Growth rates and age at adult size of loggerhead sea turtles (<em>Caretta caretta</em>) in the Mediterranean Sea, estimated through capture-mark-recapture records

Paolo Casale; Antonios D. Mazaris; Daniela Freggi; Carola Vallini; Roberto Argano

doi:10.3989/scimar.2009.73n3589

Autores/as

Paolo Casale Department of Animal and Human Biology, University of Rome 1 ‘La Sapienza’,
Antonios D. Mazaris Department of Ecology, School of Biology
Daniela Freggi Sea Turtle Rescue Centre WWF Italy
Carola Vallini A.R.C.H.E
Roberto Argano Department of Animal and Human Biology, University of Rome 1 ‘La Sapienza’

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3989/scimar.2009.73n3589

Palabras clave:

tortuga boba, tasa de crecimiento, captura marcaje recaptura, Mediterráneo

Resumen

A partir de registros de capturamarcaje- recaptura, se estimaron por primera vez en el Mediterráneo las tasas de crecimiento de las fases juveniles de la tortuga boba (Caretta caretta). Se liberaron treinta y ocho tortugas a partir de la costa italiana y se reencontraron después de 1.0-10.9 años en el periodo 1986-2007. El promedio de LCC (longitud curvada del caparazón) varió de 32.5 a 82.0 cm y se observaron tasas de crecimiento variables, de 0 a 5.97 cm/año (promedio: 2.5). La asociación entre la tasa de crecimiento anual y tres covariables (año promedio, talla promedio e intervalo de tiempo) se investigó a través de un modelo no-paramétrico. Solamente la talla media mostró un claro efecto en la tasa de crecimiento, descrito por una curva monotónica descendente. La variabilidad observada indica que factores no incluidos en el modelo, probablemente relacionados con el individuo, tienen un importante efecto en las tasas de crecimiento. En base a la función de crecimiento monotónicamente decreciente que indica que no hay esfuerzo en el crecimiento, se uso una función de crecimiento de von Bertalanffy para estimar el tiempo requerido por las tortugas para crecer dentro del rango de tallas observado. Los resultados indican que las tortugas necesitarán de 16-28 años para alcanzar 66.5-84.7 cm LCC, la talla promedio de anidación observada en las más importantes áreas de anidación del Mediterráneo, lo que puede ser considerado como una aproximación a la talla de madurez.

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