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Marine Turtle Newsletter 3:4-5, © 1977

Recent Papers

CORNELIUS, S.E. 1976. Marine turtle nesting activity at Playa Naranjo, Costa Rica. Brenesia, 8, 1-27. Documentation of nest site preferences, long nesting season and unusually small size of green turtles, olive ridleys and leatherbacks on this beach. Stephen E. Cornelius, Dept. of Wildlife & Fisheries, TX A&M Univ. College Station, TX 77843, USA.

FRICK, J. 1976. Orientation and behavior of hatchling green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in the sea. Animal Behavior, 24, 849-857. Hatchling turtles tracked for several kms; non-random headings maintained even when turtles out of sight of land, but one group of turtles taken out to sea in a boat and then released showed poor orientation. J. Frick, P.O. Box 293, Lincoln, MA 01773 USA.

HUGHES, G.R. 1976. Irregular reproductive cycles in the Tongaland loggerhead sea-turtle, Caretta caretta L. (Cryptodira: Chelonidae) Zoologica Africana, 11, 285-291. Plastic tags "useless", increase in recovery rates following switch to monel tags; author concludes that 40-50% of loggerheads in Tongaland nest only once in their lifetime. G.R. Hughes, Natal Parks, Game and Fish Preservation Board, P.O. Box 662, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.

KOOISTRA, T.A. and EVANS, D.H. 1976. Sodium balance in the green turtle, Chelonia mydas, in seawater and freshwater. Journal of comparative Physiology, 107, 229-240. Salt gland does not become functional until about 16 days after transfer from fresh to seawater. Thomas A. Kooistra, Dept. of Biology, Univ. of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124 USA.

MARQUEZ, M.R., VILLANUEVA, O.A. and PENAFLORES, S.C. 1976. Sinopsis de datos biologicos sobre la tortuga golfina (lepidochelys olivacea (Eschscholtz, 1829). Instituto Nacional de Pesca. Sinopsis Sobre la Pesca no. 2, 1-61. Compilation of data on the olive ridley following format of Hirth's 1971 FAO paper on the green turtle, with emphasis on populations nesting in Mexico. In Spanish. Rene Marquez Millan, Instituto Nacional de Pesca, Apartado Postal 79-052, Mexico 7, D.F. Mexico.

OWENS, D.W. 1976. Endocrine control of reproduction and growth in the green sea turtle Chelonia mydas. Ph.D. Thesis. 109 p. Univ. of AZ. Dissertation Abstracts International, 37 No. 4. Data on effects of hormones on turtles raised in captivity on Grand Cayman Island, sexing of turtles gave skewed sex ratios, possibility of temperature sensitive gonadal differentiation mechanisms raised. David W. Owens, CO State Univ. Dept. of Zoology, Fort Collins, CO 80523 USA.

PHILIBOSIAN, R. 1976. Disorientation of hawksbill turtle hatchlings, Eretmochelys imbricata, by stadium lights. Copeia, no. 4, 824. Richard Philibosian, Bureau of Fish and Wildlife, Box 1878, Frederiksted, St. Croix, Virgin Islands 00840 USA.

PRITCHARD, P.C.H. 1976. Post-nesting movements of marine turtles (Cheloniidae and Dermochelyidae) tagged in the Guianas. Copeia, no.4, 749-754. Documents the longest recorded migrations for turtles of any kind, discusses relation of currents and migratory routes; tag loss in leatherbacks a serious problem. Peter C.H. Pritchard, FL Audubon Society, P.O. Drawer 7, Maitland, FL 32751 USA.

ZWINENBERG, A.J. 1976. The olive ridley, Lepidochelys olivacea (Eschscholtz, 1829): probably the most numerous marine turtle today. Bulletin of the Maryland Herpetological Society, 12:75-95. General account of biology of this species, with table giving nesting periods all over the world. A.J. Zwinenberg, Borneostraat 23, Vlaardingen Holland.