Resumen de A new record and molecular characterization of the Green Turtle Chelonia mydas (Testudines, Cheloniidae) in Sicilian coastal waters
Santo Caracappa, Maria Flaminia Persichetti, Antonio Piazza, Antonino Gentile, Sandra Marineo, Vittoria Currò, Antonio Iraci Fuintino, Federico Marrone, Marco Arculeo
A juvenile specimen of the Green Turtle, Chelonia mydas, was recovered in Sicilian coastal waters close to Avola (Syracuse province, south-eastern Sicily, Italy). Before being released, the specimen was measured and inspected for the presence of ingested hooks or other possible harms to its health. A fragment of the mtDNA marker COI was amplified and sequenced in order to provide the first molecular data for the species from the central Mediterranean area. The possible influence of climate change on the occurrence of this thermophilic species in the central Mediterranean area is briefly discussed.
