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Graduate student Sergio Padilla would be defending his M. Sc thesis entitled:
" Hematology, body index and external injuries of Morelet´s crocodiles (Crocodylus moreletii) in the northern wetlands of Campeche, Mexico"
on March, 26th, 2008 at 14.00 (Mexico City Time) at the Main hall in ECOSUR Campeche, México.
Here the abstract of the thesis:
From April to August of 2007, 52 wild and 51 captive Morelet’s crocodiles Crocodylus moreletii were captured in the northern wetlands of the state of Campeche, Mexico. Hematological analysis, body index, and analysis of external injuries were performed. The application of the Fulton’s body condition factor (K) was assessed. The relationship of weight and neck fat deposits adjusts to the assumptions of K (β=3 and that δ= 0). The crocodiles in captivity had a lower body index than those in the wild. The injuries with more incidence were the incisions. Captive crocodiles presented significativelly more injuries. Conversely, the presence of the parasite Paratrichosoma recurvum was greater in crocodiles captured in the coastal channels (mangrove habitat). From the 103 crocodiles captured, blood samples were taken from 63 animals (32 wild and 31 of captivity), in order to perform hematologic and plasma biochemical analysis. Two types of anticoagulant (Lithium vs Sodium Heparine) were compared in paired samples. The biochemical parameters studied were glucose, cholesterol, uric acid, creatinine and alanine aminotranspherase (ALT). The mean erythrocyte count values in wild crocodiles were: 1.046.166 Cel/μl; and the mean white blood cell counts were 10,30 of x103 Cel/μl. The erythrocytes and leukocytes mean counts values of captive crocodiles were 1.100, 416 Cel/μl and 8,51 x103 Cel/μl., respectively. There were no significant differences in erythrocytes and PCV between wild and captive crocodiles, neither between sexes nor age classes. The leukocyte counts in wild crocodiles were significantly higher than those of captives. There are no significant differences between the use of the two types of anticoagulant for the plasma analysis. The average values of the analyzed parameters were: 69.55 g/l (Glucose); 250.14 g/l (Cholesterol); 3.04 mg/l (Uric acid); 2.70 mg/l (Creatinine) and 20,20 U/l (ALT). There are significant differences in the values found for cholesterol between wild and captive crocodiles, as well as between sexes. There were no differences in the plasma analysis between age classes. Finally, no significant relationships were found between the body index and the hematological parameters studied, nor with the presence of the parasite P. recurvum. These results are discussed and compared with those reported for other crocodilians elsewhere.
Figura. 3. Paratrichosoma recurvum en el cocodrilo de pantano C. moreletii. A) Larva migrans cutánea. Líneas en forma de zigzag en la epidermis del cocodrilo. B) Huevos observados dentro de las líneas. (C) Aspecto de la piel abdominal de un cocodrilos de pantano con P. recurvum. (A y B de Moravec y Vargas-Vázquez, 2001; Fotografía C: Ernesto Perera). Copy-right: Sergio Padilla (2008).
