loqqerhead marine turtles, we used sodium diatrizoate, a commonly 

 used radiographic contrast agent, injected subcutaneously either 

 in the neck or hind limb followed by serial filming. The kidneys 

 were not visualized after 2k hr. The contrast agent was absorbed 

 more quickly from the neck injection site than from the hind limb 

 site. These absorption rates could be useful for determining 

 injection site selection for other purposes, such as antibiotic 

 therapv in suspected or proven infections. 



In this paper we report the use of sodium diatrizoate to 

 demonstrate differential absorption from two subcutaneous sites, 

 the neck and the hind limb in the Atlantic ridley turtle. The 

 kidneys were also observed to determine if opacification of the 

 urinary tract occurred. 



MATERIALS AND METHODS 



After the earlier studies involving two loggerhead turtles of 

 approximately 300 g each, six Atlantic ridley turtles from four 

 to six months of age, and ranging in weight from 100 to 320 g, 

 and in apparent good health were chosen at random from the 

 rearing tanks at the Galveston Laboratory. The drug used for 

 injection was sodium diatrizoate (50% W/V) (Hypaque^ Sodium 50% 

 brand of diatrizoate sodium injection, USP sterile aqueous injec- 

 tion, Winthrop Laboratories, 90 Park Avenue, New York, N.Y. 

 Reference to trade names or commercial companies does not imply 

 endorsement by the National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA) . 

 Sodium diatrizoate is freely miscible with blood, absorbs x-rays 

 in part of the diagnostic x-ray spectrum (due to its high atomic 

 number) , and is therefore opaque (Blaufox and Freeman, 1978) . A 

 dosage of 150 mg (0.5 cc of sodium diatrizoate 50%) for turtles 



