Effect of diet on growth in captive Podocnemis unifilis: assessing optimal diets for turtles in head-starting programs
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58782/flmnh.kvwd1981Keywords:
Podocnemis unifilis, ontogeny, growth, head-starting, conservation, diet, river turtleAbstract
Because turtles have come under increasing pressures from habitat loss and over-exploitation as food sources and traditional medicine, efforts have focused on options for conservation, including head-starting programs. Success of head-starting programs depends on establishing economical means of rearing hatchlings over relatively short time frames to sizes resistant to predation. We examined effects of three different diets on growth of a clutch of captive Yellow-spotted Amazon River Turtles (Podocnemis unifilis) over a two-year period in a Florida zoo. Rates of growth differed among the three treatment groups; relationships between morphological variables were not affected by diet. Results indicate that turtles fed on a commercial gel diet may exceed growth rates of animals fed on a more natural, vegetarian diet by more than 15% as measured by straight-line carapace length, or by more than 50% in body mass. Use of a vegetarian diet reduced costs to less than 10% of the cost of a commercial gel diet. Choice of diets for turtles in head-starting programs is a variable that should be weighed against other conservation objectives such as captive duration and intended sizes attained.
References
Agricultural Marketing Service. 2015. Advertised prices for fruits and vegetables at major retail supermarket outlets ending during the period of 12/12 to 12/24. Pp. 1-36 in National Retail Report - Fruits and Vegetables Vol. 9, Fruit and Vegetable Market News Division, United States Department of Agriculture.
Balazs, G. H., and M. Chaloupka. 2004. Spatial and temporal variability in somatic growth of green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) resident in the Hawaiian archipelago. Marine Biology 145:1043-1059. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-004-1387-6
Belensiefer, C. D, and R. C. Vogt. 2006. Diet of Podocnemis unifilis (Testudines, Podocnemididae) during the dry season in the Mamiraua Sustainable Development Reserve, Amazonas, Brazil. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 5:312-317. https://doi.org/10.2744%2F1071-8443%282006%295%5B312%3ADOPUTP%5D2.0.CO%3B2
Bell, C. D., L. J. Parsons, T. J. Austin, B. C. Annette, B. Ebanks-Petrie, and B. J. Godley. 2005. Some of them came home: the Cayman Turtle Farm headstarting project for the green turtle Chelonia mydas. Oryx 39:137-148. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605305000372
Blueweiss, L., H. Fox, V. Kudzma, D. Nakashima, R. Peters, and S. Sams.1978. Relationships between body size and some life history parameters. Oecologia 37:257-272. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00344996
Cadogan, J., A. Blumsohn, M. E. Barker, and R. Eastell. 1998. A longitudinal study of bone gain in pubertal girls: anthropometric and biochemical correlates. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 13:1602-1612. https://doi.org/10.1359/jbmr.1998.13.10.1602
Cantarelli, V. H. 1997. The Amazon turtles - Conservation and management in Brazil. Pp. 407-410 in J. Van Abbema, ed. Proceedings: Conservation, Restoration, and Management of Tortoises and Turtles - An International Conference. New York Turtle and Tortoise Society, Purchase, NY.
Caputo, P. F., D. Canestrelli, and L. Boitani. 2005. Conserving the terecay (Podocnemis unifilis, Testudines: Pelomedusidae) through a community-based sustainable harvest of its eggs. Biological Conservation 26:84-92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2005.05.004
Cole III, T. M. 1992. Postnatal heterochrony of the masticatory apparatus in Cebus apella and Cebus albifrons. Journal of Human Evolution 23:253-282. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0047-2484(05)80003-X
Congdon, J. D., and R. C. van Loben Sels. 1993. Relationships of reproductive traits and body size with attainment of sexual maturity and age in Blanding's turtles (Emydoidea blandingi). Journal of Evolutionary Biology 6:547-557. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1420-9101.1993.6040547.x
Dodd, C. K., and M. J. Dreslik. 2008. Habitat disturbances differentially affect individual growth rates in a long-lived turtle. Journal of Zoology 275:18-25. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2007.00402.x
Fachin-Teran, A., R. C. Vogt, and M. Gomez. 1995. Food habits of an assemblage of five species of turtles in the Rio Guapore, Rondonia, Brazil. Journal of Herpetology 29:536-547. https://doi.org/10.2307/1564736
Fachin-Teran, A., R. C. Vogt, and J. B. Thorbjarnarson. 2004. Patterns of use and hunting of turtles in the Mamiraua Sustainable Development Reserve, Amazonas, Brazil. Pp. 362-377 in K.M. Silvius, R. B. Bodmer, and J. M. V. Fragoso, eds. People in Nature: Wildlife Conservation in South and Central America. Colombia University Press, New York. https://doi.org/10.7312/silv12782-022
Fantin, C., C. F. Carvalho, T. Hrbek, J. W. Sites, A. S. Monjelo, S. Astolfi-Filho, and I. P. Farias. 2007. Microsatellite DNA markers for Podocnemis unifilis, the endangered yellow-spotted Amazon River turtle. Molecular Ecology Notes 7:1235-1238. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-8286.2007.01842.x
Foote, R. W. 1978. Nesting of Podocnemis unifilis (Testudines: Pelomedusidae) in the Colombian Amazon. Herpetologica 34:333-339.
