First report of the epizoic red alga Polysiphonia carettia (Hollenberg, 1971) on the loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta in the Adriatic Sea

Abstract

         The authors report the first record of the red alga Polysiphonia carettia (Hollenberg, 1971) in the Adriatic Sea, collected from two loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta captured along the coast of the Savudrija peninsula (Croatia, Northern Adriatic Sea). The identification of the samples is based on both vegetative and reproductive tetrasporangial features. The morphological characters of the specimens studied are in agreement with previous reports of this species from other parts of the Mediterranean Sea.