Causes of mortality in green turtles from Hawaii and the insular Pacific exclusive of fibropapillomatosis
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Abstract
Fibropapillomatosis (FP) comprises a majority of green turtle stranding in Hawaii; however, green turtles in the Pacific are also susceptible to non-FP related causes of death. We present here necropsy findings from 230 free-ranging green turtles originating from Hawaii, the Mariana archipelago, Palmyra Atoll, American Samoa, and Johnston Atoll that died from non-FP related causes. Most turtles died from fishing-induced or boat strike trauma followed by infectious/inflammatory diseases, nutritional problems (mainly cachexia), and an array of physiologic problems. Infectious/inflammatory problems included bacterial diseases of the lungs, eyes, liver or intestines, spirorchid fluke infection, or polyarthritis of unknown origin. Likelihood of a successful diagnosis of cause of death was a function of post-mortem decomposition. Fibropapillomatosis was not seen in turtles submitted from outside Hawaii. The preponderance of anthropogenic causes of mortality offers some management opportunities to mitigate causes of death in these animals by, for example, implementing measures to decrease boating and fishing interactions.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Causes of mortality in green turtles from Hawaii and the insular Pacific exclusive of fibropapillomatosis |
| Series title | Diseases of Aquatic Organisms |
| DOI | 10.3354/dao02890 |
| Volume | 115 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Year Published | 2015 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Inter-Research Science Center |
| Publisher location | Oldendorf/Luhe, Germany |
| Contributing office(s) | National Wildlife Health Center |
| Description | 8 p. |
| First page | 103 |
| Last page | 110 |
| Online Only (Y/N) | N |
| Additional Online Files (Y/N) | N |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |