Meeting Abstract

P3.66  Thursday, Jan. 6  Dietary Analysis of the Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) along the Georgia Coast ERICKSON, M/R*; MAERZ, J/C; GROSSE, A/M; Georgia Southern University; University of Georgia; Savannah River Ecology Laboratory matt_erick@yahoo.com

There is a void in scientific literature concerning feeding ecology of the diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) along the Georgia coast. We used fecal and stable isotope analysis to identify terrapin food resources in quantifiable terms, and to examine whether diets differ predictably as a function of turtle sex, size, and as a result of injury. Consistent with previous studies using fecal samples, terrapins consumed primarily crabs and snails. As expected, the large adult females consumed larger crabs and snails than the smaller males and juvenile females. However, both stable isotope and fecal analyses suggest a diet shift between smaller and larger terrapins. This shift appears as a greater reliance on high marsh fauna as prey, such as fiddler crabs and periwinkle snails, for larger, nesting size female terrapins, and the increased use of lower tidal flat fauna, such as mud snails, in the diets of younger females and males. An increasing reliance on high marsh fauna indicates that nesting female terrapins may spend less time in the lower tidal portions of the estuary and more time feeding in the high.