CDU Researcher Profile

School of Science and Primary Industries
Faculty of Education, Health and Science
Charles Darwin University
Darwin NT 0909
Australia

• Research interests
• Publications
• Current projects
• Recent completions supervised

Research Interests

Michael's research interests include:

• Population Dynamics, Ecology and Toxicology of Marine and Estuarine Snakes. Sea snakes and homalopsine water snakes have received little scientific study. The distribution of these advanced reptiles includes South East Asia and Northern Australia
• The Biology of Sea Turtles in the Northern Territory and adjacent seas. The Northern Territory waters provides feeding grounds and nesting sites for six species of sea turtle. The breeding biology, migration patterns and life histories of these populations are under study
• A Study of Aquatic Snake Scales. This is a PhD project and involves the use of scale characters as a taxonomic tool and the significance of these and other characters in the functional morphology of the scales
  

Recent Publications

1. Blamires, S.J. and Guinea, M.L. (2003). Emergence Success of Flatback Sea Turtles (Natator depressus) at Fog Bay, Northern Territory, Australia. Chelonian Conservation and Biology:International Journal of Turtle and Tortoise Research, 4(3), 548-556.
2. Blamires, S.J., Guinea, M.L., and Prince, R.I.T. (2003). Influence of nest site selection on predation of Flatback Sea Turtle (Natator depressus) eggs by Varanid Lizards in Northern Australia. Chelonian Conservation and Biology:International Journal of Turtle and Tortoise Research, 4(3), 557-563
3. Guinea, M. L. and Whiting, S. (1999). Nocturnal Foraging by the Black-necked Stork Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus on Sea Turtle Hatchlings. Emu, 99, pp 145-147.
4. Guinea, M. L. (1996). Functions of the cephalic scales of the sea snake Emydocephalus annulatus. Journal of Herpetology, 30 (1), pp 126-128.
5. Guinea, M. L. (1995). Eggshell Characteristics of the banded sea krait Laticauda colubrina and the banded iguana Brachylophis fasciatus from Fiji. South Pacific Journal of Natural Science, 14, pp 169-186.
6. Chatto, R., Guinea, M. L. and Conway, S. (1995). Sea turtles killed by flotsam in Northern Australia. Marine Turtle Newsletter, 69, pp 17-18.
7. Guinea, M. L. (1994). Sea turtles of the Northern Territory. In: James, R. (ed). Proceedings of the Australian Marine Turtle Conservation Workshop, 14-17 November 1990, Gold Coast. Australia Nature Conservation Agency, Canberra. pp 15-22.
8. Guinea, M. L. (1994). Nesting Seasonality of the flatback sea turtle Natator depressus (Garman) at Fog Bay, Northern Territory. In: James, R. (ed). Proceedings of the Australian Marine Turtle Conservation Workshop, 14-17 November 1990, Gold Coast. Australia Nature Conservation Agency, Canberra.. pp 150-153.
9. Guinea, M. L. (1994). A possible model to explain winter nesting by the flatback Natator depressus at Fog Bay, Northern Territory. In: James, R. (ed). Proceedings of the Australian Marine Turtle Conservation Workshop, 14-17 November 1990, Gold Coast. Australia Nature Conservation Agency, Canberra. pp 154-155.
10. Broderick, D., Moritz, C., Miller, J. D., Guinea, M. L., Prince, J. R. and Limpus, C. J. (1994). Genetic studies of the Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata): Evidence for multiple stocks and mixed feeding grounds in Australian waters. Pacific Conservation Biology, 1 (2), pp 123-131.
11. Guinea, M. L. (1994). A win for conservation. The Web, 9, pp 4-5.
12. Guinea, M. L. McGrath, P and Love, B. (1994). A note on the black-ringed mangrove snake (Hydrelaps darwiniensis). The N. T. Naturalist.
13. Guinea, M. L. (1994). Sea Snakes of Fiji and Niue. In: Gopalakrishnakone, P (ed). Venomous Sea Snakes of Asia and the Pacific. National University of Singapore. pp 212-233.
14. Guinea, M. L. (1994). The Sea Turtles of Fiji. South Pacific Regional Environment Program, Technical Reports and Studies Series, no 65, 48 pp.
    

Current Projects

Recent Completions Supervised

PhD

• Scott Whiting: The foraging ecology of green and hawkskill turtles on two reef systems in north western Australia. Lodged: 10/08/01
• Pradina Purwati: Reproduction in fissiparous holothurian, Holothuria leucospilota Clark 1920 in tropical waters of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. Lodged: 23/11/01

Masters

Sean Blamires: Quantifying the Impact of Predation on Sea Turtle Nests by Varanids at Fog Bay. Lodged: 27/10/00