BACKGROUND: Six species of marine turtles occur in the Azores Archipelago. The loggerhead, Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758), is by far the most common species and is being constantly monitored and tagged by a joint project between the University of the Azores and the University of Florida since 1989. With the implementation of the tuna fishery observers (for dolphin safe seals), an increment of sea turtle reports has been verified as expected. The leather back turtle, Dermochelys coriacea (Vandelli, 1761) is the second most observed species in the Azores' EEZ, a fact probably also linked to the tuna fishery observation programme. All other species are occasional/vagrant albeit the green turtle, Chelonia mydas (Linnaeus, 1758) is more commonly seen than the others. Historically, sea turtles were occasionally taken for food in specific fishing villages and ports. Since 1986, sea turtles, as well as all marine mammals, are fully protected in the Azores although human-related activities (e.g. plastics, discarded fishing gear) do generate serious injuries and deaths.
NEW INFORMATION: In this paper, we update sea turtle species' checklist for the Azores and give detailed geographic coordinates on their known occurrences.FUNDING: Funding Institutions: AZORESBIOPORTAL – PORBIOTA (Azores PO 2020 - ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000072). This project was financed by FEDER in 85% and by Azorean Public funds by 15% through Operational Program Azores 2020. This work is also funded by FEDER funds through the COMPETE 2020 Programme and National Funds through FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the Research Infrastructure PORBIOTA - Portuguese E-Infrastructure for Information and Research on Biodiversity, project number POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022127. For the period 2022-2023- Portal da Biodiversidade dos Açores (2022-2023) - PO Azores Project - M1.1.A/INFRAEST CIENT/001/2022.
OPEN ACCESS will be supported by the project FCT-UIDB/00329/2020-2024 (Thematic Line 1 – integrated ecological assessment of environmental change on biodiversity).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Barcelos, Luis M. D.

Barreiros, João P.

Parra, Hugo

Vandeperre, Frederic

Biodiversity Data Journal

English

Six species of marine turtles occur in the Azores Archipelago. The loggerhead, Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758), is by far the most common species and is being constantly monitored and tagged by a joint project between the University of the Azores and the University of Florida since 1989. With the implementation of the tuna fishery observers (for dolphin safe seals), an increment of sea turtle reports has been verified as expected. The leather back turtle, Dermochelys coriacea (Vandelli, 1761) is the second most observed species in the Azores' EEZ, a fact probably also linked to the tuna fishery observation programme. All other species are occasional/vagrant albeit the green turtle, Chelonia mydas (Linnaeus, 1758) is more commonly seen than the others. Historically, sea turtles were occasionally taken for food in specific fishing villages and ports. Since 1986, sea turtles, as well as all marine mammals, are fully protected in the Azores although human-related activities (e.g. plastics, discarded fishing gear) do generate serious injuries and deaths.In this paper, we update sea turtle species' checklist for the Azores and give detailed geographic coordinates on their known occurrences

Barcelos,Luís M.D.

Vandeperre,Frederic

Parra,Hugo Alexandre

Barreiros,João Pedro

ARPHA OAI-PMH Endpoint

Sea turtle (Reptilia, Testudines) diversity and occurrence in the Azores Archipelago (NE Atlantic)

