An extensive survey on helminth community of Caretta caretta from the neritic feeding grounds of Northwestern Adriatic sea.

ABSTRACT: The opportunistic diet of loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta caretta, their long life-span and migratory behavior contribute to shaping the diversity of the gastrointestinal helminthic community. Heteroxenous helminths are also sentinels of marine environmental health, reflecting any perturbation of the trophic chain and, indirectly, of abiotic components of the ecosystem. With the aim of studying the helminth community of a top predator such as the loggerhead sea turtle C. caretta, parasites were collected from the digestive tract of 157 individuals, stranded dead along NW Adriatic Sea in the period 2009-2023, and morphologically identified. Prevalence, intensity, abundance, relative abundance and importance index were calculated for each taxon. Ontogenetic stages and sex of the hosts, seaso

SUBMITTER: Marchiori E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12381079 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature