In this work the authors describe the first case of Lepidochelys kempii stranding (Garman, 1880) happened in Italian waters (Sicily, Messina) and considered to be the fifth in the entire Mediterranean Sea. A young individual was recovered with a longline hook in its oesophageal

Insacco, Gianni

Spadola, Filippo

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Acta Herpetologica 5(1): 113-117, 2010
First record of Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, Lepidochelys kempii 
(Garman, 1880) (Cheloniidae), from the Italian waters 
(Mediterranean Sea)
Gianni Insacco1, Filippo Spadola2
1Centro Regionale Recupero Fauna Selvatica e Tartarughe Marine - Fondo Siciliano per la Natura e Museo 
Civico di Storia Naturale, via Generale Girlando 2, I-97013 Comiso (RG), Italy. E-mail: gianniinsacco
@virgilio.it
2Facoltà di Medicina Veterinaria di Messina, Dipartimento di Scienze Sperimentali e Biotecnologie 
Applicate, Polo Universitario SS. Annunziata I, I-98128, Messina, Italy. Corresponding author. E-mail: 
fspadola@unime.it
Submitted on: 2009, 2nd December; revised on 2010, 22nd January; accepted on 2010, 15th April.
Abstract. In this work the authors describe the first case of Lepidochelys kempii 
stranding (Garman, 1880) happened in Italian waters (Sicily, Messina) and considered 
to be the fifth in the entire Mediterranean Sea. A young individual was recovered with 
a longline hook in its oesophageal.
Keywords. Lepidochelys kempii, Kemp’s ridley turtle, Italian waters, Mediterranean 
Sea.
Lepidochelys kempii lives in tropical and subtropical seas in western Atlantic Ocean. In 
spite of its recent increase in population, it is still regarded as one of the most threatened sea 
turtle species worldwide (IUCN, 2009; Márquez, 2001; Márquez et al., 2005; TEWG, 2000).
The nesting areas are almost entirely concentrated in a single location within the Gulf 
of Mexico, a few miles southward the Tropic of Cancer, and especially in the regions of 
Tamaulipas and Veracruz in Mexico (Heppell et al., 2005; Márquez, 1994, 2001; Márquez 
et al., 2005; Oliver and Pigno, 2005; TEWG, 2000; Tomás et al., 2003a). 
After the nesting, both adult and juvenile turtles usually head northwards, particularly 
for the north-western atlantic coast of the United States, considered to be the most impor-
tant feeding and nursery area (Heppell et al., 2005; Márquez, 1994, 2001; Márquez et al., 
2005; TEWG, 2000).
Incidental scattering of Lepidochelys kempii recorded in north African and north 
Europe coasts can be caused by the Gulf Stream System (Gyory et al., 2008; Márquez, 
1994; Márquez et al., 2005; Pascual, 1985).
Lepidochelys kempii strandings records are extremely rare in the Mediterranean Sea. 
Brongersma and Carr (1983) made the first identification of Kemp’s ridley turtle on a turtle 
114 G. Insacco and F. Spadola
that had been seized off the island of Malta in October 1929 (Brongersma and Carr, 1983) 
(Fig. 1, Table 1). The second record of Lepidochelys kempii in the Mediterranean Sea occurred 
in France at Valras-Plage (Hérault) (Oliver and Pigno, 2005) (Fig. 1, Table 1). The capture of a 
Kemp’s ridley turtle was then reported in Tabarca (Spain) in October 2001 between the island 
and the beaches of Santa Pola (Alicante) (Tomás et al., 2003b) (Fig. 1, Table 1). The fourth 
most recent record dates back to July 2006 and occurred in Spain, nearby the Turia River in 
the south of Valencia harbour (Tomás and Raga, 2007) (Fig. 1, Table 1).
On August 19, 2009 in Capo Peloro Messina (Italy) was found stranded sea turtles 
by the Coast Guard (38°16’00”N 15°39’08”E) (Fig. 1, Table 1). The turtle was taken into 
the Regional Wildlife Recovery and Sea Turtles Center of the Sicily Wildlife Fund Comiso 
(Ragusa) for appropriate care. Operators immediately noticed turtle phenotypic differenc-
es and concluded that it was a young subject of Lepidochelys kempii after a careful analy-
sis based upon biometric parameters (SCL 27.8 cm; SCW 25.2 cm; TSCL 37.5 cm; HW 
5.50 cm; weight 2.85 kg). It was the fifth record in the Mediterranean Sea and the first in 
Fig. 1. Locality records for the Kemps’ ridley turtle.
115First record of Kemp’s ridley sea turtle from the Italian waters
Italy. The inspection evidenced: white bright green skin, triangular head with 2 pairs of 
prefrontal scales (Fig. 2 B, C), front legs with 2 pairs of nails (Fig. 2 D), the shell showed 
spherical shape (Fig. 2 A) and consisted of 5 dorsal shields (Fig. 2 A), 5 costal pairs (Fig. 2 
A), 12 marginal pairs (Fig. 2 A), 4 inframarginal pairs (Fig. 3) and 4 pairs of Rathke scent 
glands pores for each inframarginal shield (Fig. 3) (Márquez, 1990). During the clinical 
examination, the Kemp’s ridley turtle showed a 3 cm longline hook in the oesophagus. 
Diagnosis suggested the execution of an esophagotomy in order to extract the foreign 
body. The operation was successful and the animal is finally on the way to recovery, wait-
ing to be returned to wildlife.
Mediterranean records showed that it’s a juvenile (Table 1) undoubtedly coming from 
the Atlantic ocean, thereby confirming the theories related to the Gulf Stream System 
(Márquez, 1994; Gyory et al., 2008). We suspect, with Tomás and Raga (2007) that many 
Fig. 2. Lepidochelys kempii specimen (see text for explanation to figure).
116 G. Insacco and F. Spadola
operators, particularly if non-experts, are likely to mistake young Lepidochelys kempii tur-
tles for young Caretta caretta subjects, thereby distorting recent case histories in the Medi-
terranean Sea. A more significant presence of Kemp’s ridley turtles in the Mediterranean is 
therefore to be regarded as quite probable.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Special thanks to Vincenzo Inclimona, Sonia Terranova and Simona Cappello (CRRFSTM 
Comiso), Deborah Ricciardi and Adriana Nunnari (M.A.N. Messina) and the Coast Guard of Messi-
na for their collaboration during recovering, care and rehabilitation, and to Adriana De Pasquale 
(Dip. SciSBA – UniMe) for linguistic advice.
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Fig. 3. Position of the Rathke scent glands pores
117First record of Kemp’s ridley sea turtle from the Italian waters
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First record of Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, Lepidochelys kempii (Garman, 1880) (Cheloniidae), from the Italian waters (Mediterranean Sea)

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First record of Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, Lepidochelys kempii (Garman, 1880) (Cheloniidae), from the Italian waters (Mediterranean Sea)

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