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On this expedition we centered our work on recapturing individuals we previously relocated to Long Cay and capturing and tagging Long Cay juveniles that have hatched there in the past two years. 

Condition
During the last field session, November 2001, we endeavored to recapture 20 animals from Long Cay and compare their condition with that of 20 animals caught on Big Ambergris Cay during the same period. Iverson (1979, Bull. Fl. Museum of Biol. Sciences, Vol. 24) established that, in Cyclura carinata, there is a significantly linear relationship between the log of body weight and the log of snout-vent length.  If weight is plotted on the y-axis, proportionately heavier animals will tend to lie on the upper side of the line.   Most Long Cay animals do, which we interpret to mean they remain well fed and in good condition. 

All but the largest iguana, originally a 1700 g male, weighed more than they had when we caught them last (see table below).  Average weight change was 310 g (range –250 – 825).  The most impressive growth occurred in a male that had almost tripled in size (2.7 times his capture weight) after 18 months.

Relative condition as demonstrated by log body weight versus log snout-vent length (SVL) of iguanas on Long and Big Ambergris Cays in November 2001.

To our delight we recaptured “Adam” (PIT tag # 21369B6), the first iguana we released on Long Cay at the end of the cat eradication effort.  He weighed 1150g when we released him in November 1999 but dropped to 950g over the next three months while being radiotracked.  On this trip, exactly two years later, it was pleasing to see his weight was back up (1175g).  He looked fine, nothing remarkable, and only later when the data were typed in did we realize who he was! 

Capture and Recapture Weights in Long Cay Iguanas, November 2001

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