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1 June 2016 Diet of Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtles Incidentally Caught on Recreational Fishing Gear in the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico
Erin E. Seney
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Twenty-one immature Kemp's ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys kempii) were collected following incidental capture or entanglement in recreational hook-and-line gear during 2005–2008 in Galveston County, Texas, United States. Turtles consumed primarily swimming crabs (common blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, and Callinectes spp.), walking crabs (calico box crab, Hepatus epheliticus; mottled purse crab, Persephona mediterranea; and hermit crabs), and polychaete worm tubes. Macroalgae (Sargassum spp.) was also consumed by nearly half of the sampled turtles, presumably incidentally and likely as benthic detritus. The upper Texas coast and local fishing piers provide diverse foraging opportunities for immature Kemp's ridleys but also put the species at risk for interactions with human activities, including gear interactions and ingestion of anthropogenic debris.

© 2016 Chelonian Research Foundation
Erin E. Seney "Diet of Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtles Incidentally Caught on Recreational Fishing Gear in the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico," Chelonian Conservation and Biology 15(1), 132-137, (1 June 2016). https://doi.org/10.2744/CCB-1191.1
Received: 27 September 2015; Accepted: 1 November 2015; Published: 1 June 2016
KEYWORDS
blue crab
decapod
hook-and-line gear
polychaete
Reptilia
Sargassum
Testudines
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