Search results for "Turtles"
showing 10 items of 38 documents
Exploring the presence of pollutants at sea: Monitoring heavy metals and pesticides in loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) from the western Mediterr…
2017
Marine turtles are considered good sentinel species for environmental assessment because of their long lifespan, feeding ecology, habitat use and migratory nature. In the present study, we assessed presence of cadmium, lead and mercury, together with organic pollutants, both in fat and muscle tissue of 25 stranded loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) stranded along the Valencian Community coast (East Spain) (43.7±13.5cm). Mean concentrations of Cd, Pb and Hg were 0.04μg/g w.w., 0.09μg/g w.w. and 0.03μg/g w.w. in fat and 0.05μg/g, 0.08μg/g and 0.04μg/g in muscle, respectively. These measures indicate a relatively low mean heavy metal concentration, which may be explained by juvenile size and…
First data on microflora of loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) nests from the coastlines of Sicily (Italy)
2020
ABSTRACT Caretta caretta is threatened by many dangers in the Mediterranean basin, but most are human-related. The purposes of this research were: (i) to investigate microflora in samples from six loggerhead sea turtle nests located on the Sicilian coast and (ii) to understand microbial diversity associated with nests, with particular attention to bacteria and fungi involved in failed hatchings. During the 2016 and 2018 summers, 456 eggs and seven dead hatchling from six nests were collected. We performed bacteriological and mycological analyses on 88 egg samples and seven dead hatchlings, allowing us to isolate: Fusarium spp. (80.6%), Aeromonas hydrophila (55.6%), Aspergillus spp. (27.2%) …
Can phthalates move into the eggs of the loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta? The case of the nests on the Linosa Island in the Mediterranean Sea
2021
During the monitoring of Caretta caretta nests on the island of Linosa, 30 unhatched eggs from four nests were collected to study the presence of phthalates in their three components (shell, yolk, and albumen). Four phthalates, namely diethyl (DEP), dibutyl (DBP), di-(2-ethylhexyl) (DEHP), and dioctyl (DOTP) phthalic acid esters (PAE), which are widely used as additives in plastics, were detected in all egg components. The most frequently found phthalate was DBP, followed by DEHP in eggshell and yolk. Dimethyl- (DMP) and butylbenzyl-phthalate (BBP) were below the limits of detection for all samples. The high total phthalate recorded in the yolk suggests that contamination could arise by vit…
Biology and conservation of marine turtle nesting in the Dominican Republic
2014
The loss of biodiversity has become one of the most pressing issues, which has lead to a growing global concern about the status of the biological resources on which human life depends. In recent decades there has been a decrease in individual populations of many species. In the Caribbean, marine turtle’s nesting rookeries have been reduced considerably, mainly due to human exploitation. A number of rookeries in this region have been studied for several decades and their status is well documented; however, many other Caribbean rookeries remain poorly described. The Dominican Republic (DR) is an area where information on marine turtle nesting activity is scarce and outdated. Surveys in the 1…
Antibiotic Resistance of Gram Negatives isolates from loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) in the central Mediterranean Sea
2009
Previous studies on fish and marine mammals support the hypothesis that marine species harbor antibiotic resistance and therefore may serve as reservoirs for anti biotic-resistance genetic determinants. The aim of this study was to assess the resistance to antimicrobial agents of Gram negative strains isolated from loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta). Oral and cloacal swabs from 19 live-stranded loggerhead sea turtles, with hooks fixed into the gut, were analyzed. The antimicrobial resistance of the isolates to 31 antibiotics was assessed using the disk-diffusion method. Conventional biochemical tests identified Citrobacter spp., Proteus spp., Enterobacter spp., Escherichia spp., Provi…
Unveiling the egg microbiota of the loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta in nesting beaches of the Mediterranean Sea
2022
Microbes have central roles in the development and health of animals, being the introduction of specific microbial species a potential conservation strategy to protect animals from emerging diseases. Thus, insight into the microbiota of the species and their habitats is essential. In this manuscript, we report for the first time the bacterial composition of all the components (eggshells of hatched and unhatched eggs, internal content of unhatched eggs, intestinal content of hatchling and pipping sea turtles, and sand) of three nesting beaches of Caretta caretta along the Italian coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. The analysis of 26 amplicon samples was carried out using next-generation sequen…
Preparation and Application of an Innovative Thrombocyte/Leukocyte-Enriched Plasma to Promote Tissue Repair in Chelonians
2015
Platelet concentrates are widely used in mammalian regenerative medicine to improve tissue healing. Chelonians (Testudines) would benefit from the application of thrombocyte preparations to regenerate damaged tissues, since traumatic injuries are leading causes of morbidity and mortality for both wild-living and domesticated animals. The aim of this study was to establish a protocol that optimized the recovery of the thrombocytes from blood samples and to show the efficacy of thrombocyte-enriched plasma in chelonians. Peripheral blood samples were obtained from Testudo spp. (n = 12) and Trachemys scripta elegans (n = 10). Blood cells were fractionated by sodium diatrizoate-sodium polysucros…
LID - 10.3791/59466 [doi]
2019
The following protocol is intended to respond to the requirements set by the European Union’s Marine Strategy Framework Directives (MSFD) for the D10C3 Criteria reported in the Commission Decision (EU), related to the amount of litter ingested by marine animals. Standardized methodologies for extracting litter items ingested from dead sea turtles along with guidelines on data analysis are provided. The protocol starts with the collection of dead sea turtles and classification of samples according to the decomposition status. Turtle necropsy must be performed in authorized centers and the protocol described here explains the best procedure for gastrointestinal (GI) tract isolation. The three…
Contextualising the Last Survivors: Population Structure of Marine Turtles in the Dominican Republic.
2013
Nesting by three species of marine turtles persists in the Dominican Republic, despite historic threats and long-term population decline. We conducted a genetic survey of marine turtles in the Dominican Republic in order to link them with other rookeries around the Caribbean. We sequenced a 740bp fragment of the control region of the mitochondrial DNA of 92 samples from three marine turtle species [hawksbill (n = 48), green (n = 2) and leatherback (n = 42)], and incorporated published data from other nesting populations and foraging grounds. The leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) in the Dominican Republic appeared to be isolated from Awala-Yalimapo, Cayenne, Trinidad and St. Croix bu…
Relationship between lanthanide contents in aquatic turtles and environmental exposures
2013
International audience; Trace elements released in the environment during agricultural practices can be incorporated and accumulated in biological fluids and tissues of living organisms. The assessment of these exposures were carried out investigating lanthanide distributions in blood and exoskeleton samples collected from Emys trinacris turtle specimens coming from sites with anthropogenic discharge in western and south Sicily, along migration paths of many bird species from Africa to Europe. The data show a significant (Rxy = 0.72; Rxy > 0.67; α = 0.025) linear relationship between the size of turtle specimens and the lanthanide contents in blood lower than 0.4 μg L−1 whereas this relatio…