MTN 77:8-9 New Records Of Lepidochelys Olivacea (Eschscholtz, 1829) And Eretmochelys Imbricata (Linnaeus, 1766) In The Southwest Atlantic

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NEW RECORDS OF LEPIDOCHELYS OLIVACEA (ESCHSCHOLTZ, 1829) AND ERETMOCHELYS IMBRICATA (LINNAEUS, 1766) IN THE SOUTHWEST ATLANTIC

There are few literature records of olive ridleys in the southwest Atlantic. D'Amato (1992) reports an adult specimen 69 cm in carapace length at Mel Island (25°30'S, 48°20'W) in the state of Paran, Brazil. Frazier (1984), commenting on the first record of the species in the western South Atlantic based on two specimens, one 51.5 cm straight carapace length and the other without data, stated that one of the specimens was still on display in a restaurant at Punta del Diablo, Department of Rocha, Uruguay. Lema (1994) cites the occurrence of L. olivacea in the states of Paran and Rio Grande do Sul, based on fragmentary information.

The primary nesting area for the olive ridley turtle, Lepidochelys olivacea, in Brazil is the state of Sergipe (Marcovaldi and Marcovaldi, 1985); however, the southernmost recorded nesting in the western Atlantic is the Biological Reserve of Comboios (19°45'S, 39°55'W) in the state of Espírito Santo (Marcovaldi and Albuquerque, 1982). In this report we document four adult olive ridleys south of 26°S (Table 1). The contention that the specimens are adults is based on the size of breeding females at Eilanti, Suriname, where Schulz (1975) reports an average straightline carapace length of 68.5 cm (range 63-75 cm, n=500).

Table 1. New records of Lepidochelys olivacea in the southwest Atlantic.

The hawksbill turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata, is the most tropical of all marine turtles (Witzell, 1983). There are virtually no literature records of this species from our area. In his study of Argentina and Uruguay, Frazier (1984) concluded there was no evidence of the presence of this species in the southwest Atlantic. Lema and Ferreira (1990) mistakenly reported that adult specimens had been caught by fishing boats off the coast of Rio Grande in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil and kept alive in the Museu Oceanográfico de Rio Grande. Museum officials have clarified the matter in personal communication, stating that the origins of these specimens had been examined and certified as being from northeastern Brazil. Lema (1994), in referring to this species, revises the count to a single record in the same locale, without mentioning the specimen in question.

The principal nesting areas for the hawksbill turtle in Brazil are between Forte Beach and the beaches of the Parque Interlagos condominium complex in the northern part of the state of Bahia (Marcovaldi and Marcovaldi, 1985, 1987). Breeding populations are reduced in Brazil, and thus only a small percentage of the hatchlings emerging from the nation's beaches are of this species (D'Amato and Marczwski, 1993). All the records we describe are of large juveniles or subadults, based on Witzell's (1983) definition of "subadults" as having a carapace length of 34-65 cm.

Table 2. New records of Eretmochelys imbricata in the southwest Atlantic.

All of the new specimens mentioned here were victims of fishing incidents involving nets or fishhooks. Both curved and straight carapace lengths were obtained from the leading edge of the precentral scute to the posterior edge of the postcentral scute. All material was deposited in the Museu Oceanográfico do Vale do Itajaí (MOVI). We are grateful for the collaboration of Dr. Carlos N. Gofferjé.

Carr, A. 1952. Handbook of Turtles of the United States, Canada and Baja California. Ithaca, Comstock Publ. Assoc., Cornell Univ. Press. 542 pp.

D'Amato, A. F. 1992. Ocorrência de Lepidochelys olivacea (Eschscholtz,1829) (Testudines: Cheloniidae) para o Estado do Paran - Brasil. Acta Biol. Leopoldensia 14(1):95-97.

D'Amato, A. F. and M. Marczwski. 1993. Aspectos da biologia de tartarugas marinhas (Cheloniidae) na regiao de Praia do Forte, Município de Mata de Sao Joao, Bahia, Brasil, Durante o período reprodutivo 1990-1991. Arq. Biol. Tecnol. 36(3):513-519.

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Marcovaldi, M. A. D. and G. G. D. Marcovaldi. 1985. Projeto Tamar/MA-IBDF: Areas de desova, ocorrência e distribuiçao das espécies, época de reproduçao, comportamento de postura e técnicas de conservaçao das tartarugas marinhas no Brasil. Brasília, Brasil. MA-IBDF. 47 pp.

Marcovaldi, M. A. D. and G. G. D. Marcovaldi. 1987. Projeto Tartaruga Marinha. Areas de desova, épocas de reproduçao, técnicas de conservaçao. Bol. FBCN 22:95-104.

Schulz, J. P. 1975. Sea Turtles Nesting in Surinam. Nederl. Commiss. Intern. Natuurbes., Sticht. Natuurbeh. Sur. 23(3):1-143.

Witzell, W. N. 1983. Synopsis of Biological Data on the Hawksbill Turtle, Eretmochelysimbricata (Linnaeus, 1766). FAO Fisheries Synopsis No. 137. 78 pp.

JULES M. R. SOTO and RODRIGO C. P. BEHEREGARAY, Universidade do Vale do Itajaí - UNIVALI, Faculdade de Ciências do Mar - FACIMAR, Museu Oceanográfico do Vale do Itajaí - MOVI, Cx. P. 360 CEP 88302-202 Itajaí, SC, BRAZIL.