Effects of incubation technique on proxies for olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) neonate fitness

Abstract

Sea turtles and their nests face multiple threats on nesting beaches. Techniques have been developed to mitigate threats, these include relocating nests to fenced-off hatcheries or polystyrene boxes. The alteration of the nest’s natural environment may have direct effects on hatchling phenotype and locomotor performance. To test the effects of these two incubation conditions on proxies for hatchling fitness, we analysed locomotor performance (time to crawl 3 m and righting response) and phenotypic measures (weight and carapace length and width) of olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) hatchlings. We found that mean temperature was higher in hatcheries (30.5°C) than in polystyrene boxes (29.9°C) and that hatchlings incubated in polystyrene boxes had smaller straight carapace length (39.2 mm ± 2.0) and were significantly slower in crawl speed (CS) (0.0107 m s−1 ± 0.005) than those from hatcheries (SCL = 40.7 mm ± 1.3; CS = 0.018 m s−1 ± 0.005).