Using growth rates to estimate age of the sea turtle barnacle Chelonibia testudinaria

@article{Doell2017UsingGR,
  title={Using growth rates to estimate age of the sea turtle barnacle Chelonibia testudinaria},
  author={Sophie A. Doell and Rod M. Connolly and Colin James Limpus and Ryan M. Pearson and Jason P. van de Merwe},
  journal={Marine Biology},
  year={2017},
  volume={164},
  pages={1-7}
}
Epibionts can serve as valuable ecological indicators, providing information about the behaviour or health of the host. The use of epibionts as indicators is, however, often limited by a lack of knowledge about the basic ecology of these ‘hitchhikers’. This study investigated the growth rates of a turtle barnacle, Chelonibia testudinaria, under natural conditions, and then used the resulting growth curve to estimate the barnacle’s age. Repeat morphometric measurements (length and basal area) on… 
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Abundance, placement and sexual identity of the epizoic barnacle Chelonibia testudinaria relative to the size and species of host turtles in Mabul Island, Malaysia

Abstract Sea turtles are partners in commensal relationships with a variety of epibionts, including barnacles. The acorn barnacle Chelonibia testudinaria is one species commonly found associated with…

Barnacle Epibiosis on Sea Turtles in Korea: A West Pacific Region With Low Occurrence and Intensity of Chelonibia testudinaria (Cirripedia: Chelonibiidae)

Loggerhead and green turtles inhabit all oceans except the polar regions. External surfaces of sea turtles are often colonized by epibiotic chelonibiid barnacles. Barnacle taxonomy studies in Korea…

Epibiotic barnacles of sea turtles as indicators of habitat use and fishery interactions: An analysis of juvenile loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta caretta, in the western Mediterranean

A Global Synthesis of the Correspondence Between Epizoic Barnacles and Their Sea Turtle Hosts

TLDR
It is paradoxical that the flexibility of barnacles for multiple host species contrasts with their overall strict specificity for sea turtles, with each symbiont occupying a virtually unique suite of turtle hosts.

Distinguishing between sea turtle foraging areas using stable isotopes from commensal barnacle shells

TLDR
A novel method is used that combines barnacle growth rates and stable isotope analysis of barnacle shells (δ18O and δ13C) as predictors of home area for foraging sea turtles based on isotope ratios from the shells of the barnacles that were attached to them.

Stable isotopes and epibiont communities reveal foraging habitats of nesting loggerhead turtles in the South West Indian Ocean

TLDR
The complementary evidence from isotope and epibiont data thus indicates that nesting loggerheads of this population exhibit a bimodal foraging strategy and shows the value of using a combination of stable isotopes and epIBiont communities as cost-effective tools to derive information on habitat-use patterns of migratory species.

Global oxygen isoscapes for barnacle shells: Application for tracing movement in oceans.

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  • 2021

Evidence for Host Selectivity and Specialization by Epizoic Chelonibia Barnacles Between Hawksbill and Green Sea Turtles

TLDR
A case of apparent host specificity between two barnacles that are epizoites of sea turtles is investigated and the hypothesis that the larvae of these barnacles differentially select host species from a shared supply is supported.

Emergence of the epibiotic barnacle Xenobalanus globicipitis in Guiana dolphins after a morbillivirus outbreak in Sepetiba Bay, Brazil

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