Sea turtle (Reptilia, Testudines) diversity and occurrence in the Azores Archipelago (NE Atlantic).

ABSTRACT:

Background

Six species of marine turtles occur in the Azores Archipelago. The loggerhead, Carettacaretta (Linnaeus, 1758), is by far the most common species and is being constantly monitored and tagged by a joint project between the University of the Azores and the University of Florida since 1989. With the implementation of the tuna fishery observers (for dolphin safe seals), an increment of sea turtle reports has been verified as expected. The leather back turtle, Dermochelyscoriacea (Vandelli, 1761) is the second most observed species in the Azores' EEZ, a fact probably also linked to the tuna fishery observation programme. All other species are occasional/vagrant albeit the green turtle, Cheloniamydas (Linnaeus, 1758) is more commonly seen than the others.

SUBMITTER: Barcelos LMD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10848538 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature