Epibionts on Lepidochelys Olivacea (Eschscholtz, 1829) Nesting in Two Municipalities on Colima’s Coast, México

4. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Biología, Mexico

Abstract: The Lepidochelys olivacea sea turtle is one of the world’s seven species of sea turtles and can be found in Mexico. Sea turtles are pelagic species, which means they are also used as a surface area on which epibiont communities may develop. These organisms aren’t dangerous for the turtle, except for Ozobranchus branchiatus. This research allowed us to identify species of epibionts and their incidence on turtle’s body parts like ventral, dorsal and other six body regions of L. olivacea. Patrolling was made once a day during 15 days, getting epibionts from 46 nesting females of L. olivacea; the samples were preserved in 96% alcohol and the leeches on 70% formalin. Posteriorly, the samples were observed and identified in the Ecologic Center of Cuyutlán “El Tortugario”. Six species of epibionts were identified. The species Lepas hilli (P < 0.05) showed the highest incidence, O. branchiatus (P = 0.002) and Platylepas hexastylus (P = 0.002) showed the smallest incidence. Turtles presented epibionts on different body regions, the ventral region (P = 0.019) showing the smallest incidence, like zone 2 (P = 0.001). The dorsal region and zone 1 showed the highest incidence. Finally, there’s still a lot to discover about those interactions, as well as the damages the epibionts may cause on their hosts.