Activity Patterns of Yellow-Lipped Sea Kraits (Laticauda colubrina) on a Fijian Island

Shetty, Sohan; Shine, Richard

doi:10.1643/0045-8511(2002)002[0077:apoyls]2.0.co;2

Cited by 38 publications

(41 citation statements)

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“…This frenetic activity inevitably makes severe demands on the animal's energy stores. In some other snake species, males move about more slowly and court much less vigorously (e.g., Shetty and Shine 2002); hence, metabolic costs are, presumably, correspondingly lower.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do a male garter snake's energy stores limit his reproductive effort?

Shine¹,

Mason²

2005

Can. J. Zool.

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The storage and utilization of energy plays a critical role in reproductive output for females of many species, including snakes. However, links between energy and reproductive effort in males are less clear. Studies at a communal den of red-sided garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis (Say, 1823)) in Manitoba suggest that energy is critical to reproduction for males as well as females. Males vary substantially in body condition (mass relative to body length) at the time they emerge from winter inactivity. The energy to be expended in courtship is stored in the muscles rather than the "conventional" sites for energy storage in snakes (abdominal fat bodies or liver). A male's reproductive effort (the duration of his residency at courting aggregations near the den) was linked to his energy stores and to the rate of depletion of those stores. Male snakes that emerged from hibernation in better condition, and that lost mass slowly thereafter, remained in courting aggregations near the den for longer periods than did males that emerged in poor condition (i.e., with less energy resources) and (or) lost mass more rapidly. In outdoor arenas, males that engaged in courtship lost mass more rapidly than did males with no courtship opportunities. These data suggest that courtship is energetically expensive for male garter snakes and that the amount of effort that a male invests in reproduction is determined by his energy stores.Résumé : La mise en réserve et l'utilisation de l'énergie jouent un rôle fondamental dans le rendement reproductif des femelles de plusieurs espèces, y compris de couleuvres. Les liens entre l'énergie et l'effort reproductif des mâles sont, cependant, moins évidents. Des études faites à un terrier communautaire de couleuvres rayées (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis (Say, 1823)) au Manitoba laissent croire que l'énergie est critique pour la reproduction chez les mâles autant que chez les femelles. Les mâles varient considérablement dans leur condition corporelle (masse en fonction de la longueur du corps) au moment où ils sortent de leur inactivité hivernale. L'énergie qui servira à la cour est stockée dans les muscles plutôt que dans les sites plus « réguliers » de mise en réserve de l'énergie chez les couleuvres, comme les corps gras abdominaux ou le foie. L'effort reproductif du mâle (la durée de son séjour près du terrier dans les rassemblements de cour) est en relation avec ses réserves énergétiques et avec le taux d'utilisation de ces réserves. Les couleuvres mâles qui sortent d'hibernation en meilleure condition et qui subissent une diminution subséquente de masse plus lente demeurent au sein des rassemblements de cour près du terrier plus longtemps que les mâles qui émergent en mauvaise condition (c'est-à-dire avec moins de ressources énergétiques) et (ou) qui subissent une perte de masse plus accélérée. Dans les arènes externes, les mâles qui entreprennent des comportements de cour ont des pertes de masse plus rapides que les mâles qui n'ont aucune occasion de faire la cour. Ces données i...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do a male garter snake's energy stores limit his reproductive effort?

Shine¹,

Mason²

2005

Can. J. Zool.

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“…Our data suggest that the shortening (and flattening) of the tail of the proto-sea snakes (that presumably exhibited the general morphology of tiger snakes; Heatwole, '99) did not preclude an improvement of the routine swimming efficiency, although it may have entailed a slight loss of burst swimming ability. Sea snakes spend a considerable amount of time swimming slowly during foraging activity (Shetty and Shine, 2002;Shine et al, 2004). A metabolically efficient routine swimming speed is probably more …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tail loss, body condition and swimming performances in tiger snakes,Notechis ater occidentalis

2005

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In limbless tetrapods such as snakes, propulsive forces are generated by lateral undulations of the body and of the tail. In a large population of tiger snakes from Western Australia, tail loss was extremely common (58% of the individuals) and often very severe (more than two-thirds of the tail was missing in 14% of the cases, and in some instances, the tail was totally lost). Tail loss was not however correlated with body size, mass or body condition of wild individuals, and hence did not influence their abilities to acquire resources. These large venomous snakes exhibit marked aquatic habits. Locomotor tests in controlled conditions revealed that tail loss had a significant negative influence on burst swimming performances. However, no effect was found on routine swimming speed and total distance travelled over 5 min. These results suggest that a long and slender tail, although important for maximal speed, is not necessarily relevant for the locomotor abilities required for successful hunting. Tail-damaged individuals outnumbered intact snakes, suggesting that tail loss did not severely compromise survival. Overall, in this species, a slight deterioration of maximal speed due to severe tail loss probably has a low (undetectable) ecological impact, at least for adults.

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“…We focus on amphibious sea snakes (sea kraits, Laticaudinae), that forage entirely in the ocean (for fish) but return to small islets to bask, slough, digest their prey, mate and oviposit (Heatwole 1999;Shetty & Shine 2002;). Sea kraits are well suited to such an analysis because: (i) as ectotherms, they can survive long periods without feeding and hence potentially can dissociate foraging from reproduction; (ii) as snakes, their linear body plan facilitates quantification of the degree to which food-induced bodily distension would conflict with egg-induced bodily distension; and (iii) as amphibious animals, the cessation of foraging entails a shift from aquatic to terrestrial activity, rendering it straightforward to evaluate potential costs (such as exposure to predation or suboptimal thermal regimes).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conflicts between feeding and reproduction in amphibious snakes (sea kraits, Laticauda spp.)

Brischoux

Bonnet

Shine³

2011

Austral Ecology

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If reproduction impairs an organism's ability to perform other fitness-related activities, natural selection may favour behavioural adjustments to minimize these conflicts. This is presumably the reason why many animals are anorexic during the breeding season. We studied amphibious sea snakes, a group whose ecology facilitates teasing apart the causal links between reproduction and feeding. In both Laticauda laticaudata and L. saintgironsi in New Caledonia, adult females cease feeding as their eggs develop.The advantages of foregoing feeding do not relate to thermoregulation (because foraging does not entail lower body temperatures), nor are they attributable to physical constraints on abdominal volume (because in a snake's linear body, there is little overlap between the stomach and the oviducts). Instead, female sea kraits appear to cease feeding because their bodily distension impedes locomotor ability, rendering them less effective at foraging and more vulnerable to aquatic predators.

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Activity Patterns of Yellow-Lipped Sea Kraits (Laticauda colubrina) on a Fijian Island

Cited by 38 publications

References 10 publications

Do a male garter snake's energy stores limit his reproductive effort?

Do a male garter snake's energy stores limit his reproductive effort?

Tail loss, body condition and swimming performances in tiger snakes,Notechis ater occidentalis

Conflicts between feeding and reproduction in amphibious snakes (sea kraits, Laticauda spp.)

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