Fusarium spp. are pathogens plants, animals and humans, isolated from soil, plants and water systems. They are distributed worldwide and include saprotrophic, biotrophic‑pathogenic or endophytic fungi, or producers of mycotoxins (fumonisins). Human isolates are becoming the leading mycosis affecting immunocompromised patients and frequently involved in mycoses of aquatic mammals and reptiles, included sea turtles or their eggs. Here reported are three severe cases of unusual localizations of Fusarium in loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) and their diagnostic, therapeutic and clinical output. In the clinical practice, correct genus‑level identification of Fusarium species is critically important to enable correct treatment as in vitroantifungal susceptibility testing is mandatory for each Fusarium‑like isolate. For this reason, susceptibility testing can significantly help the practitioner in choosing the most appropriate therapeutic protocol.
Currently there are few antibacterial dosage regimens established to be safe and effective for sea turtles. Pharmacokinetic evaluation of antibiotics is an essential step in establishing accurate dosage guidelines for a particular species. Metronidazole is an antibiotic that is effective against anaerobic bacteria and some protozoa.
Semiaquatic taxa, including humans, often swim at the air-water interface where they waste energy generating surface waves. For fully marine animals however, theory predicts the most cost-efficient depth-use pattern for migrating, air-breathing species that do not feed in transit is to travel at around 2 to 3 times the depth of their body diameter, to minimize the vertical distance traveled while avoiding wave drag close to the surface. This has rarely been examined, however, due to depth measurement resolution issues at the surface.
Leatherback turtles () are endangered by anthropogenic threats. Characterizing the physiologic response of leatherback turtles under various stressors may inform conservation strategies. In this study, a commercially available enzyme immunoassay for aldosterone was validated for leatherback turtle plasma, and it was used with previously validated assays for corticosterone and free thyroxine (fT4) to evaluate the physiologic status of leatherback turtles that were entangled in fishing gear, stranded on shore, nesting or intentionally captured at sea during ecologic studies.
- Bycatch is a significant conservation issue for endangered sea turtles, particularly since their habitats often overlap with fishing zones globally.
- Researchers used mitochondrial DNA to track the migratory routes of loggerhead and green turtles from the Yucatán Peninsula to the Northwest Atlantic, noting specific foraging patterns based on their nesting colonies.
- Findings indicate that the migratory paths of Mexican loggerheads and green turtles intersect with commercial fishing areas, especially longline and shrimp trawl fisheries, posing serious threats to their populations in the Gulf of Mexico and mid-Atlantic.
Centro di Referenza Nazionale sul Benessere, Monitoraggio, Diagnostica delle Malattie delle Tartarughe Marine (C.Re.Ta.M.), Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia "A. Mirri", 90129 Palermo, Italy.
The is the only known sea turtle that nests along the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. It is considered a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) because it is threatened by human activities. The aim of this work was to analyze biochemical parameters in different age groups of subjects recovered at the Centro di Referenza Nazionale sul Benessere, Monitoraggio e Diagnostica delle Malattie delle Tartarughe Marine (C.
