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#           United States Gulf of Mexico waters provide important nursery habitat for Mexico’s green turtle nesting populations      

      February 3, 2023    

Resolving natal populations for juvenile green turtles is challenging given their potential for extensive dispersal during the oceanic stage and ontogenetic shifts among nursery habitats. Mitochondrial DNA markers have elucidated patterns of connectivity between green turtle nesting populations (rookeries) and juvenile foraging aggregations. However, missing rookery baseline data and haplotype sharing among populations have often impeded inferences, including estimating origins of Gulf of Mexico juveniles. Here, we assessed genetic structure among seven foraging aggregations spanning southern Texas (TX) to southwestern Florida (SWFL), including Port Fourchon, Louisiana (LA); a surface-pelagic aggregation (SP) offshore of Louisiana and Florida; Santa Rosa Island, Florida (SRI); St. Joseph Bay, Florida (SJB); and the Big Bend region, Florida (BB). We estimated source contributions to aggregations with novel genetic data (excluding SP and BB) using a Bayesian many-to-one mixed stock analysis (MSA) approach. Haplotype frequencies for western (TX, LA, SP, SRI) and eastern (SJB, BB, SWFL) aggregations were significantly differentiated. The largest shift in haplotype frequencies between proximal nursery sites occurred between SRI and SJB, separated by only 150 km, highlighting the lack of a geographic yardstick for predicting genetic structure. In contrast to previous MSA results, there was no signal of Florida juveniles at any foraging site. Mexican contributions dominated in all aggregations, with strong connectivity between western Bay of Campeche (Tamaulipas/Veracruz) rookeries and western foraging aggregations. MSA indicated more diverse Mexican origins for eastern aggregations, with larger inputs from the eastern Bay of Campeche (Campeche/Yucatán), Campeche Bank, and Quintana Roo rookeries. These results demonstrate the significance of the Gulf of Mexico coast and offshore waters of the United States as important nursery habitat for green turtles of Mexican origin and highlight the need for international coordination for management of these populations.

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February 2, 2023

####                 Green turtle genetics in the Gulf of Mexico, 2006-2019              

Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Gulf of Mexico

#### Kristen Hart, Ph.D.

##### Research Ecologist

Wetland and Aquatic Research Center 

kristen_hart@usgs.gov

954-236-1067

#### Margaret Lamont, Ph.D.

##### Research Biologist

Wetland and Aquatic Research Center 

mlamont@usgs.gov

## Related Content

February 2, 2023

####                 Green turtle genetics in the Gulf of Mexico, 2006-2019              

Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Gulf of Mexico

#### Kristen Hart, Ph.D.

##### Research Ecologist

Wetland and Aquatic Research Center 

kristen_hart@usgs.gov

954-236-1067

#### Margaret Lamont, Ph.D.

##### Research Biologist

Wetland and Aquatic Research Center 

mlamont@usgs.gov

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####               Wetland and Aquatic Research Center - Gainesville, FL          

7920 NW 71st St.Gainesville, FL32653United States

352-378-8181

352-378-4956

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