Kitayama Chiyo, Yamaguchi Yohei, Kondo Satomi, Ogawa Ryuta, Kawai Yusuke K, Kayano Mitsunori, Tomiyasu Jumpei, Kondoh Daisuke
Everlasting Nature of Asia (ELNA), Ogasawara Marine Center, Ogasawara, Tokyo 100-2101, Japan.
Laboratory of Veterinary Anatomy, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan.
J Vet Med Sci. 2020 Sep 24;82(9):1312-1315. doi: 10.1292/jvms.20-0058. Epub 2020 Jul 13.
Sea turtles can detect airborne and waterborne odors, but whether they recognize scents from the same species and if so, how they affect their behavior remains unknown. The present study evaluated the behavioral effects of odorants on juvenile green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas). The odorants were derived from Rathke glands (external scent glands) of mature male green sea turtles, and from two types of food. The activity of the juveniles increased when exposed to food scents, and significantly decreased compared with controls when exposed to scents from Rathke glands. These findings indicated that scents from the same species affect behavior, and that chemical communication via olfaction has important outcomes for sea turtles.
海龟能够检测空气中和水中的气味，但它们是否能识别同一物种的气味，如果能识别，这些气味如何影响它们的行为仍是未知的。本研究评估了气味剂对绿海龟幼龟（蠵龟）行为的影响。这些气味剂来源于成年雄性绿海龟的拉特克氏腺（外部嗅觉腺）以及两种食物。幼龟在接触食物气味时活动增加，而在接触拉特克氏腺的气味时，与对照组相比活动显著减少。这些发现表明，同一物种的气味会影响行为，并且通过嗅觉进行的化学通讯对海龟具有重要影响。
