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A jellyfish diet for the herbivorous green turtle Chelonia mydas in the temperate SW Atlantic |
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| Authors: | Victoria González Carman Florencia Botto Esteban Gaitán Diego Albareda Claudio Campagna Hermes Mianzan |
| Affiliation: | 1. Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero (INIDEP), Paseo Victoria Ocampo s/n, B7602HSA, Mar del Plata, Argentina 2. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC) - CONICET, Mar del Plata, Argentina 3. Aquamarina, PRICTMA, Buenos Aires, Argentina 4. CONICET and Laboratorio de Ecología, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Dean Funes 3350, B7602AYL, Mar del Plata, Argentina 5. Jardín Zoológico de Buenos Aires, Rep. de la India 3000, C1425ATQ, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina 6. CONICET and Wildlife Conservation Society, Amenabar 1595, C1426AJZ, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Abstract: | Feeding ecology of juvenile green turtles (Chelonia mydas) was studied from 2008 to 2011 at Samborombón Bay (35°30′–36°30′S, Argentina), combining data on digestive tract examination and stable isotope analysis through a Bayesian mixing model. We found that animal matter, in particular gelatinous plankton, was consumed in large proportions compared to herbivorous food items such as terrestrial plants and macroalgae. This diet is facilitated by the high abundance of gelatinous plankton in the region, thus confirming the adaptive foraging behaviour of the juveniles according to prey abundance in the SW Atlantic. To our knowledge, this is the first study to employ this combination of techniques and to conclusively demonstrate that animal matter, in particular gelatinous plankton, is important in the diet of the neritic green sea turtles. |
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