Meeting Abstract

P3.87  Jan. 6  Visual Physiology of Juvenile Leatherback and Loggerhead Sea Turtles SALMON, M*; HORCH, K; FORWARD, R.; Florida Atlantic University; University of Utah; Duke University Marine Laboratory salmon@fau.edu

Electroretinographic recordings were made from hatchling loggerhead and leatherback eyecup preparations to generate dark-adapted spectral sensitivity curves. Both species were maximally sensitive to wavelengths between 500 � 540 nm, with a secondary peak at 380 nm. The spectral sensitivity curve for leatherbacks was shifted toward the short wavelength end of the spectrum relative to that of the loggerheads. This differences may reflect adaptations to lighting available at the relatively shallow (loggerhead) versus deeper (leatherback) sites where each species forages. The broad spectrum of wavelengths detected by both species (near UV to yellow-orange) indicates that vision is mediated by more than one photopigment, potentially rendering the turtles capable of color vision.