The organismic assemblage associated with Caretta caretta was studied in 37 loggerhead turtles, washed ashore dead at various localities in the northern Aegean Sea. A total number of 63 macrobenthic species and 17 species of macroalgae were identi¢ed. From these species, 41 and 13 respectively are reported for the ¢rst time as epibionts of this turtle. Analysis of the epibiont species distribution on six loggerhead turtles gave some evidence regarding the settlement preferences of certain epibiont species. From a biogeographical point of view, 61.3% of the epibiont species were cosmopolitan, 30.7% had an AtlantoMediterranean distribution, while 8% were Mediterranean endemics.