Population structure of the white turtle, Central American River Turtle Dermatemys mawii Gray (Testudines, Dermatemydidae) in Laguna El Perú, Petén, Guatemala
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54495/Rev.Cientifica.v25i2.92Keywords:
Dermatemys mawii Gray, population structure, white turtle, Laguna El Perú, PeténAbstract
The white turtle (Dermatemys mawii Gray) is considered an endangered species by the IUCN and is listed in the Appendix II of CITES. To this date, few studies have been conducted on the ecology of this species, especially on the population structure, which is important because it is
the only surviving species of the family Dermatemydidae. This work analyzes the population structure (sex ratio, age structure) and the relative abundance of this species in the lagoon El Perú, Petén, Guatemala. The structure was analyzed by determining the sex and age classes, and the relative abundance was calculated taking into account the number of individuals caught per unit effort (meters of trammel net per the amount of hours the net trammel was installed). The work was performed from June 2012 to July 2013 using the method of capture-mark-recapture and tricking for four consecutive nights each month, obtaining a total of 124,800 hrs/m/trammel net. There were 121 individuals captured, markedand released, of whom 70 were males and 51 were females. The sex ratio was obtained using the quotient of the total captures
between males and females, resulting in a sex ratio of 1.37 males to 1 female. We found that about 62% of individuals were sub-adult, followed by a large number of captured adults (38%) and no reports of juveniles. With the obtained results, we conclude that the lagoon Peru has a population of green turtles important for conservation, in addition to being an important nesting and feeding refuge site for this species. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct studies over several complete annual cycles to propose an appropriate management and conservation design that considers the population fluctuations..
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