Bull. Chicago Herp. Soc. 26(5):111, 1991 A Note on the Population Status and Exploitation of Pseudemys scripta emolli (Reptilia: Emydidae) in Northern Costa Rica José M. Mora Welder Wildlife Refuge P.O. Box 1400 Sinton, TX 78387 Pseudemys seripta emoll is a recently described (Legler, 1990) aquatic neotropical slider, which as yet has been little studied. The only intense study on a Pseudemys seripta sub- species that occurs in Costa Rica was conducted in Panama bby Moll and Legler (1971). In Caiio Negro (northern Costa Rica) P.s. emolli is abundant and seems to be heavily exploit- ‘ed. It is locally known as fioca. The village of Cano Negro is, adjacent to the Cafio Negro National Wildlife Refuge, which consists of swamps and marshlands and includes Lake Caio Negro (800 ha), a seasonal spll-ff site for the Rio Frio (Boza, 1988). Some people live within the refuge limits ‘There are other swamps and lagoons adjacent to the refuge that are close to the village, In March and April of 1987 we gathered some preliminary information on density, mortality ‘and human consumption of flocas in Cafio Negro. ‘We gathered fioca information from field data and from conversations with villagers, We walked through several wet- lands, including Lake Cafio Negro, the Rio Frio and the San ‘Sebastién Lagoon. We estimated turtle density only at San Sehastiia Lagoon but, in general, rurtle density seemed to be imilar in all of these areas. We established four 20 x 20m nonadjacent plots at San Sebastién Lagoon and counted all turtles found in these plots on two consecutive days. On 1250 mwide strip of land between the lagoon and the river, wwe established a quadrat 150 m long and counted all dead turtles (we did not find live turtles in this plot). ‘Our census led us to-a density of 1475 turtles/ha (58.7 = 28.6 turtles/400 m2, n = 8). These field observations were conducted during the dry season ("summer,” February-May), ‘atime when Lake Cao Negro almost disappears, leaving ‘behind only afew small pools (Boze, 1988). Most lagoons probably disappear as well. Therefore, turtles were presum- ‘ably highly concentrated, resulting in a high density estimate, ‘Turtle mortality is apparently high in Caio Negro, We found two adults, two subadults and four juveniles recently ‘dead in the 7500 m? quadrat. Causes of death could not be determined. Cafio Negro villagers think that the main cause ‘of turtle mortality is raccoon predation and suggest that tur- tles are susceptible to predation during the nesting period Adrian N. Ugalde Servicio de Parques Nacionales Ministerio de Energia y Minas San José, Costa Rica Villagers mentioned that during egg laying, the turtles are attacked by raccoons which grab them by the cloacal region ‘We found many turtles apparently killed by the raccoons in the nesting areas. We did not directly observe raccoons kill- ing turtles but we found tracks at many sites beside dead tur- tles. Also, raccoon tracks were found near predated nests, However, we found no evidence that the dead males and juve- niles we encountered had been killed by predators. ‘Consumption of Fiocas in Cafio Negro is probably high throughout the year because of the poor economic condition. of these people and because fioca meat is highly appreciated by villagers. They said that consumption is higher during the summer when turtles contain eggs which people like to use to decorate the dish, Additionally, people look for nests and take whole clutches to eat, even ifthe eggs contain embryos. Villagers said that Guatuzo Indians are the main *problem™ for the turtles because they take up to 300 adults during each visit to Cao Negro (their village is relatively far away, but they travel the Rio Frio by canoe to Cafto Negro. We do not know how many times each year the indians visit Cato Negro, ‘A Cafio Negro neighbor told us that Guatuzo Indians eat tur- tle meat all the time and not just forthe "holy week" This is ‘an interesting anthropological issue because other Mesoamer- ican Indians consume "special meats" only for “special occa sions" (S. Cornelius, pers. com). Pseudemys scripta emolli is important not only biologically, ‘but also asa food source forthe people of Caio Negro and for the Guatuzo Indians. Several factors demand immediate study to evaluate the bes exploitation alternatives. Some factors that should be determined are (1) causes of mortality (ee, raccoon predation), (2) seasonal densities, (3) eprodue- tive success, and (4) the availabilty of food and suitable habi- tat during the dry and wet seasons. An estimation of harvest, size and hunting season should be a primary objective of such studies; conservation concerns should also be included, We thank M. I. Di Mare and W. Grant for their com- ‘ments on the manuscript. Tis research was partially funded by the Subdireccién de Vida Silvestre of Costa Rica, Literature Cited Boza,M. A. 1988, Costa Rican national parks, Madrid: Incafo, SA. Legler, J.M. 1990. The genus Pseudemys in Mesoamerica: Taxonomy, distribution and origins. Pp. 82-105. Jn: J. W. Gibbons, editor, Life history and ecology of the slider turtle, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. ‘Moll, E.O,, and J.M. Legler. 1971. The life history of a neotropical sider turtle, Pseudemys seripta (Schoepft), in Panama, Sci. Bul, ‘Los Angeles County Mus. Nat. Hist 111-102, Stet