Barcelos, Luís

Barreiros, João

NEUROSURGERY ENTHUSIASTIC WOMEN SOCIETY

Repositório da Universidade dos Açores

Biodiversity Data Journal 11: e98589doi: 10.3897/BDJ.11.e98589 Data Paper Sea turtle (Reptilia, Testudines) diversity andoccurrence in the Azores Archipelago (NE Atlantic)Luís M. D. Barcelos , Frederic Vandeperre , Hugo Parra , João Pedro Barreiros‡ cE3c- Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Azorean Biodiversity Group, CHANGE – Global Changeand Sustainability Institute, School of Agrarian and Environmental Sciences, University of the Azores, Rua Capitão João d´Ávila, Pico da Urze, Angra do Heroísmo, 9700-042, Terceira, Azores, Portugal, Portugal§ Department of Oceanography and Fisheries, University of the Azores, Horta, Portugal| IUCN - International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Groupers and Wrasses Specialist Group, Hong Kong, ChinaCorresponding author: Luís M. D. Barcelos (ldbarcelos@gmail.com)Academic editor: Sérgio ÁvilaReceived: 08 Dec 2022 | Accepted: 03 Feb 2023 | Published: 16 Feb 2023Citation: Barcelos LMD, Vandeperre F, Parra H, Barreiros JP (2023) Sea turtle (Reptilia, Testudines) diversityand occurrence in the Azores Archipelago (NE Atlantic). Biodiversity Data Journal 11: e98589. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.11.e98589AbstractBackgroundSix species of marine turtles occur in the Azores Archipelago. The loggerhead, Caretta caretta (Linnaeus,  1758),  is  by  far  the  most  common species  and is  being  constantlymonitored and tagged by a joint  project  between the University  of  the Azores and theUniversity of Florida since 1989. With the implementation of the tuna fishery observers (fordolphin safe seals), an increment of sea turtle reports has been verified as expected. Theleather back turtle, Dermochelys coriacea (Vandelli, 1761) is the second most observedspecies in the Azores'  EEZ, a fact probably also linked to the tuna fishery observationprogramme.  All  other  species  are  occasional/vagrant  albeit  the  green  turtle,  Chelonia mydas (Linnaeus, 1758) is more commonly seen than the others. Historically, sea turtleswere occasionally taken for food in specific fishing villages and ports. Since 1986, seaturtles, as well as all marine mammals, are fully protected in the Azores although human-related activities (e.g. plastics, discarded fishing gear) do generate serious injuries anddeaths.‡ § § ‡,|© Barcelos L et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source arecredited.New informationIn  this  paper,  we update sea turtle  species'  checklist  for  the Azores and give detailedgeographic coordinates on their known occurrences.Keywordsmarine vertebrates, marine turtles, Atlantic, sightings, occurrencesIntroductionThe Azores form a remote, volcanic archipelago located in the Northeast Atlantic ocean,roughly  halfway between Europe and North  America (Fig.  1).  This  location makes thesurrounding waters a biodiversity oasis namely for marine vertebrates. Although sea turtlesare fully protected in the Azores, human activities (e.g. plastics and discarded/lost fishinggear, collision with ships) do cause serious injuries and deaths (see Barreiros and Barcelos(2001), Barreiros and Raykov (2014)).  The recent confirmed report  of the Olive Ridley,Lepidochelys olivacea (Eschscholtz, 1829) (Barcelos et al. 2021), increases the number ofsea turtle species' in the Azores to six (Barcelos et al.  2022), which means all  Atlanticspecies. This was the first report of a new species within the archipelago's EEZ (ExclusiveEconomic Zone) since 1990, when Bolton and Martins (1990), reported the presence ofLepidochelys kempii (Garman,  1880).  The  seventh  known  species,  Natator depressus(Garman, 1880), has a restricted distribution centred in northern Australia and southernPapua New Guinea.Figure 1.  Azores Archipelago location in the North Atlantic. 2 Barcelos L et alGlobally  and  according  to  the  IUCN Red  List,  turtle  populations  are  threatened,  theirstatuses  ranging  from Vulnerable  to  Critically  Endangered  (see  Table  1).  Hence,  it  isincreasingly important to have information on their distribution and occurrences, in order tocarry out correct and precise habitat management.Scientific Name IUCN classification IUCN classification Source Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758) vulnerable Casale and Tucker (2017) Chelonia mydas (Linnaeus, 1758) endangered Seminoff (2004) Lepidochelys olivacea (Eschscholtz, 1829) vulnerable Abreu-Grobois and Plotkin (2008) Dermochelys coriacea (Vandelli, 1761) vulnerable Wallace et al. (2013) Lepidochelys kempii (Garman, 1880) critically endangered Wibbels and Bevan (2019) Eretmochelys imbricata (Linnaeus, 1766) critically endangered Mortimer and Donnelly (2008) General descriptionPurpose: To consolidate the list of species previously published in GBIF (Barcelos et al.2022) presenting information on methodology and occurrence records. A general overviewof the data used (COSTA, GBA-JPB and GBA-LB) can be seen in Fig. 2. All the databaseand additional information can be found in Barcelos and Barreiros (2022).Table 1. IUCN Red List classification of the six species present in Azores EEZ.Figure 2.  Sea turtle sightings in Azores EEZ. Blue - COSTA database; Red - Azores Bioportal database. Sea turtle (Reptilia, Testudines) diversity and occurrence in the Azores ... 3Additional information: The information contained in Fig. 2 and in Suppl. material 1 refersto only four of the six species that occur in the Azores. This is due to the fact that bothLepidochelys kempii (Garman, 1880) and Eretmochelys imbricata (Linnaeus, 1766), werenot found by any of the authors during the data collection.Project descriptionTitle: AZORESBIOPORTAL - PORBIOTAStudy area description: Azores EEZDesign  description: The  Azorean  Biodiversity  Portal  E-Infrastructure  (https://azoresbioportal.uac.pt/) was approved by FCT for the National Research Infrastructure inthe  Roadmap.  The  approval  of  Azorean  Biodiversity  Portal  by  the  Portuguese  E-Infrastructure Roadmap, guaranteed financial  support  between 2019 and 2021 and theimprovement of the Portal and new products. This is quite an important achievement forthis  regional  Biodiversity  Portal.  The  Azorean  Biodiversity  Portal  (ABP)  is  a  key  e-infrastructure for the integrated management of biodiversity data of the Azores, providing alarge number of specialised services supporting research, policy and education (Borges etal.  2010).  The evaluators considered that  the submitted proposal  lists  some significantpolicy integration opportunities with Azorean government using the portal  as part  of  itsconservation activities for protected areas, as well as for the sustainable management ofbiodiversity  relating to  agriculture,  forestry  and fisheries.  This  was the first  BiodiversityPortal in Portugal, starting in 2008 and the only one which provides easy access to islandbiodiversity data (Borges et al. 2010). ABP is currently recognised as a valuable outreach,management  and  conservation  tool  for  all  who  work  in  science  and  protection  ofbiodiversity.  The  large  number  of  visits  per  day,  the  numerous  international  scientificcollaborations, resulting in publications and academic theses and the connection with otherprestigious  databases  demonstrate  the  Portal’s  scientific  quality  as  well  as  its  generalappeal. This project was initiated in 2008 under the leadership of researchers from theAzorean Biodiversity Group (CITA_A; currently cE3c -Azorean Biodiversity Group), basedin the formerly Dept. of Agrarian Sciences (currently School of Agrarian & EnvironmentalSciences) in Terceira Island (Azores) and included also the collaboration with researchersfrom the CIBIO-Azores,  based in  the  formerly  Dept.  of  Biology of  the  Univ.  of  Azores(currently  School  of  Sciences  &  Technology)  and  more  recently  researchers  fromOKEANUS-DOP in  Horta.  At  this  moment,  the  Portal  is  being  funded by  the  AzoreanScience Ministry (Azores PO 2020 - ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000072). The main ABPaction lines are to: improve the informatics system of the e-infrastructure to allow complexqueries  and  improve  user-friendliness;  guarantee  a  rigorous  classification  for  everyspecies,  providing  updated  comprehensive  checklists,  ensuring  accuracy  on  thecompilation of biogeographical information - this is the backbone of the Portal and all itsproducts and services; provide innovative biodiversity analytical tools for both researchersand community  members and invite them to contribute data to the Portal,  establishingeffective science communication.4 Barcelos L et alFunding: Funding  Institutions:  AZORESBIOPORTAL  –  PORBIOTA  (Azores  PO  2020  -ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000072)  TOTAL  BUDGET:  299,901.83€  EU  Support:254,916.56€. This project was financed by FEDER in 85% and by Azorean Public funds by15% through Operational Program Azores 2020. This work is also funded by FEDER fundsthrough the COMPETE 2020 Programme and National Funds through FCT - PortugueseFoundation for Science and Technology under the Research Infrastructure PORBIOTA -Portuguese E-Infrastructure for Information and Research on Biodiversity, project numberPOCI-01-0145-FEDER-022127.For the period 2022-2023- Portal da Biodiversidade dos Açores (2022-2023) - PO AzoresProject - M1.1.A/INFRAEST CIENT/001/2022.Open access will be supported by the project FCT-UIDB/00329/2020-2024 (Thematic Line1 – integrated ecological assessment of environmental change on biodiversity).Sampling methodsSampling  description: Bycatch  data  from  2008  to  2010  were  recorded  by  fisheriesobservers onboard Portuguese commercial longline vessels, under the framework of theEU FP7 project MADE, Mitigating adverse ecological impacts of open ocean fisheries.Bycatch data from 2016 to 2018 were recorded by fisheries observers onboard Portuguesecommercial longline vessels, under the framework of COSTA project - Consolidating SeaTurtle Conservation in the Azores.Sea turtle data from 2017 to 2020 were recorded by Azorean whale watching companiesand researchers from IMAR-Institute of Marine Research under the scope of the sea turtletagging  programme  coordinated  by  the  Cooperative  Marine  Turtle  Tagging  Program(CMTTP) and maintained by the Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research (ACCSTR).GBA-LB data were collected between 2007 and 2019, by the first author, during whalewatching tours.GBA-JPB data were collected during systematic tag/release of marine turtles since 1990.Quality control: All  persons involved on the handling of  sea turtles are under permitsissued by the Azores regional government.Geographic coverageDescription: Azores' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)Coordinates: 33.6536 and 43.15985 Latitude; -35.493583 and -20.458427 Longitude.Sea turtle (Reptilia, Testudines) diversity and occurrence in the Azores ... 5Taxonomic coverageDescription: Sea TurtlesTaxa included: Rank Scientific Name Common Namekingdom Animalia Animalsphylum Chordata class Reptilia Reptilesorder Testudines Turtlessuborder Cryptodira family Dermochelyidae family Cheloniidae genus Dermochelysgenus Lepidochelys genus Eretmochelys genus Cheloniagenus Caretta Usage licenceUsage licence: Creative Commons Public Domain Waiver (CC-Zero)Data resourcesData package title: Azores Sea turtles updated checklistResource link:  http://ipt.gbif.pt/ipt/resource?r=azores_seaturtles_checklist&v=1.2 Alternative identifiers:  http://ipt.gbif.pt/ipt/resource?r=azores_seaturtles_checklist Number of data sets: 2Data set name: Azores Sea turtles updated checklistCharacter set: UTF-8Download URL:  http://ipt.gbif.pt/ipt/resource?r=azores_seaturtles_checklist&v=1.2 Data format: DarwinCore6 Barcelos L et alData format version: 1.2Description:  Checklist of the sea turtles recorded in the Azores Archipelago.Column label Column descriptionID The Identifier for the line in the dataset.taxonID A global unique identifier for the taxon (name in a classification).parentNameUsageID An identifier for the name usage of the direct, most proximate higher-rank parent taxonof the scientificName.scientificName The full scientific name, with authorship and date information.parentNameUsage The name of the direct, most proximate higher-rank parent taxon.kingdom kingdom.phylum phylum.class class.order order.family family.genus genus.specificEpithet The name of the first or species epithet of the scientific Name.taxonRank The taxonomic rank of the most specific name in the scientific Name.scientificNameAuthorship The authorship information for the scientificName formatted according to theconventions of the applicable nomenclatural Code.references A related resource that is referenced, cited or otherwise pointed to by the describedresource.Data set name: Occurrence of sea turtles in the Azores ArchipelagoCharacter set: UTF-8Download URL:  http://ipt.gbif.pt/ipt/resource?r=occurence_seaturtles_azores&v=1.5 Data format: DarwinCoreData format version: 1.5Description:  Information on distribution and occurrence of species, originating fromsightings from fishing vessels, tourist activities and occurrences in coastal areas aswell as fishing bycatch. These data can be consulted at Suppl. material 1Column label Column descriptionoccurrenceID An identifier for the Occurrence that makes the occurrenceID globally unique.Sea turtle (Reptilia, Testudines) diversity and occurrence in the Azores ... 7basisOfRecord The specific nature of the data record.eventDate The date or interval during which an Event occurred. For occurrences, this is thedate when the event was recorded.scientificName The full scientific name, with authorship and date information.kingdom kingdom.phylum phylum.class class.order order.family family.genus genus.specificEpithet The name of the first or species epithet of the scientificName.scientificNameAuthorship The authorship information for the scientificName formatted according to theconventions of the applicable nomenclaturalCode.taxonRank The taxonomic rank of the most specific name in the scientificName.decimalLongitude The geographic longitude (in decimal degrees, using the spatial reference systemgiven in geodeticDatum) of the geographic centre of a Location. Positive valuesare east of the Greenwich Meridian, negative values are west of it. Legal values liebetween -180 and 180, inclusive.decimalLatitude The geographic latitude (in decimal degrees, using the spatial reference systemgiven in geodeticDatum) of the geographic centre of a Location. Positive valuesare north of the Equator, negative values are south of it. Legal values lie between-90 and 90, inclusive.geodeticDatum The ellipsoid, geodetic datum or spatial reference system (SRS) upon which thegeographic coordinates given in decimalLatitude and decimalLongitude are based.coordinateUncertaintyInMetres The horizontal distance (in metres) from the given decimalLatitude anddecimalLongitude describing the smallest circle containing the whole of theLocation.country The name of the country or major administrative unit in which the Location occurs.countryCode The standard code for the country in which the Location occurs.islandGroup The name of the island group in which the Location occurs.establishmentMeans The process by which the biological individual(s) represented in the Occurrencebecame established at the location.8 Barcelos L et alAuthor contributionsLMDB and JPB published the  updated  checklist  in  GBIF  IPT -  Portugal  and  built  theframework, developed this paper and uploaded all the files into the Arphahub platform. Allauthors read and edited the submitted version and agreed on its present version. FV andHP contributed with COSTA database.References• Abreu-Grobois A, Plotkin P (2008) Lepidochelys olivacea. The IUCN Red List ofThreatened Species 2008. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T11534A3292503.en. Accessed on: 2022-10-06.• Barcelos LMD, Michielsen G, Sérgio B, Oliveira S, Barreiros JP (2021) First record ofthe Olive Ridley sea turtle, Lepidochelys olivacea (Eschscholtz, 1829), in the AzoresIslands, northeastern Atlantic Ocean (Testudines, Cheloniidae). Herpetology Notes 14(November 2020): 371‑373. • Barcelos LMD, Barreiros JP (2022) Occurrences of sea turtles in Azores Archipelago.1.4. Universidade dos Açores. Release date: 2022-11-15. URL: http://ipt.gbif.pt/ipt/resource?r=occurence_seaturtles_azores&v=1.4• Barcelos LMD, Barreiros JB, Barreiros JP (2022) Azores sea turtles updated checklist.1.1. Universidad dos Açores. Release date: 2022-11-08. URL: http://ipt.gbif.pt/ipt/resource?r=azores_seaturtles_checklist&v=1.1• Barreiros JP, Barcelos J (2001) Plastic ingestion by a Leatherback turtle Dermochelyscoriacea from the Azores (NE Atlantic. Marine Pollution Bulletin 42 (11): 1196‑1197. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0025-326X(01)00215-6• Barreiros JP, Raykov VS (2014) Lethal lesions and amputation caused by plastic debrisand fishing gear on the loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758). Three casereports from Terceira Island, Azores (NE Atlantic). Marine Pollution Bulletin 86: 518‑522.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.07.020• Bolton AB, Martins HR (1990) Kemp’s ridley captured in the Azores. Marine TurtlesNewsletter 48: 23. • Borges PAV, Gabriel R, Arroz A, Costa A, Cunha R, Silva L, Mendonça E, Martins AF,Reis F, Cardoso P (2010) The Azorean Biodiversity Portal: an internet database forregional biodiversity outreach. Systematics and Biodiversity 8: 423‑434. [In english]. https://doi.org/10.1080/14772000.2010.514306.4• Casale P, Tucker AD (2017) Caretta caretta (amended version of 2015 assessment).The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T3897A119333622.en.. Accessed on: 2022-10-06.• Mortimer JA, Donnelly M (2008) Eretmochelys imbricata. The IUCN Red List ofThreatened Species 2008. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T8005A12881238.en.. Accessed on: 2022-10-06.• Seminoff JA (2004) Chelonia mydas. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2004. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T4615A11037468.en.. Accessed on:2022-10-06.Sea turtle (Reptilia, Testudines) diversity and occurrence in the Azores ... 9• Wallace BP, Tiwari M, Girondot M (2013) Dermochelys coriacea. The IUCN Red List ofThreatened Species 2013. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-2.RLTS.T6494A43526147.en.. Accessed on: 2022-10-06.• Wibbels T, Bevan E (2019) Lepidochelys kempii (errata version published in 2019). TheIUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T11533A155057916.en. Accessed on: 2022-10-06.Supplementary materialSuppl. material 1: Occurrences and taxonomic informationAuthors:  Luís MD Barcelos, João P BarreirosData type:  occurrencesBrief description:  Data on the occurrence of sea turtles in the RACA, COSTA and AzoreanBiodiversity  Group databases.  These data are accessible in  GBIF through:  http://ipt.gbif.pt/ipt/resource?r=occurence_seaturtles_azoresDownload file (25.54 kb)  10 Barcelos L et al

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Sea turtle (Reptilia, Testudines) diversity and occurrence in the Azores Archipelago (NE Atlantic)

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