First Record of Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle, Lepidochelys kempii (Garman, 1880), in the Waters of Martinique Island (Lesser Antilles)

Damien Chevallier; Jacques Fretey; Jean Lescure; Marc Girondot

doi:10.3390/ani14040596

First Record of Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle, Lepidochelys kempii (Garman, 1880), in the Waters of Martinique Island (Lesser Antilles)

Animals (Basel). 2024 Feb 11;14(4):596. doi: 10.3390/ani14040596.

Authors

Damien Chevallier¹, Jacques Fretey², Jean Lescure³, Marc Girondot⁴

Affiliations

¹ Unité de Recherche BOREA, MNHN, CNRS 8067, SU, IRD 207, UCN, UA, Station de Recherche Marine de Martinique, Quartier Degras, Petite Anse, 97217 Les Anses d'Arlet, France.
² Sea Turtle Research Center-Chélonée, 46260 Beauregard, France.
³ National Museum of Natural History, Institute of Systematics, Evolution and Biodiversity-CP 30, 57 rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France.
⁴ Laboratoire Ecologie, Systématique et Évolution, Équipe de Processus Écologiques et Pressions Anthropiques, CNRS, AgroParisTech et Université Paris-Saclay, UMR 8079, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.

Abstract

An adult female Lepidochelys kempii was found trapped in drifting sargassum south of Martinique; this is the southernmost report of this taxon in the Lesser Antilles arc. Determining the limits of distribution and the existence of possible sympatry between L. kempii and L. olivacea in certain subregions of the Caribbean has been hindered by numerous misidentifications. We review the available data and propose a new distribution map in the Caribbean, which can serve as a basis for future studies.

Keywords: Kemp’s ridley; Lesser Antilles; distribution; marine turtle; olive ridley.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Fonds Européen de Développement Régional PO/FEDER/FSE 2014–2020 Martinique (Convention 246439)—Collectivité Territoriale de Martinique (Convention n° 58342); the Direction de l′Environnement, de l′Aménagement et du Logement (DEAL) Martinique, France (Convention 2017/164894); the Office De l′ Eau (ODE) Martinique, France (Convention n°180126); and the Office Français de la Biodiversité/Parc Naturel Marin de Martinique (OFB-23-0563).