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BLOOD BIOCHEMICAL CHANGES IN CAPTIVE SEA TURTLES

Madoka Kitajima, Manami Sano, Toru Tokura, Fumio Terasawa, Chika Nishitani
Enoshima Aquarium

Hematological analysis of sea turtle was conducted to understand the health condition of captive individuals at Enoshima Aquarium.
Blood was drawn at the interval of once a month, starting from March 2015. Samples were obtained from two male and one female loggerhead turtle, one male and female green turtle, and one female hawksbill turtle. Another female loggerhead turtle was added to the sampling group from June, 2015. 8mL of
blood was drawn from the cervical blood vessel using a syringe (needle; 18G×70R.B GA, NIPRO Corp., syringe; SS-10SZ，TERUMO Corp.) and stored at 4℃ until analysis. Auto-analyzer (JCA-BM8030，JEOL Corp.) was used for detection of biochemical component. Concentrations of 16 components (TP，LDH，CPK， γ-GTP，ALP，BUN，Cre，Na，K，Cl，Ca，Mg，IP，Fe，T-CHO，TG) were measured. Sea turtles were fed three times a week, and health condition and behavior were observed. Follicular dynamics of female sea turtles were evaluated using an ultrasound system (Micro Maxx, SonoSite, Inc.), with abdominal scans conducted from the base of rear flipper towards the abdomen.
Values of Ca and TG increased in females with ovarian follicular growth, and changed in accordance with the maturation of follicle as confirmed through ultrasound monitoring. Values of γ-GTP rose from summer to autumn in one female loggerhead sea turtle. Mean values of LDH ALP, BUN, Mg, and Fe varied among the individuals.
Cl and Na remained within the range of 91–122 mmol/L and 133–156 mmol/L, respectively. Compared to other analyzed components, the variations in Cl and Na values were low. Hawksbill sea turtle stopped eating for over one week and this behavior was observed for five times during the research. No relationship was observed between the fasting period and change in biochemical values.
The results from this research demonstrated that biochemical composition change in accordance with maturation of follicles in female sea turtles but seasonal variations and changes related to health condition were not observed.
Reports on hematological data and its relationship with health condition of sea turtles are scarce. Ambiguity in the standard values prevents the health assessment based on blood biochemical composition. We plan to accumulate additional data in the future to understand the relationship between hematological parameters and health condition in sea turtles.. We also intend to partner with other institutions conducting similar research and contribute the results toward sea turtle health management and biological research.