Blood analytes of immature Kemp's ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys kempii) from Georgia, USA: reference intervals and body size correlations.

ABSTRACT: Health assessments of wildlife species are becoming increasingly important in an ever-changing environment. Kemp's ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys kempii; hereafter, Kemp's ridleys) are critically endangered and incur several on-going threats to their population recovery; therefore, it is imperative to advance the understanding of baseline blood analyte data as a diagnostic and monitoring tool. For in-water, trawl-captured, immature Kemp's ridleys (minimum N = 31) from Georgia, USA, the objectives of this study were to (1) establish reference intervals (RIs) for packed cell volume (PCV) and 27 plasma biochemistry analytes and (2) determine length-specific relationships in blood analytes. We observed significant positive correlations between minimum straight carapace length a

SUBMITTER: Perrault JR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7720087 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature