Loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) foraging at Drini Bay in Northern Albania: Genetic characterisation reveals new haplotypes

Loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) was studied over 3 summers in a nearshore habitat, the Patoku area in the southern part of Driniki Bay, Albania. Tissue samples were collected from 40 loggerhead turtles incidentally captured in stavnike fish-traps (a type of pond-net). A fragment of 859 base-pair mt-DNA d-loop region was amplified from these turtles and compared with previously described haplotypes. Haplotype CC-A2.1 (93%) was the dominant haplotype in the region. Two previously unknown haplotypes, CC-A6.1 and CC-A10.4, were decribed with this study. Furthermore, haplotype CC-A.2.8 was also observed which was previously recorded from Italy. Haplotype and nucleotide diversity were 0.14615 and 0.00017, respectively

Mediterranean sea turtles: current knowledge and priorities for conservation and research

The available information regarding the 2 sea turtle species breeding in the Mediterranean (loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta and green turtle Chelonia mydas) is reviewed, including biometrics and morphology, identification of breeding and foraging areas, ecology and behaviour, abundance and trends, population structure and dynamics, anthropogenic threats and conservation measures. Although a large body of knowledge has been generated, research efforts have been inconsistently allocated across geographic areas, species and topics. Significant gaps still exist, ranging from the most fundamental aspects, such as the distribution of major nesting sites and the total number of clutches laid annually in the region, to more specific topics like age at maturity, survival rates and behavioural ecology, especially for certain areas (e.g. south-eastern Mediterranean). These gaps are particularly marked for the green turtle. The recent positive trends of nest counts at some nesting sites may be the result of the cessation of past exploitation and decades of conservation measures on land, both in the form of national regulations and of continued active protection of clutches. Therefore, the current status should be considered as dependent on such ongoing conservation efforts. Mitigation of incidental catch in fisheries, the main anthropogenic threat at sea, is still in its infancy. From the analysis of the present status a comprehensive list of research and conservation priorities is proposed

Priorities for Mediterranean marine turtle conservation and management in the face of climate change

As climate-related impacts threaten marine biodiversity globally, it is important to adjust conservation efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change. Translating scientific knowledge into practical management, however, is often complicated due to resource, economic and policy constraints, generating a knowledge-action gap. To develop potential solutions for marine turtle conservation, we explored the perceptions of key actors across 18 countries in the Mediterranean. These actors evaluated their perceived relative importance of 19 adaptation and mitigation measures that could safeguard marine turtles from climate change. Of importance, despite differences in expertise, experience and focal country, the perceptions of researchers and management practitioners largely converged with respect to prioritizing adaptation and mitigation measures. Climate change was considered to have the greatest impacts on offspring sex ratios and suitable nesting sites. The most viable adaptation/mitigation measures were considered to be reducing other pressures that act in parallel to climate change. Ecological effectiveness represented a key determinant for implementing proposed measures, followed by practical applicability, financial cost, and societal cost. This convergence in opinions across actors likely reflects long-standing initiatives in the Mediterranean region towards supporting knowledge exchange in marine turtle conservation. Our results provide important guidance on how to prioritize measures that incorporate climate change in decision-making processes related to the current and future management and protection of marine turtles at the ocean-basin scale, and could be used to guide decisions in other regions globally. Importantly, this study demonstrates a successful example of how interactive processes can be used to fill the knowledge-action gap between research and management.This work was conducted under FutureMares EU project that received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 869300. The Mediterranean Marine Turtle Working Group was established in 2017 and is continuously supported by MedPAN and the National Marine Park of Zakynthos. The work of AC was supported by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (H.F.R.I.) under the “First Call for H.F.R.I. Research Projects to support Faculty members and Researchers and the procurement of high-cost research equipment grant” (Project Number: 2340).Peer reviewe

Loggerhead turtles (<em>Caretta caretta</em>) foraging at Drini Bay in Northern Albania: Genetic characterisation reveals new haplotypes

Loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) was studied over 3 summers in a nearshore habitat, the Patoku area in the southern part of Driniki Bay, Albania. Tissue samples were collected from 40 loggerhead turtles incidentally captured in stavnike fish-traps (a type of pond-net). A fragment of 859 base-pair mt-DNA d-loop region was amplified from these turtles and compared with previously described haplotypes. Haplotype CC-A2.1 (93%) was the dominant haplotype in the region. Two previously unknown haplotypes, CC-A6.1 and CC-A10.4, were decribed with this study. Furthermore, haplotype CC-A.2.8 was also observed which was previously recorded from Italy. Haplotype and nucleotide diversity were 0.14615 and 0.00017, respectively

Morphologic and serologic comparison of two Turkish populations of Mauremys rivulata and Mauremys caspica

WOS: 000237796000003Two Turkish populations of Mauremys caspica and Mauremys rivulata were compared morphologically, serologically, and ecologically. Morphometric differences were noted among sexes and populations. Electrophoretic patterns demonstrated significant differences between the taxa and supported their status as distinct species

Population genetic diversity of green turtles, Chelonia mydas, in the Mediterranean revisited

The Mediterranean green turtle regional management unit is one of the 17 management units of green turtles considered a global conservation priority. However, previous studies using different genetic markers revealed very little diversity and differentiation across populations due to the overdominance of one haplotype (CM-A13) in the Mediterranean. We, therefore, used a more informative marker, mitochondrial short tandem repeats (mtSTRs), in 431 samples collected along the eastern Mediterranean coasts of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. In addition, we added the mtSTR haplotypes of previous studies and reached a total of 980 samples covering 12 nesting beaches (almost 100% of the populations in the region). We identified 42 haplotypes, 4 of which were recorded for the first time in the region. The species has a genetic diversity in the region higher than previously thought, ranging from 0.54 (Sugözü, Turkey) to 0.934 (Israel) and with the most common haplotypes being 6-8-8-4 (26.5%), 6-8-5-4 (17.3%), and 6-8-6-4 (14.9%). The analysis of a more extensive data set of mtSTRs supported recognizing at least three management units in the Mediterranean. Furthermore, we used the new data to assess the origin of the turtles foraging in Israel. We determined that Samandağ (Turkey) was the population of origin of most of the individuals. Overall, we show that mtSTRs highly improve the resolution to detect population structuring and source for this species and region

Local differentiation in the origin of stranded loggerhead turtles, Caretta caretta, within an eastern Turkey foraging area

Turkozan, Oguz/0000-0001-6889-7908; Carreras, Carlos/0000-0002-2478-6445WOS: 000424073400007The eastern Mediterranean Sea is frequently visited by nesting and foraging loggerhead turtles and is also a nursery zone although the origin of these foraging animals has not yet been assessed. In order to estimate the natal origin of eastern Turkey foraging individuals we analysed a long fragment of the mtDNA control region from 135 loggerhead turtles and we performed a Bayesian mixed stock analysis to estimate the contributions from rookeries in the Mediterranean to the foraging grounds studied. A total of 5 haplotypes were identified but they were not homogeniously distributed across the sampling geographical range thus suggesting an east-west differentiation. The mixed stock analysis revealed that the turtles from the eastern feeding ground come mostly from the western nesting populations of Turkey (49%), while those from the western feeding ground come from Cypriot stocks (62%). These results show that anthropogenic activities on this area may have an impact on different populations depending on were this activities are located and overall pose threat to the survival of the western Turkish and Cypriot nesting beaches.Research Fund of Adnan Menderes UniversityAdnan Menderes University [ADU-FEF13006]; Ministerio de Economia y CompetitividadSpanish Government [CTM2013-48163]This study was financially supported by the Research Fund of Adnan Menderes University with a Project code ADU-FEF13006. C. Carreras is supported by the project CTM2013-48163 from Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad