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The first report of a loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta nest on the central Tyrrhenian coast (western Mediterranean)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 January 2009

Flegra Bentivegna ,
Gianluca Treglia  and
Sandra Hochscheid
Flegra Bentivegna*
Affiliation:
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale 1, 80121 Naples, Italy
Gianluca Treglia
Affiliation:
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale 1, 80121 Naples, Italy
Sandra Hochscheid
Affiliation:
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale 1, 80121 Naples, Italy
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: F. Bentivegna, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale 1, 80121 Naples, Italy email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Here we report for the first time on a loggerhead turtle, Caretta caretta, which laid 92 eggs on the south-west Italian coast on 11 July 2002. During the 64 day incubation period the nest was threatened by inundation and hence, it was transferred on the 28th day. The hatching success was 49.4% and all live hatchlings entered the sea. Unhatched eggs were opened to determine at which developmental stage embryonic death occurred. This analysis confirmed that most of the embryos died in the first few days after laying and that the transfer of the nest did not affect embryonic development. This was the third of three unusual nesting events in the western Mediterranean in the years 2001–2002.

Keywords

nestingCaretta carettaembryonic stageincubation
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 1 , January 2008 , e14
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2005

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References

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