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Marine Turtle Newsletter 46:9, © 1989

Twin Green Turtle Hatchlings in Sri Lanka

Suhashini Hewavisenthi
Department of Zoology, P.O. Box 21, The Open University of Sri Lanka,
Nawala, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka

On 11 January 1989, twin green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) hatchlings were found by Chandrasiri Abbrew, Caretaker of the sea turtle hatchery at Kosgoda on the southern coast of Sri Lanka. Hatchling emergence had taken place in the early morning of 8 January, and the nest was excavated on 11 January to determine hatching success. Three live hatchlings were found in the nest, including one pair of twins. The twins differed from each other in size; one measured 4.2 cm (straightline carapace) and the other 2.5 cm. The two were connected by a shared yolk sac. The smaller twin died prior to term, but the larger twin successfully hatched from the egg. Unfortunately, the larger twin died within three hours of being placed in a seawater aquarium (with the dead twin still attached).

Deraniyagala (1932) reported five cases of twin leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) embryos from Sri Lanka, but I believe that our observation is the first such record from Sri Lanka for Chelonia.

Deraniyagala, P. E. P. 1932. Notes on the development of the leathery turtle, Dermochelys coriacea. Ceylon J. Sci. B. 17:73-102.