Meeting Abstract
As hatchlings and posthatchlings, marine turtles are vulnerable to a wide variety of marine, terrestrial, and aerial predators. During their early stages of growth, each sea turtle species displays a variety of strategies to reduce that predation risk. This study investigated the morphological differences between immature hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) and green (Chelonia mydas) sea turtles that occur sympatrically in a foraging habitat in the southwestern Dominican Republic. At a given straight carapace length (SCL) green turtles had a wider straight carapace width than hawksbill turtles. In addition, at a given SCL green turtles had a larger curved carapace length indicating that they had a larger body depth. Previous studies suggest that green turtles exhibit allometric growth early on, growing in width faster than they do in length. This growth pattern is advantageous as it helps them more rapidly exceed the gape of potential predators. Hawksbill turtles are narrower than green turtles of a given SCL, but possess sharp, pointed marginal scutes that could also assist in deterring predators by making the turtles more dangerous to handle. We hypothesize that these differences in growth and carapace morphology are indicative of the use of different evolutionary strategies as adaptations to reduce predation pressure.
