THE GREEN TURTLE, CHELONIA-MYDAS, IN QUEENSLAND - BREEDING MALES IN THE SOUTHERN GREAT-BARRIER-REEF

Breeding male green turtles, Chelonia mydas, at any one courtship area in the southern Great Barrier Reef mate with females that will nest o n rookeries spread throughout the region. In comparison with the breed ing females from the same breeding unit, the males are smaller in curv ed carapace length, and a higher proportion of males remigrate for add itional breeding seasons at 1-2-year intervals. Like the adult females , adult males are slow-growing, averaging 0.046 cm year-1. Each male a ppears to display a fidelity to a particular courtship area, to which it returns in successive breeding migrations. At the conclusion of the courtship period, the males disperse to widely scattered feeding area s.