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Diet of juvenile green turtles (Chelonia mydas) associating with artisanal fishing traps in a subtropical estuary in Brazil

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Abstract

The diet of 50 juvenile green turtles Chelonia mydas live-captured incidentally by fixed fishing traps between January and June 2009 in Cananéia Estuarine–Lagoon complex, Brazil, was studied through analysis of esophageal lavage samples. Green turtles consumed an omnivorous diet, with 18 food components identified and grouped into 4 categories as follows: terrestrial plants, algae, invertebrates, and seagrass. Black mangrove leaves were of the greatest importance to diet. Turtles incidentally get into fixed traps probably because these devices are located on mangrove margins, where they forage. The additional foods suggest that green turtles also feed opportunistically on material adhered to the trap structure and/or on items that cross into its interior. Green turtle diet in estuarine environments appears to be determined by the availability of food components, with some selectivity toward items of apparently greater nutritional value.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the FAPES and CNPq (ASM grant 308867/2006-8) for the financial support. This research was permitted by ICMBio/SISBIO (license 18781-1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Oceanografia e Ecologia, CCHN, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, 29075-910, Vitória, ES, Brazil

    Shany Mayumi Nagaoka, Agnaldo Silva Martins & Robson Guimarães dos Santos

  2. Departamento de Ciências da Saúde Biológica e Agrárias, CEUNES, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, 29933-415, São Mateus, ES, Brazil

    Mônica Maria Pereira Tognella

  3. Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, 88040-900, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil

    Eurico Cabral de Oliveira Filho

  4. Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA), 3333 N. Torrey Pines Ct., La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA

    Jeffrey A. Seminoff

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  1. Shany Mayumi Nagaoka
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  2. Agnaldo Silva Martins
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  3. Robson Guimarães dos Santos
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  5. Eurico Cabral de Oliveira Filho
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Correspondence to Shany Mayumi Nagaoka.

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Communicated by R. Lewison.

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Nagaoka, S.M., Martins, A.S., dos Santos, R.G. et al. Diet of juvenile green turtles (Chelonia mydas) associating with artisanal fishing traps in a subtropical estuary in Brazil. Mar Biol 159, 573–581 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-011-1836-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-011-1836-y

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