Epibiotic Diatoms Are Universally Present on All Sea Turtle Species.

Autor: Nathan J Robinson, Roksana Majewska, Eric A Lazo-Wasem, Ronel Nel, Frank V Paladino, Lourdes Rojas, John D Zardus, Theodora Pinou
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2016
Předmět:
Zdroj: PLoS ONE, Vol 11, Iss 6, p e0157011 (2016)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1932-6203
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0157011
Popis: The macro-epibiotic communities of sea turtles have been subject to growing interest in recent years, yet their micro-epibiotic counterparts are almost entirely unknown. Here, we provide the first evidence that diatoms are epibionts for all seven extant species of sea turtle. Using Scanning Electron Microscopy, we inspected superficial carapace or skin samples from a single representative of each turtle species. We distinguished 18 diatom taxa from these seven individuals, with each sea turtle species hosting at least two diatom taxa. We recommend that future research is undertaken to confirm whether diatom communities vary between sea turtle species and whether these diatom taxa are facultative or obligate commensals.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals