Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T13:34:48.647Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Distribution patterns of epibionts on the carapace of loggerhead turtles, Caretta caretta

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

Joseph B. Pfaller ,
Karen A. Bjorndal ,
Kimberly J. Reich ,
Kristina L. Williams  and
Michael G. Frick
Joseph B. Pfaller
Affiliation:
Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research and Department of Zoology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA
Karen A. Bjorndal*
Affiliation:
Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research and Department of Zoology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA
Kimberly J. Reich
Affiliation:
Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research and Department of Zoology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA
Kristina L. Williams
Affiliation:
Caretta Research Project, PO Box 9841, Savannah, Georgia 31412, USA
Michael G. Frick
Affiliation:
Caretta Research Project, PO Box 9841, Savannah, Georgia 31412, USA
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Karen A. Bjorndal, Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research and Department of Zoology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

The spatial distribution of epibionts on carapaces of marine turtles may be influenced by variation in recruitment dynamics, water flow patterns, and levels of disturbance on different regions of the carapace. We determined the distribution of 18 taxa of epibionts among nine zones on the carapace of 18 nesting loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) on Wassaw Island, Georgia, USA. Frequency of occurrence (%F) of all epibionts and each taxonomic class was determined for each zone. Distribution patterns were compared with a uniform distribution, and the distribution of each taxonomic class was compared with that of all epibionts combined. The distribution of all epibionts was significantly different from a uniform distribution, with highest densities on the posterior and vertebral zones. Distributions of each class, except Malacostraca and Cirripedia, were not significantly different from a uniform distribution across the carapace. Malacostraca was most dense on the posterior zones, whereas Cirripedia was most dense in the vertebral zones. Distributions of individual classes were all significantly different from the distribution of all epibionts combined. The distribution of all epibionts was strongly influenced by the distributions of the two dominant organisms, the chelonibiid barnacles and the caprellid amphipods.

Keywords

epibiontsmarine turtles
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 1 , January 2008 , e36
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bjorndal, K.A. (2003) Roles of loggerhead sea turtles in marine ecosystems. In Bolten, A.B. and Witherington, B.E. (eds) Loggerhead sea turtles. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books, pp. 235–254.Google Scholar
Caine, E.A. (1986) Carapace epibionts of nesting loggerhead sea turtles: Atlantic coast of USA. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 95, 15–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davenport, J. (1994) A cleaning association between the oceanic crab Planes minutus and the loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 74, 735–737.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dellinger, T., Davenport, J. and Wirtz, P. (1997) Comparisons of social structure of Columbus crabs living on loggerhead sea turtles and inanimate flotsam. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 77, 185–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frazier, J., Goodbody, I. and Ruckdeschel, C.A. (1991) Epizoan communities on marine turtles. II. Tunicates. Bulletin of Marine Sciences 48, 763–765.Google Scholar
Frazier, J., Margaritoulis, D., Muldoon, K., Potter, C.W., Rosewater, J., Ruckdeschel, C. and Salas, S. (1985) Epizoan communities on marine turtles. I. Bivalve and gastropod mollusks. Marine Ecology 6, 127–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frazier, J., Winston, J.E. and Ruckdeschel, C.A. (1992) Epizoan communities on marine turtles. III. Bryozoa. Bulletin of Marine Sciences 51, 1–8.Google Scholar
Frick, M., Williams, K. and Robinson, M. (1998) Epibionts associated with nesting loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) in Georgia. Herpetological Review 29, 211–214.Google Scholar
Frick, M.G., Williams, K.L., Markesteyn, E.J., Pfaller, J.B. and Frick, R.E. (2004a) New records and observations of epibionts from loggerhead sea turtles. Southeastern Naturalist 3, 613–620.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frick, M.G., Williams, K.L., Bolten, A.B., Bjorndal, K.A. and Martins, H.R. (2004b) Diet and fecundity of Columbus crabs, Planes minutus, associated with oceanic-stage loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta caretta, and inanimate flotsam. Journal of Crustacean Biology 24, 350–355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gramentz, D. (1988) Prevalent epibiont sites on Caretta caretta in the Mediterranean Sea. II. Naturalista Siciliano 12, 33–46.Google Scholar
Larsson, A.I. and Jonsson, P.R. (2006) Barnacle larvae actively select flow environments supporting post-settlement growth and survival. Ecology 87, 1960–1966.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Logan, P. and Morreale, S.J. (1994) Hydrodynamic drag characteristics of juvenile L. kempi, C. mydas, and C. caretta. In Schroeder, B.A. and Witherington, B.E. (eds) Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-341, 248–252.Google Scholar
Matsuura, I. and Nakamura, K. (1993) Attachment pattern of the turtle barnacle Chelonibia testudinaria on carapace of nesting loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta. Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi 59, 1803.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Monroe, R. and Limpus, C. (1979) Barnacles on turtles in Queensland waters with descriptions of three new species. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 19, 197–223.Google Scholar
Rawson, P.D., MacNamee, R., Frick, M.G. and Williams, K.L. (2003) Phylogeography of the coronulid barnacle, Chelonibia testudinaria, from loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta caretta. Molecular Ecology 12, 2697–2706.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ross, A. and Newman, W.A. (1967) Eocene Balanidae of Florida, including a new genus and species with a unique plan of “turtle barnacle” organization. American Museum Novitates 2288, 1–21.Google Scholar
Schärer, M.T. (2001) A survey of the epibiota of hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) of Mona Island, Puerto Rico. MSc thesis, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.Google Scholar
Wahl, M. (1989) Marine epibiosis. I. Fouling and antifouling: some basic aspects. Marine Ecology Progress Series 58, 175–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar