In Captivity Under The Conditions Of Behavioral Ecology Of Turtles And Their Common

Sea turtles are endangered species, and classified as Category II by National Protection Law on Endangered Species of Wild Fauna. It is of practical significance to study the ecology of the sea turtle. In this thesis, the importance of the study and protection of sea turtle is discussed in the aspects of maintaining the ecological balance in the ocean, safeguarding the biological diversity, and its relationships with the development of science, technology, economy, and culture. Furthermore, the current situations are described on die study of sea turtle resources and its conservation both in our country and in the world. From the study, four factors are found to be threatening the sea turtle in South China Sea, i.e., over-fishing of the sea turtle, over-harvesting of the sea turtle eggs, destroying of the egg laying beaches, and environmental pollution in the ocean; of which the last one is the most terrifying factor. Currently, there are several shortcomings with the study on sea turtle protection in our country. They are the insufficiencies in fundamental study, biological protection study, disease study, and inadequate understanding of the existing resources. Corresponding protection measures have been proposed in this thesis to attempt overcoming these shortcomings. The prevention and treatment of the diseases are the most pressing problems to be tackled with.In this thesis, the behavioral biology and common diseases of loggerhead turtle (Caretta carettd) in captivity are studied. The three loggerhead turtles bred at the Aquarium of Penglai Pavilion have been taken as specimen for this study. The biological behavior of loggerhead turtles has been observed, including their feeding behavior, territorial behavior, defensive behavior, respiratory behavior, and mimicry. The study indicates:1. Feeding behavior: Loggerhead turtle takes swallow ingestion for food intake. It takes 3-7 days for a wild Loggerhead turtle to be bred and get used to feeding by human. In the wild, loggerhead turtle has no special favor for certain food. But in captivity, loggerhead turtle prefers fat greenling (Hexagrammos otakii) from the seaboard of North China. Japanese stone crab (Charybdis japonicd) and dusky stingfish (Sebastiscus marmoratus) are also good diet for loggerhead turtle, especially those of 100-200mm in length and 20-100g in weight. Loggerhead turtle can also take other aquatic, when its favorites are not available.2. Territorial behavior: Loggerhead turtles like living separately, and they live together only in the breeding season. Otherwise, they will fight each other when meeting.3. Defensive behavior: Loggerhead turtles are easy to be frightened. They will ingest only when they can identify clearly what the food is.4. Respiratory behavior: Loggerhead turtles breathe in a way of "swallow". They breathe in un-equal periods, with a frequency of 11-27/hour, and 18/hour on an average.5. Mimicry: When a loggerhead turtle faces a danger, its legs will stop moving and its body will flow on the surface of water so as to hide and protect itself.In this thesis, the common diseases of Loggerhead turtle in captivity are also studied. They are nutrition deficiency disease, disease caused by low temperature, bacterial skin canker, parasitic leeches, parasitic cirripedes, and parasitic helminthes. The pathogeny and symptom are analyzed, and the prevention and treatment are discussed in depth.