Biomarkers of reproduction in endangered green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) nesting at Tortuguero, Costa Rica

Renato Saragoça Bruno; Jaime Alberto Restrepo Machado; Gilberto Rafael Borges Guzman; Jorge Iván Ramos Loria; Roldán Arturo Valverde

doi:10.1093/conphys/coab072

Biomarkers of reproduction in endangered green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) nesting at Tortuguero, Costa Rica

Conserv Physiol. 2021 Sep 7;9(1):coab072. doi: 10.1093/conphys/coab072. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Renato Saragoça Bruno^{1

2}, Jaime Alberto Restrepo Machado³, Gilberto Rafael Borges Guzman¹, Jorge Iván Ramos Loria³, Roldán Arturo Valverde^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Turtle Love, Barra de Parismina, Limon 70301, Costa Rica.
² Department of Biological Sciences, Southeastern Louisiana University, 808 North Pine Street, Hammond, LA 70402, USA.
³ Sea Turtle Conservancy, 4581 NW 6th St, Suite A, Gainesville, FL 32609, USA.

Abstract

Understanding the timing of vitellogenesis is essential for identifying threats to the reproductive success of endangered oviparous vertebrate species, such as sea turtles. We measured concentrations of testosterone (T) and vitellogenin (VTG) in green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) nesting at Tortuguero, Costa Rica, as biomarkers of ovarian development. Testosterone concentration increased from the first to second month and VTG concentration increased at the third week of sampling. These results show that Tortuguero green sea turtles were still producing both biomarkers early into the nesting season. VTG concentration was negatively correlated with female weight, suggesting that larger females start nesting earlier at Tortuguero and that we may have sampled larger females further into their reproductive cycle.

Keywords: Conservationendocrinologyreproductive biologysea turtlesTortuguero.

Published by Oxford University Press 2021.