Ecología de la anidación de Crocodylus acutus (Reptilia: Crocodylidae) en Bahía Portete, La Guajira, Colombia

Abstract

Nesting ecology of Crocodylus acutus (Reptilia: Crocodylidae) in Bahia Portete, La Guajira, Colombia. C. acutus is cataloged in critical danger in Colombia. We studied its population at Bahia Portete, in order to survey the nesting activities and to obtain valuable information for a conservation management program. This study was undertaken with the participation of the Wayuü community using the Agreement Conservation Model, and took place during July 2007, August 2008, June and August 2009, and March to August 2010 and 2011. Sampling surveys were made by the use of transects along the coast, in order to find nests. For each nesting area found, we recorded the nests biometrics, eggs and hatchlings, fertility of the eggs and reproductive events. We explored a total of 55.12 km, and determined four nesting areas. Colonial nesting and the environmental variables were factors that affected the hatchling success. From the total of nests found, 37 % were oriented towards North, and 48 % were built next to Stenocereus griseus. Juyui island substrate was mostly constituted by sand (71.9 %, 71.44 %). The average number of eggs by nest was 28.42 ± 6.63, the largest egg diameter was 71.84 ± 3.54 mm, the average nest weight was 81.54 ± 9.99 g, and the hatchlings presented an average length of 25.47 ± 1.16 cm. For this specific site in Colombia, the reproductive period begins in March and ends in August. The few areas of nesting and the 95 % fertility suggest the performance of a conservation management program for this species at Bahía Portete. Rev. Biol. Trop. 65 (1): 211-228. Epub 2017 March 01.

Effects of depth in semi-controlled artificial incubation on egg hatching success of <em>Crocodylus acutus</em> (Cuvier, 1807) and hatchlings biometry

“…Regarding the biometric variables of the C. acutus neonates, these are within the average values registered in other regions (Florida, Mexico, Colombia, Peru), in which the average TL fluctuated between 24.0 and 28.2 cm, and W between 46.13 and 69.0 (Brandt et al, 1995;Álvarez del Toro, 2001;Ossa, 2002;Cupul-Magaña et al, 2004;Pérez & Escobedo-Galván, 2005;Sigler, 2010;Gómez-González et al, 2017). The values of standard length (SL) are rarely recorded for C. acutus neonates.…”

“…The artificial incubation time recorded in this work is higher than that indicated for other localities, in which the incubation period lasts between 70 and 90 days (Thorbjarnarson, 1988;Casas-Andreu, 2003;Hernández-Hurtado et al, 2006;González-Desales et al, 2016;Gómez -González et al, 2017;Barragán et al, 2021) incubators, this result could be due to low temperatures in the incubation room during the experiment, leading to a longer hatching time; reciprocally, it has been mentioned that a shorter incubation time (<80 days) is evidence of high temperatures and low humidity in nesting habitats (Casas-Andreu, 2003;Gómez-González et al, 2017). The total and average hatching success of C. acutus nests obtained by artificial incubation in this work is within the interval reported in studies carried out in natural environments.…”