Feeding ecology of the green sea turtle (<i>Chelonia mydas</i>) in the Galapagos Islands

Carrión-Cortez, Javier; Zárate, Patricia; Seminoff, Jeffrey A.

doi:10.1017/s0025315410000226

Cited by 68 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…To establish the order of importance for the entire array of foods ingested (Mohan & Sankaran, 1988;Carrión-Cortez, 2010), was also calculated the weighted resultant index (Rw), according to the following:…”

Section: Diet Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Currently, multiple sea turtle populations are declining (Amorocho & Reina, 2007;Carrión-Cortez et al, 2010), due largely to anthropogenic activities including commercial overfishing, bycatch, destruction of critical habitat for feeding and nesting; and most recently, pollution (Gilman et al, 2006(Gilman et al, , 2010Boyle & Limpus, 2008;Rodríguez, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At their juvenile developmental habitats, green turtles can take on a herbivorous diet, feeding primarily on seagrass and algae (Plotkin et al, 1993;Seminoff et al, 2002aSeminoff et al, , 2003López-Mendilaharsu et al, 2005;Sampson & Giraldo, 2014). Other studies have noted that C. mydas juveniles can also be carnivorous consumers, foraging mainly on cnidarians (Carrión-Cortez et al, 2010), sponges (Seminoff et al, 2002b), and tunicates (Amorocho & Reina, 2007. Additional studies have also identified an omnivorous diet, based mainly on algae but with an additional wide variety of animals, such as crustaceans, fish eggs, mollusks, and, to a lesser extent, jellyfish (Hays-Brown & Brown, 1982;De Paz et al, 2004;Kelez et al, 2004;Santillán, 2008;Quiñones et al, 2015aQuiñones et al, , 2015b.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This feeding strategy, where juveniles are herbivorous/omnivorous, allows for accelerated growth of recruits (Quiñones et al, 2015a). In the Eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO), there is baseline diet information for some green turtle feeding grounds, including those located in the Baja California Peninsula (Mexico) (Seminoff et al, 2002a(Seminoff et al, , 2003López-Mendilaharsu et al, 2005), the Galapagos Islands (Seminoff et al, 2002b;Carrión-Cortez et al, 2010), and the Gorgona Island (Colombia) (Amorocho & Reina, 2007.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Feeding ecology of the green turtle Chelonia mydas in northern Peru

Jiménez

Pingo

Alfaro‐Shigueto

et al. 2017

lajar

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ABSTRACT. Diet and food preferences of the green turtle Chelonia mydas were analyzed based on digestive tract contents of dead specimens caught incidentally by an artisanal gillnet fishery in Sechura Bay, northern Peru. We examined 27 digestive tracts and identified 35 prey items. The sampled turtles were all juveniles (CCL = 53.7 ± 1.2 cm, range 40.5-67.0 cm). The prey items were grouped into six categories: algae, cnidarians, mollusks, arthropods, chordates and garbage/anthropogenic debris. The items with the highest Frequency of Occurrence values (% FO) were: Caulerpa filiformis (77.8%), Loligo gahi (eggs) (51.9%) and Rhodymenia corallina (44.4%). By weight (% W), the most important items, were L. gahi (eggs) (33.3%), Stomolophus sp. (7.3%) and Aphos porosus (6.5%). According to the Preponderance Index (%IP), the preponderant item was L. gahi (eggs) with 6.1% and 61.2% during winter-spring and summer-autumn, respectively. According to the Resultant Weight index (Rw) of wet items, the most important items were: C. filiformis (13.1%), L. gahi (eggs) (10.5%), R. corallina (7.4%), plastic (7.5%), Gigartina chamissoi (5.1%). Garbage/anthropogenic debris was common in the digestive tracts analyzed. Plastic items had a frequency of occurrence of 44.4%. A greater diversity of food items was observed during summer and autumn. This study shows that juvenile C. mydas forage on a variety of resources. We recommend that conservation plans, land use planning and future management plans in the Sechura Bay include green turtles as a sentinel species for monitoring biodiversity of marine resources and the degree of pollution in the Bay.

