Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
1 Departamento de Biodiversidad y Genética, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable (IIBCE), 3318 Av. Italia, PO 11600, Montevideo, Uruguay. 2 Karumbé, Tortugas Marinas del Uruguay. 3245 Rivera, PO 11600, Montevideo, Uruguay. 3 Laboratorio de Genética
Pesquera, Dirección Nacional de Recursos Acuáticos (DINARA). 1497 Constituyente, PO 11200, Montevideo, Uruguay. 4 UMEB-NSAT, Facultad de Ciencias (UdelaR). 4225 Iguá, PO 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay.
INTRODUCTION OBJECTIVE
As in other sea turtles, the life cycle of loggerheads Characterize the genetic variability of stranded
(Caretta caretta) occurs between nesting beaches and loggerhead turtles in the Uruguayan coast and infer
feeding and development areas, exhibiting long the geographic origin of individuals through the
generation times and large-scale migrations. analysis of the control region (D-loop) of mitochondrial
Uruguayan waters are an important feeding and DNA.
development area for this species, where individuals in
the juvenile and subadult stages dominate. Turtles METHODS
from various geographical origins converge in the The study area covers the coastline of Uruguay from
area, forming a mixed stock dominated by hatchlings Montevideo ( 34 ° 58 'S, 56 ° 56'W ) to Barra del Chuy
from Brazilian nesting colonies (Caraccio et al., 2008). ( 33 ° 44 ' S , 53 ° 22 ' W) locations (see figure 2).
In turn, the highest rates of turtle bycatch by industrial Tissue samples were collected by the NGO Karumbé
fisheries in the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean (SWAO) from 65 individuals stranded between 2001 and 2011.
have been recorded in Uruguayan waters (Giffoni et The sample was compounded by 59% juveniles or
al., 2008); making this region a priority where subadults, 15% adults and 26% indeterminate
conservation efforts on the species should be focused. individuals; using as reference the minimum size of
females from the nearest nesting colonies in Brazil
(average LCC = 83 cm; Marcovaldi & Chaloupka,
2007). In the laboratory, DNA extraction was
performed and 800 bp sequences of the control D-loop
region (mtDNA) were amplified by PCR. To determine
the corresponding haplotypes and infer the geographic
origin of individuals, the data were compared with
nucleotide sequences deposited in the database of the
Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research.
Figure 1. Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta). Photo: NGO Karumbé Figure 2. Map of the study area with locations where samples were collected. Source: own elboration.
REFERENCE
Brazilian haplotypes
Mediterranean/South African haplotype
Australian haplotype
South
America
Africa
Figure 4. Haplotype network that shows the relationship between them expressed by the numer of nulceotidic differences; Figure 4. Surface currents in the South Atlantic Ocean. The red circle indicates the study area. Source: scheme modified from Ksepka &
haplotypes closely related (less nucleotidic differences) are displayed closer in the network . The size of the circles is Thomas, 2012.
proportional to the frequency of each haplotype Source: own elaboration with Network.4.2 software.
REFERENCES
CARACCIO MN., DOMINGO A., MÁRQUEZ A., NARO-MACIEL E., MILLER P., y PEREIRA A. (2008). Las aguas del Atlántico sudoccidental y su importancia en el ciclo de vida de la tortuga cabezona (Caretta caretta): Evidencias a través del análisis del ADNmt. Col Vol Sci Pap. ICCAT. 62(6): 1831–1837.
GIFFONI B., DOMINGO A., SALES G., FIEDLER F. y MILLER P. (2008). Interacción de tortugas marinas (Caretta caretta y Dermochelys coriacea) con la pesca de palangre pelágico en el Atlántico Sudoccidental: Una perspectiva regional para la conservación. Col Vol Sci Pap. ICCAT. 62(6): 1861–1870.
KSEPKA, D & THOMAS, D. (2012). Multiple cenozoic invasions of Africa by penguins (Aves, Sphenisciformes). Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 279: 1027-1036.
MARCOVALDI, M. & CHALOUPKA, M. (2007). Conservation status of the loggerhead sea turtle in Brazil: an encouraging outlook. Endanger Species Research. 3: 133–143.
WALLACE, B., DIMATTEO, A., HURLEY, B., FINKBEINER, E., BOLTEN, A., CHALOUPKA, M., HUTCHINSON, B., et al. (2010). Regional Management Units for Marine Turtles : A Novel Framework for Prioritizing Conservation and Research across Multiple Scales. PLoS ONE. 5(12).