Factors of mortality of marine turtles in the Bay of Biscay. Factors of mortality in marine turtles near the French coast of the Bay of Biscay have been recorded for four species: leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), loggerhead (Car&a carettu), Ridley's turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) and green turtle (Chelonia mydas). Most accidental captures of D. coriacea by fishing gears lead to drowning, but the main threat for the species is the ingestion of floating waste. Plastic bags induce occlusion or lesions in the stomach and subsequent death. For C. car-etta, L. kempii and C. mydas, the pathology points out mainly two features: external or internal mycosis. 0 Elsevier, Paris Chelonian I marine turtle I pathology I pollution / Bay of Biscay RCsumC -L'examen de 230 tortues marines trouvees sur la cbte franqaise du golfe de Gascogne a permis de rechercher les facteurs de mortalite chez quatre especes : Tortue Luth (Dermochelys coriacea), Caouanne (Caretta caretta), Tortue de Kemp (Lepidochelys kempii) et Tortue verte (Chelonia mydas). La noyade consecutive aux captures accidentelles dans les engins de p&he est frequente chez D. coriacea et l'ingestion de dechets flottants presente, a long terme, une grave menace pour l'espece. Les morceaux de plastique provoquent des occlusions ou des lesions infectieuses de l'estomac, dont l'issue est fatale. Chez C. caretta, L. kempii et C. mydas, les lesions dominantes sont celles dues aux mycoses externes et internes.

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The dissection of 159 adult female Vipera aspis from Western France allowed the study of the evolution of fat bodies, ovaries and eggs during the sexual cycle. The latter is frequently biennial, sometimes triennial and only exceptionally annual. Vitellogenesis in reproductive females is essentially vernal and accompanied by a decrease in the relative mass of the fat bodies. This decrease is slow during the gestation period, when females eat little or not at all and use other reserves, including the liver. Participation of the kidneys is weak or absent. The fat bodies are reconstituted during periods of food intake; this requires one or two years, according to the duration of the potential feeding periods and feeding opportunities. Individual variation is important for all parameters including reproductive effort and available resources. Problems in evaluating reproductive effort and in comparing the relative clutch masses between viviparous and oviparous species are discussed.