Plasma Vitellogenin in Free-Ranging Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta caretta) of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean
Figure 4
(a) Mean vitellogenin and (b) mean testosterone concentrations measured in nesting females over the nesting season were parsed every two weeks. Error bars represent the standard error of the mean and different letters represent significantly different groups. (A = Beginning June–Mid June; B = Mid June–End June; C = Beginning July–Mid July; D = Beginning August–Mid August; E = Beginning August–Mid August.) Both testosterone and vitellogenin concentrations decreased in nesting females as the nesting season progressed. Vitellogenin concentration was significantly higher in nesting turtles sampled in June compared to those measured in turtles caught in July and August. Testosterone concentration was significantly higher in nesting females sampled during the first two weeks of June in comparison to the end of June and all of July and beginning of August.
