Prevalence of fibropapillomatosis on stranded sea turtles in the Venezuelan coast

Abstract

The Venezuelan coast supports a variety of critical habitats for foraging, development and reproduction to five species of sea turtles. The aim of this paper is to inform about the presence of fibropapillomatosis in some of the sea turtle populations in the Venezuelan waters, and to record the presence of this pathology in the species Eretmochelys imbricata in the country. Between 1999 and 2014, 391 records of sea turtles stranding/sightings were recorded alongside the coast of Venezuela, from which, 20 cases of animals presented external tumors on their soft tissues, likely to fibropapillomatosis. This pathology was confirmed due to the presence of fibroepithelial lesions (papilloma tumors), and it was registered in two species: Chelonia mydas (n=19) and Eretmochelys imbricata (n=1). The region with the largest number of turtles with fibropapillomas was Zulia state with 45 % (n=9), then Sucre state (35 %, n= 7), Vargas state (10 %, n= 2), and one report (5 %) in Falcon state, and one in the “Archipielago de Los Roques” National Park (Miranda Insular Territory). More than half of the animals (n=11), ten individuals of C. mydas and the only one of E. imbricata, were found alive and they were released. Finally, we recommended increasing the training and active participation of veterinarians within the conservation programs of these species in the country.