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Natal homing in juvenile loggerhead turtles ( Caretta caretta )
Author(s) -
BOWEN BRIAN W.,
BASS ANNA L.,
CHOW SHAIOMEI,
BOSTROM MEREDITH,
BJORNDAL KAREN A.,
BOLTEN ALAN B.,
OKUYAMA TOSHINORI,
BOLKER BENJAMIN M.,
EPPERLY SHERYAN,
LACASELLA ERIN,
SHAVER DONNA,
DODD MARK,
HOPKINS MURPHY SALLY R.,
MUSICK JOHN A.,
SWINGLE MARK,
RANKINBARANSKY KAREN,
TEAS WENDY,
WITZELL WAYNE N.,
DUTTON PETER H.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
molecular ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.619
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1365-294X
pISSN - 0962-1083
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-294x.2004.02356.x
Subject(s) - rookery , biology , juvenile , homing (biology) , population , habitat , ecology , fishery , pelagic zone , sea turtle , turtle (robot) , demography , sociology
Juvenile loggerhead turtles ( Caretta caretta ) from West Atlantic nesting beaches occupy oceanic (pelagic) habitats in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, whereas larger juvenile turtles occupy shallow (neritic) habitats along the continental coastline of North America. Hence the switch from oceanic to neritic stage can involve a trans‐oceanic migration. Several researchers have suggested that at the end of the oceanic phase, juveniles are homing to feeding habitats in the vicinity of their natal rookery. To test the hypothesis of juvenile homing behaviour, we surveyed 10 juvenile feeding zones across the eastern USA with mitochondrial DNA control region sequences ( N = 1437) and compared these samples to potential source (nesting) populations in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea ( N = 465). The results indicated a shallow, but significant, population structure of neritic juveniles (Φ ST = 0.0088, P = 0.016), and haplotype frequency differences were significantly correlated between coastal feeding populations and adjacent nesting populations (Mantel test R 2 = 0.52, P = 0.001). Mixed stock analyses (using a Bayesian algorithm) indicated that juveniles occurred at elevated frequency in the vicinity of their natal rookery. Hence, all lines of evidence supported the hypothesis of juvenile homing in loggerhead turtles. While not as precise as the homing of breeding adults, this behaviour nonetheless places juvenile turtles in the vicinity of their natal nesting colonies. Some of the coastal hazards that affect declining nesting populations may also affect the next generation of turtles feeding in nearby habitats.