Open AccessTOLERANCE AND RESPONSES OF NORMAL AND DISEASED LOGGERHEAD TURTLES ( Caretta caretta ) TO SOME CHEMOTHERAPEUTICS 1
Author(s) -
Leong J. K.,
Wheeler R. S.,
Lansford L. M.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
proceedings of the world mariculture society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.655
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1749-7345
pISSN - 0748-3260
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-7345.1980.tb00124.x
Subject(s) - chloramphenicol , malachite green , potassium dichromate , gentamicin , potassium permanganate , biology , turtle (robot) , gentamicin sulfate , toxicity , hatchling , zoology , toxicology , chemistry , medicine , antibiotics , microbiology and biotechnology , fishery , inorganic chemistry , organic chemistry , adsorption , hatching
No external injury was observed in early hatchlings of the loggerhead turtle ( Caretta caretta ) when they were bathed for 10 days in seawater containing either of the following chemicals: Potassium permanganate (0.1 to 0.4 ppm), Formalin (25 to 400 ppm), and malachite green (0.1 to 0.4 ppm). The following concentrations produced toxic or irritating effects: Potassium permanganate, 0.4 and 0.8 ppm; Formalin, 800 ppm; and malachite green, 0.8 ppm and 1.6 ppm. Thirty‐five‐day‐old loggerhead hatchlings survived subcutaneous injections (10 days) of penicillin G (2,500 to 20,000 units/100 g body wt/day) or gentamicin (0.5 to 0.4 mg/100 g/day). Gentamicin appeared toxic at dosages greater than 0.05 mg/100 g. Coupled with 7‐day Formalin bath treatments, subcutaneous injections of either ampicillin or chloramphenicol for 3 weeks produced survival rates of 87.5% and 62.5% in loggerhead hatchlings afflicted with papillary eruption disease and emaciation. Only 20% of the control (untreated) animals survived, and they were in very poor condition at the conclusion of the experiment. Although injection with chloramphenicol plus bath treatments with methylene blue resulted in a 70% survival of medicated turtles, the overall appearance of the animals was poor. The results indicate that among the 3 drug combinations tested, the ampicillin‐Formalin combination should be the preferred treatment of papillary eruption disease, chloramphenicol‐Formalin a second choice, and chloramphenicol‐methylene blue the last alternative.