Characterization of fibropapillomatosis in green turtles Chelonia mydas (Cheloniidae) captured in a foraging area in southeastern Brazil

Tagliolatto, Alícia Bertoloto; Guimarães, Suzana Machado; Lôbo-Hajdu, Gisele; Monteiro‐Neto, Cassiano

doi:10.3354/dao03020

Cited by 15 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Fibropapillomatosis can be an indicator of ecosystem health, as it is often associated with highly polluted coastal areas, high human density, and high contaminant supply (Aguirre & Lutz, ; Foley, Schroeder, Redlow, Fick‐Child, & Teas, ; Santos et al, ). In Brazil, FP is mainly found in C. mydas along the entire coast (Baptistotte, ), and the highest prevalence is reported in Espírito Santo (Santos, Martins, et al, ) and in Rio de Janeiro (Tagliolatto, Guimarães, Lobo‐Hadju, & Monteiro‐Neto, ). The coastal waters of Rio de Janeiro are impacted by the release of domestic, industrial, and agricultural effluents (Fiori et al, ; Lema, ), which may explain the concentrated occurrence of FP in green turtles in this study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatio‐temporal distribution of sea turtle strandings and factors contributing to their mortality in south‐eastern Brazil

Tagliolatto

Goldberg

Godfrey

et al. 2019

Aquatic Conservation

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Data on stranded sea turtles were examined between 2010 and 2016 along the northern region of Rio de Janeiro state and between 2016 and 2017 in the southern region, looking for spatio‐temporal patterns and determining which factors contributed to their mortality. A total of 12,162 strandings of all five species that occur in Brazil were recorded, with Chelonia mydas being the most common (89.9%). Sea turtles use the Rio de Janeiro coast as a feeding and/or migration area. The intense upwelling (October to April) may be an important factor for the sea turtles feeding in this region, mainly for Eretmochelys imbricata and Dermochelys coriacea, which had a higher number of strandings during this period. Areas further north of the study area include an important nesting site for Caretta caretta in Brazil, which explains the higher concentration of strandings of subadults/adults of this species in this region and during its nesting season. Many anthropogenic threats to sea turtles were documented, mainly incidental capture in fisheries and marine debris, indicating possible hotspots for these threats in the regions of Sepetiba and Guanabara Bays, Cabo Frio, and São Francisco de Itabapoana. Among the natural causes of strandings, the primary factors were chronic illness, endoparasites, and fibropapillomatosis. However, pollution may also be an indirect threat, which negatively affects these animals through reduced health and immunosuppression, leaving them more susceptible to opportunistic diseases. These data are valuable for directing and implementing specific and local mitigation measures along the Rio de Janeiro state coast, such as avoiding bycatch hotspots through fleet communication programmes and/or area and seasonal closures, enforceable legislation, effective penalties and proper waste management.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatio‐temporal distribution of sea turtle strandings and factors contributing to their mortality in south‐eastern Brazil

Tagliolatto

Goldberg

Godfrey

et al. 2019

Aquatic Conservation

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“…35,14,22 Nineteen percent of the green turtles from our study had FPs, which represents proportionally fewer affected individuals than values found in other areas on the Brazilian coast. 31,35,38 The Lagamar estuarine complex is surrounded by protected areas with low anthropogenic disturbance, whereas the turtles sampled from other parts of Brazil feed within diverse habitats, such as populated and isolated beaches, near shore islands, and heavily polluted areas. 11,31 The lower incidence of FPs in turtles from Lagamar may be a result of a better environmental quality and overall better health.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health assessment of juvenile green turtles in southern São Paulo State, Brazil: a hematologic approach

Mello

Álvarez

2019

J VET Diagn Invest

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We assessed the health status and hematologic and blood chemistry values of 48 juvenile green turtles ( Chelonia mydas) on the southeastern coast of Brazil (25°S 48°W). We investigated the impact of size and weight, nutritional condition, and presence of epibionts and fibropapilloma tumors. Nutritional status was good for 39 animals; these animals had higher serum albumin, cholesterol, and phosphorus concentrations than 9 animals with a fair nutritional score. Reference values for hematology and biochemistry were calculated for 39 individuals without fibropapillomas (FPs). Turtles with epibionts ( n = 33) had lower hemoglobin (Hb) than turtles without epibionts ( n = 15; t = −2.09, p = 0.04), and the area occupied by epibionts was positively correlated with the white blood cell count ( r = 0.37, p = 0.03). FP turtles had significantly lower hematocrit (Hct), Hb, and red blood cell (RBC) counts than non-FP turtles; serum albumin and cholesterol were higher in non-FP than FP turtles. A negative correlation between curved carapace length (CCL) and Hct ( r = −0.51, p = 0.0002) and RBC ( r = −0.47, p = 0.0007), and between serum cholesterol, sodium, and uric acid and CCL ( r = −0.53, p = 0.0001; r = −0.38, p = 0.007; r = −0.35, p = 0.014, respectively) were identified. The health of turtles appears to deteriorate as they get larger, which manifests in more FPs, decreased body condition, and systemic physiologic changes consistent with chronic disease including lower Hct, RBC counts, serum cholesterol, sodium, and uric acid.

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“…The TAMAR project initiated its first continual monitoring efforts of the Brazilian coast with the aim of accompanying sea turtle stranding events and recognizing nesting sites [9]. Since then, different studies with the participation of Brazilian universities have been developed to identify events that impact the five sea turtle species that occur in Brazil, such as coastal development [26], fishing activities [18,71], climate change [72,73], pollution, and disease [29,[74][75][76].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sea Turtle Beach Monitoring Program in Brazil

Werneck¹,

Almeida²,

Baldassin³

et al. 2018

Reptiles and Amphibians

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Beach monitoring programs provide important information on spatial and temporal patterns of occurrence, mortality, age structure, sex ratio, and variations associated with climatic and anthropogenic events as well as for the assessment of the health of marine organisms. The purpose of the Santos Basin Beach Monitoring Project is to evaluate the possible effects of oil and gas production and transport activities at Santos Basin on marine turtles, birds, and mammals by monitoring beaches and veterinary care facilities for live and dead animals. Five species of sea turtles occur in Brazil: the green turtle (Chelonia mydas), loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta), hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), olive turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), and leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), all of which are endangered and are fragile organisms that suffer from the impact of human activities during their long lifecycle. This chapter reports monitoring strategy activities and preliminary results after 1 year since the implementation the monitoring project to provide an important overview of sea turtles found in the Santos Basin.

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Characterization of fibropapillomatosis in green turtles Chelonia mydas (Cheloniidae) captured in a foraging area in southeastern Brazil

Cited by 15 publications

References 32 publications

Spatio‐temporal distribution of sea turtle strandings and factors contributing to their mortality in south‐eastern Brazil

Spatio‐temporal distribution of sea turtle strandings and factors contributing to their mortality in south‐eastern Brazil

Health assessment of juvenile green turtles in southern São Paulo State, Brazil: a hematologic approach

Sea Turtle Beach Monitoring Program in Brazil

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