Motile homes: a comparison of the spatial distribution of epibiont communities on Mediterranean sea turtles

Understanding the ecological roles performed by an individual species requires knowledge from a wide range of disciplines; here we analyze the epibiont-host relationship found in marine turtles. During the study we recorded five new species of sea turtle epibiont: Laomedea flexuosa, Caprella fretens...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of natural history 2010-06, Vol.44 (27-28), p.1743-1753
Main Authors: Fuller, W.J., Broderick, A.C., Enever, R., Thorne, P., Godley, B.J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
barnacles
Caretta caretta
Chelonia mydas
epibiont
spatial distribution
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Summary:Understanding the ecological roles performed by an individual species requires knowledge from a wide range of disciplines; here we analyze the epibiont-host relationship found in marine turtles. During the study we recorded five new species of sea turtle epibiont: Laomedea flexuosa, Caprella fretensis, Hyale nilssoni, Hyale schmidti, Parasinelobus chevreuxi; as part of a total of nine zoological epibionts present on 35 female green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and 100 loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) nesting in Cyprus. The two most commonly occurring epibionts were acorn barnacles Chelonibia testudinaria and Chelonibia caretta, with larger specimens of both species recorded on loggerhead turtles. We analyzed the spatial distribution of these two barnacle species upon the carapaces of their hosts. Specimens of C. testudinaria situated on the anterior half of the carapace were larger than those located at the posterior. A significantly larger proportion of loggerhead turtles (52.5%) hosted epibionts in comparison to green turtles (30.3%). All non-barnacle epibionts were associated with either posterior algal mats or carapace scars.
ISSN:0022-2933
1464-5262
DOI:10.1080/00222931003624820