FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 85, NO. 1 



for December 1978 stand out strongly as a set by 

 themselves and indicate some special condition. 



The lactate values are of interest in that they give 

 an index of the stress of capture in the trawl net. 

 For quiescent loggerhead sea turtles kept in cap- 

 tivity at RSMAS, blood lactate is very low (0.2-0.4 

 mM). The initial blood lactate values obtained on 

 deck were, by contrast, 10-80 times higher (3.2-16.2 

 mM, Table 1). Down to at least 3-4 mM, the rate of 

 lactate recovery for sea turtles held on board was 

 clearly concentration dependent (Fig. 2,P < 0.01). 

 If the rate did not further decline, then it would take 

 about 20 h for full recovery of the least stressed sea 

 turtles in this study (those with initial blood lactate 

 values of 3-4 mM). If the rate of decline continued 

 to be concentration dependent then the recovery 

 time would be much greater. 



Unfortunately, since no lethargic loggerhead sea 

 turtles were found during this study, one of its prin- 

 ciple objectives, the identification of the state of 

 hibernation in sea turtle, was not realizable. This 

 occurred because South Florida has been blessed 

 with warm winters since 1975 and water tempera- 

 tures have not been lower than 15°C in the Cape 

 Canaveral region. Nevertheless, the wealth of in- 

 formation on the seasonal changes in blood 

 chemistry we now have is sufficient to enable a clear 

 diagnosis of hibernation in sea turtles if and when 

 animals in this condition are found. Magnesium is 

 a prime candidate for such a purpose, since this 

 study identifies the normal range for plasma mag- 

 nesium throughout the year. Substantial increases 

 in blood magnesium have been seen in many hiber- 

 nating animals, including mammals and reptiles 



(Haggag et al. 1965; Soivio and Kristoffersson 1974; 

 Al-Badry et al. 1983). Significant changes in plasma 

 sodium and potassium have also been associated 

 with hibernation in reptiles (Gilles-Baillien 1974). 

 The normal range of potassium is so narrow that 

 extraordinarily high values should be easily de- 

 tected. Substantial increases in blood lactate have 

 been associated with cold torpor in several fresh- 

 water turtles (Jackson et al. 1984); however, as we 

 have seen elevated blood lactate can occur with 

 stress. And finally hematocrit is of high interest 

 since significant changes in hematocrit, both in- 

 creases and decreases, have been widely reported 

 in hibernating reptiles (Gilles-Baillien 1974). With 

 a single exception, hematocrit was remarkably 

 steady over the course of this survey, and perhaps 

 significantly, the exception occurred in the coldest 

 month encountered. Perhaps the very low hema- 

 tocrits found in December 1979 were part of a prep- 

 aratory condition for hibernation. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



This work was supported by National Marine Fish- 

 eries Service contract FSE 49-3-12-40. We wish to 

 thank Fred Berry and Larr Ogren for their encour- 

 agement and assistance. 



LITERATURE CITED 



Al-Badry, K. S., and H. D. Taha. 



1983. Hibernation-hypothermia and metabolism in 

 hedgehogs. Changes in water and electrolytes. Comp. 

 Biochem. Physiol. 74A:435-441. 



r 

 E 



Q) 



4-1 



u 



o 



Rote of lactate decline mM.hr 



-I 



Figure 2.— Rate of blood lactate decline compared to initial lactate con- 

 centration for shrimp trawl trapped loggerhead sea turtles held on board 

 ship for 3-5 h. For the lowest data point w = 11, SDs are illustrated. 

 For other data points w = 1. 



42 