Forsman, A. 1996. An experimental test for food effects on head size allometry in juvenile snakes. Evolution 50:2536-2542. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.1996.tb03642.x
Gong S. P., A. T. Chow, J. J. Fong, and H. T. Shi. 2009. The chelonian trade in the largest pet market in China: scale, scope and impact on turtle conservation. Oryx 43:213-216. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605308000902
Gould, S. J. 1977. Ontogeny and Phylogeny. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Haitao, S., J. F. Parham, F. Zhiyong, H. Meiling, and Y. Feng. 2008. Evidence for the massive scale of turtle farming in China. Oryx 42:147-150. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605308000562
Hernández, O., Í. Narbaiza, and R. Espín. 1998. Zoocriadero de Tortuga del Orinoco (Podocnemis expansa) con fines de reforzamiento de poblaciones silvestres. Pp. 69-75 in J. López, L. Saavedra, and M. Dubois, eds. El Río Orinoco: Aprovechamiento Sustentable - Memorias de las primeras jornadas de investigación sobre el Río Orinoco. Instituto de Mecánica de Fluidos, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas.
Hoffman C. L., and M. D. Cawthorn. 2012. What is the role and contribution of meat from wildlife in providing high quality protein for consumption. Animal Frontiers 2:40-53. https://doi.org/10.2527/af.2012-0061
Jackowski, S. A., R. A. Faulkner, J. P. Farthing, S.A. Kontulainen, T. J. Beck, and A. D. G. Baxter-Jones. 2009. Peak lean tissue mass accrual precedes changes in bone strength indices at the proximal femur during the pubertal growth spurt. Bone 44:1186-1190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bone.2009.02.008
Mogollones, S. C., D. J. Rodríguez, O. Hernández, and G. R. Barreto. 2010. A demographic study of the Arrau Turtle (Podocnemis expansa) in the middle Orinoco River, Venezuela. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 9:79-89. https://doi.org/10.2744/CCB-0778.1
Norris, D., and F. Michalski. 2013. Socio-economic and spatial determinants of anthropogenic predation on yellow-spotted River Turtle, Podocnemis unifilis. Zoologia (Curitiba) 30:482-490. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1984-46702013000500003
Páez, V. P., and B. C. Bock. 2004. Pre- and post-hatching factors affecting juvenile growth rates in the yellow-spotted Amazon River turtle (Podocnemis unifilis). Actualidades Biológicas 26:137-151. https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.acbi.329443
Páez, V. P., A. Lipman, B. C. Bock, and S. S. Heppell. 2015. A plea to redirect and evaluate conservation programs for South America's podocnemidid river turtles. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 14:205-216. https://doi.org/10.2744/CCB-1122.1
Pantoja-Lima, J., P. H. R. Aride, A. T. de Oliveira,D. Félix-Silva, J. C. B. Pezzutti, and G. H. Rebêlo. 2014. Chain of commercialization of Podocnemis spp. turtles (Testudines: Podocnemididae) in the Purus River, Amazon basin, Brazil: current status and perspectives. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 10:8. https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-4269-10-8
Peñaloza, C. L., O. Hernández, and R. Espín. 2015. Head-starting the giant sideneck river turtle (Podocnemis expansa): turtles and people in the middle Orinoco, Venezuela. Herpetological Conservation and Biology 10:472-488.
Richtsmeier, J. T., B. D. Corner, H. M. Grausz, J. M. Cheverud, and S. E. Danahey. 1993. The role of postnatal growth pattern in the production of facial morphology. Systematic Biology 42:307-330. https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/42.3.307
Rivera, G. 2008. Ecomorphological variation in shell shape of the freshwater turtle Pseudemys concinna inhabiting different aquatic flow regimes. Integrative and Comparative Biology 48:769-787. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icn088
Shine, R., and J. B. Iverson. 1995. Patterns of survival, growth and maturation in turtles. Oikos 72:343-348. https://doi.org/10.2307/3546119
Schneider, L., C. R. Ferrara, R. C. Vogt, and J. Burger. 2011. History of turtle exploitation and management techniques to conserve the Rio Negro Basin of the Brazilian Amazon. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 10:149-157. https://doi.org/10.2744/CCB-0848.1
Swingle, W. M., D. I. Warmolts, J. A. Keinath, and J. A. Musick. 1993. Exceptional growth rates of captive Loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta caretta. Zoo Biology 12:491-497. https://doi.org/10.1002/zoo.1430120511
Thorbjarnarson, J. B., N. Perez, and T. Escalona. 1993. Nesting of Podocnemis unifilis in Capanaparo River, Venezuela. Journal of Herpetology 27:344-347. https://doi.org/10.2307/1565161
Thorbjarnarson, J. B., C.J. Lagueux, D. Bolze, M. W. Klemens, and A. B. Meylan. 2000. Human use of turtle: a worldwide perspective. Pp. 33-84 in M.W. Klemens, ed. Turtle Conservation. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.
Trembath, D. F. 2005. The comparative ecology of Krefft's River Turtle (Emydura krefftii) in tropical North Queensland. Masters Thesis, University of Canberra, Bruce, Australia.
Vanzolini, P. E. 1977. A brief biometrical note on the reproductive biology of some South American Podocnemis (Testudines, Pelomedusidae). Papeis Avulsos de Zoologia Sao Paulo 31:79-102. https://doi.org/10.11606/0031-1049.1977.31.p79-102
Werneburg, I., and M. R. Sánchez-Villagra. 2015. Skeletal heterochrony is associated with the anatomical specializations of snakes among squamate reptiles. Evolution 69:254-263. https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.12559
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.