Loggerhead turtles (Care%a care%a) foraging at Drini Bay in Northern Albania: Gene;c characteriza;on revealed two new haplotypes Can Yilmaz1, Oguz Turkozan1, Fevzi Bardakci1, Michael White2 Esmeralda Kararaj3 1 Adnan Menderes University, Faculty of science and Arts, Department of Biology, 09010 Aydın, Turkey 2 Mediterranean AssociaLon to Save the Sea Turtles, 1c Licavitou Street, Athens, Greece. 3 School of Biological Sciences, Tirana University, Tirana, Albania.
Table 1: Data on the loggerhead turtles captured at Patoku region of Albania Date 7/22/09 7/22/09 7/22/09 7/22/09 7/23/09 7/24/09 7/24/09 7/28/09 7/29/09 7/29/09 7/29/09 7/29/09 7/30/09 7/31/09 7/31/09 7/31/09 7/31/09 7/31/09 8/1/09 8/1/09 8/1/09 8/2/09 8/2/09 8/2/09 8/3/09 8/4/09 8/4/09 8/5/09 6/23/10 6/23/10 6/30/10 6/28/10 6/28/10 6/28/10 6/28/10 7/14/10 7/14/10 7/17/10 7/30/10 7/30/10
CCL 72 61 57 64 82 58 67 32 55.5 65 72 64.5 59 70 66.5 72 74 74.5 73 68 70 47.5 65.5 74.5 72 76.5 68 73 84 84.5 83 73 70.5 66 73.5 76 82 55.5 70 78
CCW 67 56 53 58.5 72 53.5 64 30 51 64 64 58 59 68 62 66 69 71 67.5 61.5 64 43.5 59 70.5 69.5 72 64 64.5 78 77 75 70 65 61 65 68 72 52 65 74.5
Male Adult
Adult Adolescent
Adolescent Adolescent
Adolescent
Adolescent Adolescent Adolescent
Adult ? Adolescent Adult Adult Adolescent Adolescent Adolescent Adult Adult
Tag AL0112 AL0113 AL0114 AL0115 AL0116 AL0117 AL0118 No tag AL0119 AL0120 AL0121 AL0122 AL0123 AL0124 AL0125 AL0126 AL0127 AL0128 AL0129 AL0130 AL0131 AL0132 AL0133 AL0134 AL0136 AL0137 AL0138 AL0140 AL0204 AL0222 AL0228 AL0229 AL0230 AL0231 AL0233 AL0245 AL0246 AL0254 AL0274 AL0278
Haplotype CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A6.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A10.4 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.8 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1 CC‐A2.1
Results
Table 2: Haplotype frequencies in the Mediterranean Sampling site N
Haplotypes (%)
Source
CC‐A2 CC‐A3 CC‐A6 CC‐A10 CC‐A13 CC‐A20 CC‐A29 CC‐A31 CC‐A32 CC‐A43 CC‐A52 CC‐A53 CC‐A3.2 Zakynthos
20 85
‐
5
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
10
‐
‐
‐
‐
Carreras et al., 2007
Kyparissia
21 90
‐
10
Lakonikos
19 95
‐
5
Greece
10 90
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
Encalada et al., 1998
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
Carreras et al., 2007
10
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
Crete
19 100
‐
‐
Laurent et al., 1998
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
Cyprus
10 100
‐
Carreras et al., 2007
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
Cyprus
35 100
Carreras et al., 2007
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
Lebanon Israel
Encalada et al., 1998
9 100 19 84
‐ ‐
‐ ‐
‐ ‐
‐ ‐
‐ ‐
‐ 16
‐ ‐
‐ ‐
‐ ‐
‐ ‐
‐ ‐
‐ ‐
Carreras et al., 2007 Carreras et al., 2007
Western Turkey 16 94
6
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
Carreras et al., 2007
Eastern Turkey 32 59
41
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
Laurent et al., 1998
Calabria
47 59.6
‐
‐
‐
‐
36.2
‐
4.2
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
Garafalo et al. 2009
Dalyan
40 62.5
37.5
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
Yılmaz et al. 2011
Dalaman
20 25
75
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
Yılmaz et al. 2011
WTR
76 78.95 21.05
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
Yılmaz et al. 2011
MTR
48 95.83
‐
‐
2.083
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
2.083
‐
Yılmaz et al. 2011
ETR
72 83.33 11.11
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
1.39
1.39
1.39
‐
1.39 Yılmaz et al. 2011
The mean curve carapace length of the turtles was 68.8 cm (SD = ± 10.3 cm; range = 32.0‐84.5 cm; n = 40). Haplotype CC‐ A2.1 (93%) was the dominant haplotype in the region. Furthermore, 2 novel haplotypes were described (CC‐A6.1 and CC‐A10.4) for the first Lme with a record of another known haplotype, CC‐A.2.8. This haplotype (CC‐A.2.8) was recorded from a juvenile stranded in Puglia (South‐AdriaLc, Italy) in May 2008 (Garafalo, 2010). Haplotype and nucleoLde diversity were 0,14615 and 0,00017 respecLvely. The adult female with AL0127 tag number was recorded nesLng in Sekania, Zakynthos July 2011 (Margaritoulis pers comm.)
Discussion In terms of frequency of haplotypes and their occurrence in the Mediterranean, the possible source of foraging area in Patoku, we were able to compare our results with shorter sequences from the Mediterranean (Carreras et al., 2007; Yılmaz et al., 2011). The highest frequency of the haplotype CC‐A2.1 in the region is not surprising since it is the variety of the short haplotype CC‐A2, the most common haplotype in the Mediterranean (Table 2). The short form of haplotypes CC‐ A6.1 and CC‐A10.4, CC‐A6 and CC‐A10 were recorded only from Greek islands and Greece (Table 2). Bowen et al. (2004) stated that nesLng populaLons contribute more to neighbouring mixed stocks than the distant mixed stocks. So, it is probable that the source populaLon of the Drini Bay is mainly originated from Greece. The nesLng record of AL0127 tag number female in Sekania, Zakynthos July 2011 further support this possibility. In another study, the foraging grounds off the coasts of western Mediterranean have been shown to be inhabited mainly by turtles from the eastern Mediterranean (Carreras et al. 2006). This study revealed different structure between northern African and western Mediterranean stocks and this structure was explained by sea currents and water masses. In conclusion, the current findings support that the source populaLon of Drini Bay foraging loggerhead turtles are probably from Greece but we need to increase sample size in order to carry out mixed stock analysis and evaluate the contribuLon of nesLng colonies to this foraging ground.
Acknowledgements The analysis was funded by the University of Adnan Menderes‐Department of Biology, Turkey. The sampling was conducted within the framework of the project. "Monitoring and ConservaLon of Important Sea Turtle Feeding Grounds in the Patok Area of Albania, 2008‐2010". The project was funded by MEDASSET, the Global Environment Facility’s Small Grant Programme (GEF/SGP), the Regional AcLvity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA), the United NaLons Environment Programme Mediterranean AcLon Plan (UNEP/MAP), the BriLsh Chelonia Group (BCG), the J.F. Costopoulos FoundaLon (Greece), the Spear Charitable Trust (UK) and the Panton Trust (UK).