtles inhabiting the Pacific Ocean have Para la Proteccion y Conservación de Tortugas come under scrutiny for epibiont diversity Marinas, Playa Teopa, and Departamento de (Hernández-Vázquez and Valadez-González Estudios para el Desarrollo Sustentable de Zonas 1998; Gámez Vivaldo et al. 2006; Angulo-Lozano Costeras, Universidad de Guadalajara) scan the et al. 2007). These studies focused on nesting olive beach nightly for nesting turtles during the nest- ridley turtles along the Pacific coast of Mexico. ing season, from mid-July to May. More recently, epibiont diversity was docu- Epibionts were collected according to the mented on free-swimming turtles sampled in method described by Frick et al. (1998) and stan- their foraging habitats adjacent to Palmyra Atoll dardized according to Caine (1986) during mon- (Gomez et al. 2011) and detailed data has been itoring of the beach for sea turtle nests (Pinou provided for grapsoid crab epibionts (Planes and et al. 2009). Project manager Alejandro Peña de Plagusia) found on central and eastern Pacific Niz of the Centro Para la Protección y Conser- (Hawaii, USA, and Mexico) populations of olive vación de Tortugas Marinas, Playa Teopa, was ridley turtles (Frick, Kopitsky et al. 2011). responsible for training teams of three workers to Although these and several gray literature techni- locate and collect epibionts, which were collected cal reports document Pacific Ocean marine turtle only after a turtle nested. Epibionts were collected epibionts, most accounts of diversity are only rel- from the carapace, flippers and neck region of the atively brief checklists and in some cases the turtles. All collected specimens were placed into organisms depicted in the accompanying photo- tubes with 70% alcohol and labeled with a host graphs are misidentified. To address this situa- number (corresponding to the turtle nest num- tion, the present study provides a detailed account ber on nesting data sheets). These samples were of epibionts found on the nesting Olive Ridley Sea taken to the Peabody Museum of Natural History Turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) and Green Sea Tur- at Yale University, where they were sorted and tle (Chelonia mydas) from ongoing conservation identified to the lowest taxon possible. Voucher work on both these species along the Mexican specimens are catalogued in the collections of the coast. In addition to the general frequency pat- Yale Peabody Museum Division of Invertebrate terns of epibionts, we provide photographs of Zoology, with data available from the Yale most of the taxa encountered, a review of their Peabody Museum online database (YPM IZ Cat- general natural history and, when possible, their alog 2011). current taxonomic status. Included in this account is a general overview of the diagnostic Results characters that allow for the identification of each epibiont. This information should provide work- The occurrence of 16 different epibiont taxa col- ers in the field with a basic field guide to most of lected from nesting Lepidochelys olivacea and the epibiont taxa likely to be encountered on nest- Chelonia mydas at Teopa Beach, Jalisco, Mexico, ing Pacific coast turtles. during the 2001, 2002 and 2008 nesting seasons are reported here (Table 1). The general taxon Materials and Methods “algae” is included, mainly for comparison to other epibiont studies that have also included this Teopa Beach (locally Playa Teopa) is on the west- epibiont component. Algae can exist as a near- ern Pacific coast of Mexico in Jalisco State, part microscopic epibiont, easily overlooked, and are of an area commonly referred to as the Costa difficult to quantify. Alegre. The turtles sampled were found nesting Thirteen invertebrate epibionts were identi- along a beach 6 km south of Costa Careyes fied to species: the crustaceans Balaenophilus and Chamela (approximately lat 19.5°N, long manatorum, Lepas anserifera, L. hilli, Chelonibia 105.1°W) during a parallel nest monitoring pro- testudinaria, Conchoderma virgatum, Platylepas gram where Lepidochelys olivacea (Olive Ridley decorata, P. hexastylos, Stomatolepas cf. elegans, Sea Turtle) and Chelonia mydas (Green Sea Tur- Planes major and Podocerus chelonophilus; the tle, known locally as prieta negra, or black turtle) annelid (leech) Ozobranchus branchiatus; and the are known to nest (Pinou et al. 2009). Coastal con- gastropod mollusk Stramonita biserialis. Two servation programs (such as that of the Centro cnidarians were also collected, one tentatively Epibionts Associated with Nesting Marine Turtles • Lazo-Wasem et al. 223 TABLE 1. Epibiont frequency on Lepidochelys olivacea and Chelonia mydas from Jalisco, Mexico. Frequency % Frequency Combined Systematic Total L. olivacea C. mydas hosts Combined Epibiont taxon group epibionts (n ϭ 124) (n ϭ 6) (n ϭ 130) L. olivacea C. mydas hosts Actiniaria Cnidaria: 2 2 0 2 16 — 2 Actiniaria Algae Chlorophyta a a — (filamentous) Balaenophilus Crustacea: 432 22 1 23 18 17 18 manatorum Copepoda Chelonibia Crustacea: 127b 30 5 35 24 83 27 testudinaria Cirripedia Conchoderma Crustacea: 720 36 3 39 29 50 30 virgatum Cirripedia Lepas anserifera Crustacea: 1 0 1 1 — 17 <1 Cirripedia Lepas hilli Crustacea: 425 13 6 19 10 100 15 Cirripedia Obelia? Cnidaria: 1c 0 1 1 — 17 <1 Hydrozoa Ozobranchus Annelida: 176 32 0 32 26 — 25 branchiatus Hirudinea Planes major Crustacea: 4 4 0 4 3 — 3 Brachyura Platylepas Crustacea: 4 0 1 1 — 17 <1 decorata Cirripedia Platylepas Crustacea: 75 26 1 27 21 17 21 hexastylos Cirripedia Podocerus Crustacea: 48 5 0 5 4 — 4 chelonophilus Amphipoda Remora remora Vertebrata: 1 1 0 1 <1 — <1 Perciformes Stomatolepas Crustacea: 499 68 2 70 55 33 54 cf. elegans Cirripedia Stramonita Mollusca: 1 0 1 1 — 17 <1 biserialis Gastropoda a Not counted, only noted