Search results for "turtle"
showing 10 items of 88 documents
To Swim or Not to Swim: Potential Transmission of Balaenophilus manatorum (Copepoda: Harpacticoida) in Marine Turtles
2017
Species of Balaenophilus are the only harpacticoid copepods that exhibit a widespread, obligate association with vertebrates, i.e., B. unisetus with whales and B. manatorum with marine turtles and manatees. In the western Mediterranean, juveniles of the loggerhead sea turtle, Caretta caretta are the only available hosts for B. manatorum, which has been found occurring at high prevalence (>80%) on them. A key question is how these epibionts are transmitted from host to host. We investigated this issue based on experiments with live specimens of B. manatorum that were cultured with turtle skin. Specimens were obtained from head-started hatchlings of C. caretta from the western Mediterranean. …
Incidental catch of loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) along the Sicilian coasts by longline fishery
2018
It has been estimated that 44,000 Caretta caretta turtles die every year due to anthropomorphic activity in the Mediterranean Sea, and that longline fishing is one of the most significant causes of mortality. A total of 482 specimens of C. caretta were rescued from different parts of the Sicilian coast (Mediterranean Sea) from 2014 to 2016. The most numerous stranding was recorded during the spring and summer seasons, mainly along the north and eastern coasts of Sicily. The curved carapace length for all the specimens ranged from between 19 and 95 cm and most of these were young or sub adults. The highest number of strandings was recorded in 2014 and 2015, with 206 and 169 individuals, resp…
Elaboración de modelos de la distribución de la tórtola europea (Streptopelia turtur L. 1758) en el sureste de la península ibérica
2021
The European turtle dove population and breeding range has declined sharply in Spain. This study reanalyses data from the Atlas of Breeding Birds in Alicante (SE Spain), aiming to identify the main variables related to its occurrence and abundance. We used hierarchical partitioning analysis to identify important environmental variables associated with natural vegetation, farming, hydrological web, anthropic presence, climate, and topography. Analysis combining the most explicative variables of each group identified the mixture of pines and scrubland in the semiarid areas and the length of unpaved roads as the most important variables with a positive effect on occurrence, while herbaceous cr…
Population abundance, structure and movements of the European pond turtle, Emys orbicularis (Linnaeus 1758) based on capture-recapture data in a Veni…
2021
A freshwater turtle monitoring programme along the inland margins of the Venice lagoon was initiated in 2019 in collaboration with the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF-Italy). From a total of 336 European pond turtles (Emys orbicularis) captured and marked, 97 freshwater turtles were recaptured at least once (28.9% return rate) providing important information on population size, structure and movements of mature individuals within the study area. The population size was estimated with capture-recapture method (Capture-Mark-Recapture-CMR) at 1009.4 ± 365.2 pond turtles, with a mean density of 252.3 ± 91.3 ind./ha. The analysis of the movements showed that the average distance covered intra-wa…
Epizoic Algae Distribution on the Carapace and Plastron of the European Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis, Linnaeus, 1758): A Study from the Camargue, Fr…
2016
12 pages; International audience; We investigated epizoic algal assemblages on the shell of European pond turtles (Emys orbicularis) during two years (2013–2014). A total of 60 Emys orbicularis were captured in the three shallow Mediterranean wetlands located in Camargue. Epizoic algae on the plastron (below the shell) and carapace (above the shell) were sampled, identified and counted. Seventy-seven epizoic algal species were identified on the carapace and plastron and comprised in 51 Bacillariophyta, 11 Chlorophyta, 7 Cyanophyta, 6 Euglenophyta, 1 Dinophyta and1Xanthophyta taxa. Our findings indicated a distinct distribution of epizoic algae according to taxonomical group density; Chlorop…
Parasitic outbreak of the copepod Balaenophilus manatorum in neonate loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) from a head-starting program
2017
Abstract Background Diseases associated to external parasitosis are scarcely reported in sea turtles. During the last decades several organism have been documented as a part of normal epibiont community connected to sea turtles. The copepod Balaenophilus manatorum has been cited as a part of epibiont fauna with some concern about its parasitic capacity. This study serves three purposes, i.e. (i) it sheds light on the type of life style that B. manatorum has developed with its hosts, particularly turtles; (ii) it makes a cautionary note of the potential health risks associated with B. manatorum in sea turtles under captivity conditions and in the wild, and (iii) it provides data on effective…
Helminth communities of loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) from Central and Western Mediterranean Sea: the importance of host's ontogeny.
2009
We investigated the factors providing structure to the helminth communities of 182 loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta caretta, collected in 6 localities from Central and Western Mediterranean. Fifteen helminth taxa (10 digeneans, 4 nematodes and 1 acanthocephalan) were identified, of which 12 were specialist to marine turtles; very low numbers of immature individuals of 3 species typical from fish or cetaceans were also found. These observations confirm the hypothesis that phylogenetic factors restrict community composition to helminth species specific to marine turtles. There were significant community dissimilarities between turtles from different localities, the overall pattern being compat…
Sporadic nesting reveals long distance colonisation in the philopatric loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta)
2018
The colonisation of new suitable habitats is crucial for species survival at evolutionary scale under changing environmental conditions. However, colonisation potential may be limited by philopatry that facilitates exploiting successful habitats across generations. We examine the mechanisms of long distance dispersal of the philopatric loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) by analysing 40 sporadic nesting events in the western Mediterranean. The analysis of a fragment of the mitochondrial DNA and 7 microsatellites of 121 samples from 18 of these nesting events revealed that these nests were colonising events associated with juveniles from distant populations feeding in nearby foraging gro…
Chasing phthalates in tissues of marine turtles from the Mediterranean sea
2018
Tissues from thirteen specimens of marine turtles, one Dermochelys coriacea and twelve Caretta caretta, found dead along the Sicilian coasts in 2016 were analyzed for the presence of phthalates. Four phthalates (DEP, DBP, BBP, and DEHP) were found at different significant concentrations in liver and gonads, while only DBP was found in muscle tissues and at a fourfold lower concentration than other phthalates in Dermochelys coriacea. No traces of DEP were detected in C. caretta tissues where DOTP was also revealed. The presence of phthalates in fat tissue in specimens of C. caretta showed a major prevalence of the most lipophilic phthalates DEHP and DOTP. The total concentration of all analy…
Survey on the presence of non-dioxine-like PCBs (NDL-PCBs) in loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) stranded in south Mediterranean coasts (Sicily, So…
2017
A total of 71 loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) stranded along the coasts of Sicily (Southern Italy) were examined for non-dioxine like polychlorinated biphenyl (NDL-PCB) levels in muscle and adipose tissue by a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) method. The results revealed 6 high-indicator congener (∑6 PCBIND ) levels in 45% of the loggerhead turtles examined, with mean values of 980.39 ± 2508.39 ng/g wet weight in adipose tissue and 102.53 ± 238.58 ng/g wet weight in muscle tissue. The hexachloro and heptachloro PCB congeners were the most abundant in both the sample types. The highest NDL-PCB levels were reached in an adipose tissue sample of a loggerhe…