An Epizootic of Cutaneous Fibropapillomas in GreenTurtles Cheloniamydas of the Caribbean: Part of a Panzootic?

Abstract

An epizootic of fibropapillomas in green turtles Chelonia mydas (Reptilia: Testudines: Cheloniidae) has occurred throughout the Caribbean since the mid‐1980s. Similar epizootics in Hawaii and Florida began 5 years earlier. All may be part of a panzootic. The 125 Caribbean cases greatly expand the known range of these epizootics. All the tumors we examined had spirorchiid (Digenea) eggs. Few turtles we examined with tumors were emaciated. Additional tumors quickly erupted in some captive turtles, whereas tumors of others remained unchanged for 1 year. The turtle leech Ozobranchus branchiatus (Hirudinea: Ozobranchidae) was associated with only three green turtles with fibropapillomas.

Experimental transmission of green turtle fibropapillomatosis using cell-free tumor extracts

“…Histologically the experimentally induced tumors were consistent with published descriptions of naturally occurring GTFP (Lucke 1938, Smith & Coates 1938, 1939, Schlumberger & Lucke 1948, Jacobson et al 1989, Harshbarger 1991, Aguirre et al 1994, Williams et al 1994. However, in addition, scattered foci of epidermal ballooning degeneration were observed in 24 (72%) of the experimentally induced tumors.…”

“…The first case was from an adult green turtle at the New York Aquarium (USA) that had been captured near Key West, Florida, USA and subsequent reports were from green turtles captured in Florida waters (Lucke 1938, Smith & Coates 1938, Schlumberger & Lucke 1948. Green turtle fibropapillomatosis (GTFP) has subsequently been observed in many geographic locations around the world including the western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico (Jacobson et al 1989, Ehrhart 1991, Teas 1991, the Caribbean (Jacobson et al 1989, Teas 1991, Williams et al 1994, the Pacific (Jacobson et al 1989, MacDonald & Dutton 1990, Balazs 1991, Limpus & Miller 1994, and the Indian Ocean (Hendrikson 1958, J. Mortimer pers. comm.).…”

“…Histologically, fibropapillomas are characterized by benign papillary epidermal hyperplasia supported on broad stalks of proliferating fibrovascular stroma (Lucke 1938, Smith & Coates 1938, 1939, Schlumberger & Lucke 1948, Jacobson et al 1989, Harshbarger 1991, Aguirre et al 1994, Williams et al 1994. Agents known to cause similar proliferative cutaneous lesions in other species, including chemical carcinogens, ultraviolet light, oncogenic viruses, and metazoan parasites, have been proposed as possible causes of GTFP and have been reviewed by Sundberg (1991) and Herbst (1994).…”

Staat van de natuur van Caribisch Nederland 2017 : een eerste beoordeling van de staat (van instandhouding), bedreigingen en managementimplicaties van habitats en soorten in Caribisch Nederland

“…• de zeer snelle invasie van foerageergebieden van de Soepschildpad door de uitheemse zeegras Halophila stipulacea ; • de wederopbloei van een grotendeels vergeten ziekte, de fibropapilloma (een virus dat tumoren veroorzaakt) (Williams et al, 1994;STCB, 2014STCB, , 2015.…”

Tropical reef-fish disease outbreaks and mass mortalities in Florida, USA:what is the role of dietary biological toxins

“…comm.) and the Caribbean region (Williams et al 1994), and low-level feeding on Caulerpa or other toxic macro-or microalgae. The absence or decline of preferred foods such as Thalassia, which recently occurred as a result of the seagrass die-off in Florida Bay (Robblee et al 1991), may cause turtles to switch to a different and perhaps potentially toxic diet.…”