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Composition of green turtle feeding aggregations along the Japanese archipelago: implications for changes in composition with current flow

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Abstract

In order to develop effective conservation strategies for endangered migratory species, the link between feeding and breeding grounds needs to be clarified. In this study, the genetic compositions of consecutive Japanese feeding aggregations of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) along the Kuroshio Current were examined by mixed-stock analyses of mitochondrial DNA control-region sequences. The results indicated that the southern feeding aggregation around Yaeyama (24.3°N, 124.0°E) was sourced from various Pacific rookeries in the Yaeyama, Ogasawara, Western Pacific, and Indian Oceans and Southeast Asia. Among northern feeding aggregations, the Ginoza (26.5°N, 128.0°E) aggregation was also sourced from the Western Pacific Ocean, but the Nomaike (31.4°N, 130.1°E), Muroto (33.2°N, 134.2°E), and Kanto (35.6°N, 140.5°E) aggregations were contributed mostly by the closer Ogasawara rookeries. The reduced contribution from tropical Pacific rookeries to northern feeding aggregations and the significant correlation between genetic differentiation and geographical distance matrices of feeding aggregations indicated that most hatchlings from these regions transported by the Kuroshio Current settle in upstream feeding grounds along the Japanese archipelago, implying that current flow influences the composition of feeding aggregations. Differences in the composition of relatively close neritic feeding aggregations have important conservation implications, for which both regional and multinational conservation strategies are needed.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the followings for providing information about the stranded turtles on Ishigaki Island and field sampling assistance in Yaeyama Islands: the member of the Ishigaki Island Sea Turtle Research Group; K. Okuzawa and the staff of the Ishigaki Tropical Station and Yaeyama Station, Seikai National Fisheries Research Institute; D. Imakita (Faculty of Agriculture, Kinki University); and Y. Kawabata, T. Yasuda, K. Ichikawa, and H. Watanabe (Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University). The staff of the Ogasawara Marine Center and fisheries cooperative associations in Hahajima Island and Chichijima Island and M. Kaneko (Club Noah Hahajima) kindly helped with sampling in Ogasawara Islands. Sampling in Ginoza was supported by N. Kamezaki and the Sea Turtle Association of Japan. M. Kinoshita, H. Sawada (Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University), R. Matsuoka, and T. Nishizawa (IREIIMS, Tokyo Women’s Medical University) provided assistance with the DNA extraction, amplification, and sequencing analyses. T. Hamabata and H. Koike (Graduate School of Social and Cultural Studies, Kyushu University) kindly provided data on the Muroto and Nomaike aggregations. We thank the two anonymous reviewers for valuable comments on this manuscript. This study was partly supported by a Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows (J.O. 17-1976), for Research Activity Start-up (J.O. No. 19880017), for Young Scientists B (J.O. No. 22710236), and the Global COE Program, Informatics Education and Research for a Knowledge–Circulating Society.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Informatics, Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan

    Hideaki Nishizawa, Junichi Okuyama & Nobuaki Arai

  2. Protected Resource Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA

    Junichi Okuyama

  3. Laboratory of Breeding Science, Graduate School of Fisheries Sciences, Hokkaido University, Hakodate, 041-8611, Japan

    Yuta Naito & Akira Goto

  4. Everlasting Nature of Asia, Acty Part II 4F Nishi-Kanagawa 3-17-8, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 221-0822, Japan

    Hiroyuki Suganuma, Shinichi Tanaka, Emi Inoguchi & Koji Narushima

  5. Research Center for Subtropical Fisheries, Seikai National Fisheries Research Institute, Fisheries Research Agency, 148 Fukaiohta, Ishigaki, Okinawa, 907-0451, Japan

    Osamu Abe & Masato Kobayashi

  6. National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries, Fisheries Research Agency, 5-7-1 Orido, Shimizu, Shizuoka, 424-8633, Japan

    Osamu Abe

  7. Okinawa Prefectural Fisheries and Ocean Research Center, 1-3-1 Nishizaki, Itoman, Okinawa, 901-0305, Japan

    Koichi Hirate

  8. Program in Environmental Management, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kinki University, 3327-204 Nakamachi, Nara, 631-8505, Japan

    Kiyoshige Kobayashi

  9. Ishigaki Island Sea Turtle Research Group, 2357-11 Arakawa, Ishigaki, Okinawa, 907-0024, Japan

    Hisakazu Ishii & Shigeo Tanizaki

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  1. Hideaki Nishizawa
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  2. Yuta Naito
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  3. Hiroyuki Suganuma
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  4. Osamu Abe
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  5. Junichi Okuyama
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  6. Koichi Hirate
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  7. Shinichi Tanaka
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  8. Emi Inoguchi
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  9. Koji Narushima
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  10. Kiyoshige Kobayashi
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  11. Hisakazu Ishii
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  13. Masato Kobayashi
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  14. Akira Goto
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  15. Nobuaki Arai
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Correspondence to Hideaki Nishizawa.

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Communicated by M. I. Taylor.

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Nishizawa, H., Naito, Y., Suganuma, H. et al. Composition of green turtle feeding aggregations along the Japanese archipelago: implications for changes in composition with current flow. Mar Biol 160, 2671–2685 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-013-2261-1

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