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Three sea turtle species occur regularly in the Mediterranean Sea, the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) (Margaritoulis et al., 2003), the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) (Kasparek et al., 2001), and the leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) (Casale et al., 2003). Two other species have been reported sporadically: the hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) (Laurent & Lescure, 1991), and the Kemp's ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) (Brongersma & Carr, 1983). In fact, the only record of L. kempii known until 2000 belongs to a specimen captured in 1929 (Brongersma & Carr, 1983).
In the western Mediterranean, juvenile loggerheads are dominant (Pont & Alegre, 2000; Margaritoulis et al., 2003; Tomás et al., 2003a; Gómez de Segura et al., 2006). The single report of L. kempii indicates that the whole Mediterranean is outside the range for this species, and its presence in this sea can be regarded as sporadic or incidental, despite the relative high number of sightings and strandings reported in the eastern Atlantic (references in Tomas et al., 2003b; Witt et al., in press). However, in recent years, a total of three occurrences of L. kempii have been reported in the western Mediterranean (2) or near the Strait of Gibraltar (1). The first two turtles appeared in 2001, one incidentally caught in Spanish coastal waters (Tomás et al., 2003b) and another off the French coast (Oliver & Pigno, 2005). The third specimen was reported recently in the Cadiz Gulf (southern Spain) (Carreras et al., 2006a) (Figure 1). The present note provides a new report of this endangered species in the western Mediterranean. This evidence altogether affords a new evaluation of the distribution of this species in the Mediterranean Sea.
Fig. 1.
Map of the western Mediterranean basin. The black rhombus indicate the reports of Kemp's ridley turtles quoted in the text. The arrow indicates the new report.
On 16 July 2006, a juvenile Kemp's ridley turtle was caught from land with a rod, in the mouth of the River Turia, south of the harbour of Valencia (east Spain) (39°25[variant prime]28''N 0°20[variant prime]08''W). The turtle was captured alive and...