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Dietary Preferences of Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta caretta) in Two Mediterranean Feeding Grounds: Does Prey Selection Change with Habitat Use throughout Their Life Cycle?

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Loggerhead sea turtles have a flexible distribution from oceanic-pelagic to neritic-benthic areas. Their dietary preferences are expected to change from pelagic prey to benthic prey along with habitat use while they increase in size. This study evaluated the gastrointestinal contents...

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Autores principales: Mariani, Giulia, Bellucci, Fabio, Cocumelli, Cristiano, Raso, Caterina, Hochscheid, Sandra, Roncari, Chiara, Nerone, Eliana, Recchi, Sara, Di Giacinto, Federica, Olivieri, Vincenzo, Pulsoni, Simone, Matiddi, Marco, Silvestri, Cecilia, Ferri, Nicola, Renzo, Ludovica Di
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9951698/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36830441
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani13040654
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author Mariani, Giulia
Bellucci, Fabio
Cocumelli, Cristiano
Raso, Caterina
Hochscheid, Sandra
Roncari, Chiara
Nerone, Eliana
Recchi, Sara
Di Giacinto, Federica
Olivieri, Vincenzo
Pulsoni, Simone
Matiddi, Marco
Silvestri, Cecilia
Ferri, Nicola
Renzo, Ludovica Di
author_facet Mariani, Giulia
Bellucci, Fabio
Cocumelli, Cristiano
Raso, Caterina
Hochscheid, Sandra
Roncari, Chiara
Nerone, Eliana
Recchi, Sara
Di Giacinto, Federica
Olivieri, Vincenzo
Pulsoni, Simone
Matiddi, Marco
Silvestri, Cecilia
Ferri, Nicola
Renzo, Ludovica Di
author_sort Mariani, Giulia
collection PubMed
description SIMPLE SUMMARY: Loggerhead sea turtles have a flexible distribution from oceanic-pelagic to neritic-benthic areas. Their dietary preferences are expected to change from pelagic prey to benthic prey along with habitat use while they increase in size. This study evaluated the gastrointestinal contents of 150 loggerhead sea turtles stranded and/or bycaught along the Italian coasts of the central Adriatic Sea and central Tyrrhenian sea to assess the most common prey phyla. Information on the ingestion of litter has been collected for each carcass as well. This work highlights the need to deepen the knowledge of the feeding ecology and distribution of sea turtles at any developmental stage. ABSTRACT: According to their life stage, the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) is found in a wide range of habitats, from neritic to more oceanic areas. Their feeding habits are expected to change as they develop, along with habitat use. Juvenile sea turtles are hypothesized to feed on pelagic species in oceanic areas, shifting to more benthic prey during the subadult and adult stages. We analyzed the gastrointestinal content from 150 loggerhead sea turtles stranded and/or bycaught along the Adriatic coast of the Abruzzo and Molise regions (n = 89) and the Tyrrhenian coast of the Lazio and Campania regions (n = 61) from 2018 to 2021. Food items were identified to the lowest taxonomic level, and the frequency of occurrence was calculated for each taxon and most recurrent species to assess changes in prey selection during the development. The marine litter was categorized, and the frequency of occurrence was calculated for the ingestion of litter. The most recurrent taxonomic prey group recorded in the Adriatic sample was Arthropoda (94%), followed by Mollusca (63%) and Chordata (34%). In the Tyrrhenian sample, loggerhead sea turtles fed mostly on Mollusca (84%), Arthropoda (38%), and Chordata (26%). Surprisingly, the Adriatic-Tyrrhenian sample groups showed similar feeding behavior between juveniles, subadults, and adults. A similar correlation has been observed concerning the ingestion of litter. Moreover, this study confirms the opportunistic feeding behavior of loggerhead sea turtles and their high adaptability.
