6533b7cffe1ef96bd1259133

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Helminth Infection of the Loggerhead Sea Turtle Caretta caretta along the Coasts of Sicily and the North West Adriatic Sea

Marco ArculeoDelia GambinoMarialetizia FioravantiAndrea GustinelliGiulia CaracappaAntonino GentileTullia AmatoDomenico VicariVincenzo Randazzo

subject

trematoda; nematoda; loggerhead sea turtle; <i>Caretta caretta</i>; Mediterranean seaVeterinary medicineSettore BIO/05 - ZoologiaZoologyLoggerhead sea turtleDigeneaMediterranean seaSingle speciesGenustrematodaSF600-1100HelminthsnematodaCaretta carettaGeneral Veterinarybiologybiology.organism_classificationbody regionsloggerhead sea turtleQL1-991North westMediterranean seaAnimal Science and ZoologyTrematodaZoology<i>Caretta caretta</i>

description

We provide new data on the presence of helminth parasites in 64 individual loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta stranded along the coasts of Sicily and the northwest Adriatic Sea between June 2014 and August 2016. The necropsy examination revealed 31 individuals (48.4%) positive for endoparasites, showing a greater prevalence of trematodes than nematodes. In particular, seven species and a single genus of Trematoda (Hapalotrema) and a single species and genus of Nematoda (Kathlania) were identified. Among the Digenea flukes the species with the highest prevalence of infection were Rhytidodes gelatinosus (34.6%) and Hapalotrema sp. (33.3%), while among the Nematoda they were Kathlania sp. (33.3%) and Sulcascaris sulcata (33.3%). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied among the recovery sites of the stranded loggerhead sea turtles and prevalence of endoparasites was used to highlight any relationship between the parasites and the origin of the hosts. ANOVA showed significant differences (p < 0.001) among the data used.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2021-05-14Animals
10.3390/ani11051408https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/5/1408