Burke et al.: Diet of Lepidochelys kempii 



27 



crabs (Cancer irroratus) in their digestive tracts. 



Recently, Shaver (1991) found that Kemp's ridleys 

 in coastal Texas waters preyed mainly on crabs. The 

 most commonly ingested species was the speckled 

 crab (Arenaeus cribrarius). Many other crab species 

 were recorded by Shaver, including purse crabs 

 (Persephonia sp.), spider crabs (Libinia sp.), and 

 blue crabs (Callinectes sp.). 



During the past decade, the role of the northeast- 

 ern coast of the United States in the life cycle of 

 Kemp's ridleys has received considerable attention 

 (Carr, 1980; Morreale and Standora, 1990 '; Burke 

 et al., 1991). The northeastern coast includes the 

 New York area which contains over 300 km of shore- 

 line, mainly the coastline of Long Island. Long Is- 

 land has a variety of marine habitats, including the 

 shallow, enclosed waters of the Peconic and south- 

 ern bays, the deeper waters of Long Island Sound, 

 and the Atlantic Ocean (Fig. 1). Each year Kemp's 

 ridleys begin inhabiting the Long Island area dur- 

 ing July (Morreale and Standora, 1989 2 ; Morreale 

 and Standora, 1990 1 ). To date, all Kemp's ridleys 

 encountered in Long Island have been juveniles 

 (straight-line carapace length from 22 cm to 42 cm 

 x=29.8 cm, SD=3.7 cm [Morreale and Standora, 

 1989 2 , 1990 1 ]). This size class of turtles represents 

 a range of ages from 3 to 7 years (Zug and Kalb, 1989). 



Between July and early October these young 

 Kemp's ridleys are active within the estuarine wa- 

 ters (Long Island Sound and the Peconic Bays) and 

 the southern bays. Kemp's ridley growth rates as 



1 Morreale, S. J., and E. A. Standora. 1990. Occurrence, move- 

 ment and behavior of Kemp's ridley and other sea turtles in 

 New York waters. Annual report to the New York State, Dep. 

 Environmental Conservation, April 1989-April 1990. 



2 Morreale, S. J., and E. A. Standora. 1989. Occurrence move- 

 ment and behavior of the Kemp's ridley and other sea turtles 

 in New York waters. Annual report to the New York State, Dep. 

 Environmental Conservation, April 1988-April 1989. 



high as 25% body weight per month indicate that 

 waters around Long Island, New York, provide 

 abundant food resources for the maintenance and 

 growth of the juvenile turtles (Standora et al., 1989; 

 Burke, 1990). During October the turtles begin 

 moving out of the estuaries and into the ocean. Long 

 distance recaptures of Kemp's ridley, green 

 (Chelonia mydas), and loggerhead (Caretta caretta) 

 sea turtles tagged near Long Island indicate that 

 some turtles emigrate to the southeastern United 

 States (Morreale and Standora, 1989 2 ; Burke, 1990; 

 Morreale and Standora, 1990 1 ). Kemp's ridleys that 

 do not emigrate by late November are likely to be- 

 come cold-stunned (Burke et al., 1991). Cold-stun- 

 ning, or severe hypothermia, occurs when ambient 

 water temperatures fall below 10°C (Schwartz, 

 1978). Cold-stunning causes turtles to become tor- 

 pid and buoyant, and eventually results in death. 

 In Long Island, declining water temperatures usu- 

 ally reach 10°C during early December. 



The cold-stunning phenomenon, other types of 

 strandings, and live captures of sea turtles during 

 commercial fishing operations can be utilized as 

 sources of turtles for dietary studies. The goal of the 

 current study is to provide a quantitative descrip- 

 tion of the diet of Kemp's ridleys in the northeast- 

 ern United States based on gut contents from car- 

 casses, previously preserved dietary samples, and 

 feces from live turtles. 



Materials and methods 



The dietary components of the Kemp's ridley were 

 assessed by using two separate approaches. First, 

 fecal samples were collected from live turtles and 

 examined for their constituents. Second, complete 

 gastrointestinal contents were removed from dead 

 turtles and identified. Samples were obtained from 



