Fase lunar e comportamento de Eretmochelys imbricata (LINNAEUS, 1766) no Rio Grande do Norte

Abstract

Some animals perceive the changes brought about by environmental rhythms and synchronize their biological cycles in order to increase the chances of survival and / or increase their reproductive success. In this work the spawning behavior was analyzed in relation to the type of lunar phase of the comb turtle on the southern coast of the State of Rio Grande do Norte. The records came from the nocturnal and diurnal monitoring of TAMAR-RN, occurring in the reproductive seasons from 2006/2007 to 2015/2016. The 10 reproductive seasons had a total number of records of 4807, and of these, the records with presence of the flagrant time were 1301. The seasons analyzed presented monthly records peaks occurring in the months of January to March. The most frequent times of individuals caught on the beach occurred between 20-22hs. In relation to the lunar visibility at the moment of the occurrence of the nesting process, records of the type with spawning (CD) were observed in greater quantity at the moment when there was no presence of the moon in the sky, while "half moon" ( ML) and "no spawning" (SD) occurred homogeneously, with no apparent relation to the visibility of the moon in the sky. The number of records of specimens on the beach remained heterogeneous in all lunar phases, with a higher frequency of records during the waning crescent moon, as evidenced by the Kuiper test. It was observed that the minimum frequency occurred specifically during the days of full moon and new moon. The internidal interval of the species Eretmochelys imbricata is approximately half of the lunar cycle. The calculation of the lunar angle for migratory turtles found the absence of nesting preference in the same lunar phases over several seasons.