The Relationship Between Egg Weight of Olive Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys Olivacea) on Hatchability using “Maticgator” (Automatic Turtle Egg Incubator)

Abstract

Corresponding Author: Sukandar Sukandar Program Study of Fishery Resource Utilization, Brawijaya University, Malang, Indonesia Email: forsaruil@gmail.com Abstract: Sea turtles are reptile animals that live primarily in oceans but migrate to sandy beaches to produce and lay eggs in large quantities. However, the hundreds of eggs produced, only a dozen hatch and return to the sea. Also, factors of climate change and global warming have an impact on decreasing the wild sea turtle population, where female turtles are generated from the hatched eggs. These factors have resulted in an unbalanced population, making it difficult to locate mates during breeding. The importance of protecting this population and efforts to prevent these creatures from extinction should be emphasized. This study aimed to determine the relationship between the weight of the olive ridley sea turtles’ eggs (Lepidochelys olivacea) and hatchability using Maticgator technology (Automatic Turtle Egg Incubator). An experimental method was used by conducting a test on ten different groups of egg weights containing 40 eggs. Subsequently, samples that have been insulated or divided into four parts were inputted into the incubator nest media and then each part was coded KI, KII, KIII, KIV into the Maticgator box. The weights were marked as box code I or (KI), II or (KII), III or (KIII) and IV or (KIV) for 32.5 g, 27 g, 30.5 g and 26 g egg weights and then placed into the Maticgator until the turtle eggs hatched. Consequently, the correlation results showed a significant relationship between the egg and hatchling weight of 0.491, hence the association was sufficient. Furthermore, there was a moderate correlation of 0.709 between the egg weight and carapace length, but no critical relationship was observed with carapace width. Also, 33 (82.5%) out of the 40 eggs were successfully hatched. The highest number of eggs hatched was recorded in box III, box I, box IV and box II, with the hatching percentages of 100, 90, 80 and 60%, respectively.