Comportamento de desova e paternidade múltipla em ninhos de "Podocnemis sextuberculata" (Testudines:Podocnemididae) na reserva biológica do rio Trombetas, Pará, Brasil

Abstract

Podocnemis sextuberculata genus belongs to the family Podocnemididae is considered “Vulnerable” according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature - IUCN, largely due to the human harvest of their eggs and adults. Several studies reported the occurrence of multiple clutches of the turtles from the Podocnemis genus, including P. sextuberculata. However, direct observation (capture-mark-recapture) were not mad. Most studies report multiple clutches indirectly, through the analysis of gonads. Multiple clutches in turtles are considered important for the survival of the offspring. A polyandrous mating system and multiple paternity in turtles contributes to genetic heterozygosity in offspring and promotes greater genetic variability in the population. This study aims to analyze directly the nesting behavior and the occurrence of multiple clutches during a breeding season of P. sextuberculata as well as their ecological and genetic effects on the offspring. The study area is located in the Trombetas Biological Reserve, in the municipality of Oriximiná, Pará, Brazil. The nests were identified on the Farias Beach (1º15'S), from October to November 2013. During the nesting season, the beach was monitored from 1900h to 0700h for 60 nights. Females were captured, measured and blood samples collected after nesting. Radio transmitters were attached their carapaces to monitor their movements and potential nesting in nearby areas. The nests were marked. After the eclosion of the eggs, we collected data on reproductive characteristics. We also took a blood sample from the hatchling femoral vein. We used six primers from the studied species, five primers from P. unifilis and a primer from P. expansa to perform the PCR analysis (the Polymerase Chain Reaction) and genotyping. There were no reports of a second clutch for any of the females monitored in this study. Female size (track width) was significantly smaller (ANOVA; df = 2.15 F = 4.22, p < 0.05; Tukey: p <0.05) at the beginning of the breeding season (mean = 110mm ± 8.4) than in the middle of the breeding season (mean = 148mm ± 19). There were no significant differences between the hatching success (ANOVA; df = 2.35; F = 0.85; p = 0.44) and clutch size (ANOVA; df = 2.31; F = 0.29; p = 0.75) for the different periods of the breeding season (beginning, middle and end). Mean incubation time was 55 days (50 - 73). The hatchling remained in the nest after hatching for a mean of 6 days (2-14). We observed a strong synchronization between the descent and the ascent of the river water level with the nesting 11 and hatching period, respectively. We analyzed all hatchlings from 23 nests, and confirmed multiple paternity in 100% of the sample. There was a mean of six fathers per nest. There were no significant difference between the number of parents and the period of the nesting season (Kruskal-Wallis; df = 2, H = 2.193, p = 0.33). There were also no significant differences between the relative size of females (Correlation of Spearman; rho = -0.10; p = 0.76) and the hatching success (Correlation of Spearman; rho = 0.04; p = 0.85) compared with the number of males fathering the clutch. However, clutch size was significantly related to the number of father found (Correlation of Spearman; rho = 0.47; p < 0.05).