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spelling pubmed-99516982023-02-25 Dietary Preferences of Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta caretta) in Two Mediterranean Feeding Grounds: Does Prey Selection Change with Habitat Use throughout Their Life Cycle? Mariani, Giulia Bellucci, Fabio Cocumelli, Cristiano Raso, Caterina Hochscheid, Sandra Roncari, Chiara Nerone, Eliana Recchi, Sara Di Giacinto, Federica Olivieri, Vincenzo Pulsoni, Simone Matiddi, Marco Silvestri, Cecilia Ferri, Nicola Renzo, Ludovica Di Animals (Basel) Article SIMPLE SUMMARY: Loggerhead sea turtles have a flexible distribution from oceanic-pelagic to neritic-benthic areas. Their dietary preferences are expected to change from pelagic prey to benthic prey along with habitat use while they increase in size. This study evaluated the gastrointestinal contents of 150 loggerhead sea turtles stranded and/or bycaught along the Italian coasts of the central Adriatic Sea and central Tyrrhenian sea to assess the most common prey phyla. Information on the ingestion of litter has been collected for each carcass as well. This work highlights the need to deepen the knowledge of the feeding ecology and distribution of sea turtles at any developmental stage. ABSTRACT: According to their life stage, the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) is found in a wide range of habitats, from neritic to more oceanic areas. Their feeding habits are expected to change as they develop, along with habitat use. Juvenile sea turtles are hypothesized to feed on pelagic species in oceanic areas, shifting to more benthic prey during the subadult and adult stages. We analyzed the gastrointestinal content from 150 loggerhead sea turtles stranded and/or bycaught along the Adriatic coast of the Abruzzo and Molise regions (n = 89) and the Tyrrhenian coast of the Lazio and Campania regions (n = 61) from 2018 to 2021. Food items were identified to the lowest taxonomic level, and the frequency of occurrence was calculated for each taxon and most recurrent species to assess changes in prey selection during the development. The marine litter was categorized, and the frequency of occurrence was calculated for the ingestion of litter. The most recurrent taxonomic prey group recorded in the Adriatic sample was Arthropoda (94%), followed by Mollusca (63%) and Chordata (34%). In the Tyrrhenian sample, loggerhead sea turtles fed mostly on Mollusca (84%), Arthropoda (38%), and Chordata (26%). Surprisingly, the Adriatic-Tyrrhenian sample groups showed similar feeding behavior between juveniles, subadults, and adults. A similar correlation has been observed concerning the ingestion of litter. Moreover, this study confirms the opportunistic feeding behavior of loggerhead sea turtles and their high adaptability. MDPI 2023-02-13 /pmc/articles/PMC9951698/ /pubmed/36830441 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani13040654 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Mariani, Giulia
Bellucci, Fabio
Cocumelli, Cristiano
Raso, Caterina
Hochscheid, Sandra
Roncari, Chiara
Nerone, Eliana
Recchi, Sara
Di Giacinto, Federica
Olivieri, Vincenzo
Pulsoni, Simone
Matiddi, Marco
Silvestri, Cecilia
Ferri, Nicola
Renzo, Ludovica Di
Dietary Preferences of Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta caretta) in Two Mediterranean Feeding Grounds: Does Prey Selection Change with Habitat Use throughout Their Life Cycle?
title Dietary Preferences of Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta caretta) in Two Mediterranean Feeding Grounds: Does Prey Selection Change with Habitat Use throughout Their Life Cycle?
title_full Dietary Preferences of Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta caretta) in Two Mediterranean Feeding Grounds: Does Prey Selection Change with Habitat Use throughout Their Life Cycle?
title_fullStr Dietary Preferences of Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta caretta) in Two Mediterranean Feeding Grounds: Does Prey Selection Change with Habitat Use throughout Their Life Cycle?
title_full_unstemmed Dietary Preferences of Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta caretta) in Two Mediterranean Feeding Grounds: Does Prey Selection Change with Habitat Use throughout Their Life Cycle?
title_short Dietary Preferences of Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta caretta) in Two Mediterranean Feeding Grounds: Does Prey Selection Change with Habitat Use throughout Their Life Cycle?
title_sort dietary preferences of loggerhead sea turtles (caretta caretta) in two mediterranean feeding grounds: does prey selection change with habitat use throughout their life cycle?
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9951698/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36830441
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani13040654
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