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Section: Diet Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Feeding ecology of the green turtle Chelonia mydas in northern Peru

Jiménez

Pingo

Alfaro‐Shigueto

et al. 2017

lajar

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“…), and Hawaii (400 sp. ), places where C. mydas has been reported to feed mainly on algae (López-Mendilaharsu, Gardner, Riosmena-Rodríguez & Seminoff, 2008, Arthur & Balazs, 2008, Carrión-Cortez, Zárate & Seminoff, 2010Fernández-García, Riosmena-Rodríguez, Wysor, Tejada, & Cortés, 2011).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Annual abundance of salps and doliolids (Tunicata) around Gorgona Island (Colombian Pacific), and their importance as potential food for green sea turtles

Sampson

Giraldo

2014

RBT

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Gorgona National Park protects fertile waters that support large vertebrates, including green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas), and for them, gelatinous zooplankton constitute a food resource that can be found year-round in Gorgona island´s coastal waters. This study was carried out to determine the abundance of salps and doliolids around Gorgona island over a year, and to determine whether this is a resource that could be used reliably year-round by green turtles and other large plankton-feeding predators. The monthly abundance of salps and doliolids at eight coastal stations around Gorgona island (Colombian Pacific) was determined between September 2005 and August 2006. Oblique tows were carried out from 50m to the surface, total zooplankton biomass was measured and the number of salps and doliolids per tow, and frequency of occurrence per station and month were determined. Superficial and bottom sea temperature, superficial and bottom salinity, and chlorophyll-a concentration were recorded at each station. There were tunicate abundance peaks in September 2005 and March 2006. The high abundances in March were probably due to a cold water intrusion into the study area, which resulted in colder saltier water and a shallower thermocline. Tunicates were probably advected to the area by currents from the southwest and aggregated due to the underwater topography. in September, the influence of continental river discharge as well as inputs from rainfall over the island could have provided increased nutrients and resulted in higher abundances. The large filter-feeding vertebrates that feed on tunicates include green sea turtle juveniles, which use coastal waters of Gorgona island as feeding grounds, as part of their migration route in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. These turtles could be using tunicates opportunistically, as a sporadic resource that is available at certain times of the year. Rev. Biol. Trop. 62 (Suppl. 1): 149-159. Epub 2014 February 01.

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Testing sea urchin and green sea turtle consumption of the allelopathic macroalga Galaxaura divaricata

Nieder,

Heatwole,

Liao

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

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Galaxaura divaricata is a partially calcified macroalga that hampers coral recruitment, growth, and recovery via the excretion of allelopathic secondary metabolites. Herbivorous fishes are not major consumers of Galaxaura spp. and there is a need to understand feeding preferences for Galaxaura divaricata in other macroherbivores, like sea urchins and green sea turtles that could act as potential controlling agents. Under certain environmental conditions, G. divaricata can proliferate and overgrow degraded reefs for several years, as documented for several coral patch reefs in the lagoon of Dongsha Atoll, South China Sea. This study aimed to experimentally test the feeding preferences of five species of sea urchin and two individual green sea turtles, Chelonia mydas, for G. divaricata. Specifically, we quantified and compared the consumption rates of the allelopathic G. divaricata with Gracilaria edulis, a nonallelopathic, fleshy red alga, known to be highly favored by herbivores. Results showed that the five urchin species fed on both G. edulis and G. divaricata. However, urchins consumed 2–8 times less wet weight of G. divaricata (range 0.3–3.1 g urchin−1 24 h−1) compared to G. edulis (range 0.6–18 g urchin−1 24 h−1), suggesting that urchin grazing may exert some control on G. divaricata abundance but is likely ineffective for a large‐scale removal of the alga. Further, both green sea turtles avoided G. divaricata and selectively fed on G. edulis. More experiments are needed to test the potential role of herbivores in controlling the overgrowth of coral competitive and allelopathic macroalgae, like Galaxaura on coral reefs.

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Feeding ecology of the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) in the Galapagos Islands

Cited by 68 publications

References 34 publications

Feeding ecology of the green turtle Chelonia mydas in northern Peru

Feeding ecology of the green turtle Chelonia mydas in northern Peru

Annual abundance of salps and doliolids (Tunicata) around Gorgona Island (Colombian Pacific), and their importance as potential food for green sea turtles

Testing sea urchin and green sea turtle consumption of the allelopathic macroalga Galaxaura divaricata

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