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Remigration and growth of loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) nesting on Senri Beach in Minabe, Japan: life-history polymorphism in a sea turtle population

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Abstract

There are size-related differences in the use of feeding habitats (planktonic or benthic; oceanic or neritic) by adult female loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) within Japanese populations. We thus hypothesized that the differences may be reflected in their remigration and growth patterns, and investigated the relationships between body size and remigration intervals, growth rates, and remigration percentages, for female loggerheads nesting on a Japanese beach between 1991 and 2001. Although remigration intervals, growth rates, and remigration percentages were not significantly different among females, there were trends for longer remigration intervals and lower remigration percentages in smaller females. All females grew little. Considering these results along with previous findings, we speculated on the life-history strategy of female Japanese loggerheads.

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Acknowledgements

We thank numerous volunteers for helping with nightly patrols on Senri Beach. We also thank the Sea Turtle Association of Japan for supplying tags, tagging pliers, and calipers. W. Sakamoto and H. Tanaka provided useful advice on this work. Three anonymous referees critically read this manuscript and provided constructive comments. This work was partly supported by grants from Research Fellowships of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) for Young Scientists (H.H., Y.M., and K.S.) and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (no. 05454093). The experiments were conducted under licenses issued by the municipality of Minabe Town and complied with the current Japanese laws.

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Author notes

  1. H. Hatase

    Present address: Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, 1-15-1 Minamidai, Nakano, Tokyo 164-8639, Japan

  2. Y. Matsuzawa

    Present address: Sea Turtle Association of Japan, 5-17-18-302 Nagao-motomachi, Hirakata, Osaka 573-0163, Japan

  3. T. Bando

    Present address: Institute of Cetacean Research, 4-5 Toyomi, Chuo, Tokyo 104-0055, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Fisheries and Environmental Oceanography, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan

    H. Hatase, Y. Matsuzawa & T. Bando

  2. National Institute of Polar Research, 1-9-10 Kaga, Itabashi, Tokyo 173-8515, Japan

    K. Sato

  3. Minabe Sea Turtle Research Group, 278 Higashiyoshida, Minabe, Wakayama 645-0001, Japan

    K. Goto

Authors
  1. H. Hatase
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  2. Y. Matsuzawa
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  3. K. Sato
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  4. T. Bando
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  5. K. Goto
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Correspondence to H. Hatase.

Additional information

Communicated by T. Ikeda, Hakodate

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Hatase, H., Matsuzawa, Y., Sato, K. et al. Remigration and growth of loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) nesting on Senri Beach in Minabe, Japan: life-history polymorphism in a sea turtle population. Marine Biology 144, 807–811 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-003-1232-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-003-1232-3

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