Diet of hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) in the Gulf of California, Mexico

Abstract

Abstract Hawksbill turtles (n = 56) in a foraging ground around Isla San Jose, Gulf of California, Mexico, were caught, measured, and their skin and scutes sampled. Tissue samples from putative prey species were collected from observed hawksbill feeding areas in the foraging ground. Measurements of each turtle's straight carapace length were used to estimate the average life stage of the population. Tissue samples were processed for stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis to estimate foraging habits of turtles in this location. The majority (96.4%) of measured individuals' straight carapace length fell in the size range considered to be juveniles. A Bayesian mixing model analysis of the δ13C and δ15N values of hawksbill skin and potential prey indicated that hawksbills consume primarily invertebrates and algae, with lesser contributions from seagrass and mangrove material. There was a positive linear relationship between turtle size and the δ13C values from scute samples, and an increase in the δ13C values of five individuals recaptured in subsequent years suggested a potential location shift from a pelagic habitat in the turtles' post‐hatching, earliest juvenile years to the nearshore foraging area around Isla San Jose in their later juvenile years.