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The populations of the endangered mountain gazelle (Gazella gazella), which inhabit large parts of Israel, across various ecosystems and climatic conditions, shrunk drastically over the last decades. To date, data on gazelle nutrition, how these relate with individual characteristics and respond to seasonal and environmental changes, have not been available. We analyzed 110 samples from gazelle rumen contents collected throughout the country from occasional fatalities, mainly roadkills, and tested the feasibility of using them for near-infrared spectrometry (NIRS) calibrations. Although NIR calibrations for crude protein, in vitro dry matter digestibility, and ash were reasonable, we found that using calibrations based on local forage and feed plant species performed better, and used these to estimate several nutritional constituents in gazelle rumens, using NIRS. We tested how constituents relate to the sex, age-class, and weight of the individual gazelle, and to season and ecosystem type, and found that season plays a major role in gazelle nutrition. Winter is the most propitious season, when crude protein, ash and digestibility are highest, and acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and the carbon to nitrogen (C:N) ratio are lowest. Autumn, being the harshest season, mirrors winter conditions, and summer and spring show intermediate levels. Yet the relative changes between seasons were mild: about 30%, for crude protein, digestibility, and ash, and 14–22% for ADF, NDF, and C:N ratio. Ecosystem type affected several constituents, and nutrition was slightly better in Mediterranean than in dry ecosystems. Gazelle sex, weight, and age-class had minor effects on nutrition. Overall, it seems that the adaptation of gazelles to their environment is germane to keeping relatively steady nutrition throughout the year. Our results, which do not show a dramatic decline in the quality of gazelle nutrition during any season or among the climatic regions that were studied, suggest that nutrition is not a major driver of the survival of gazelles in the populations surveyed.

Toxoplasma gondii has been described in several marine mammals around the world including numerous species of cetaceans, yet infection and transmission mechanisms in the marine environment are not clearly defined. The Israel Marine Mammal Research and Assistance Center has been collating a database of all marine mammal stranding events along the country’s national coastlines since 1993. In this study, we describe the molecular detection and characterisation of T. gondii in three common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) including one case of coinfection with herpesvirus. The animals were found stranded on the Mediterranean coast of Israel in May and November 2013. In one of the three cases, the dolphin was found alive and admitted to intensive care. To our knowledge, this is the first report of T. gondii infection of marine mammals in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. As this parasite acts as an indicator for marine pollution and marine mammal health, we believe these findings add important information regarding the state of the environment in this region.

Marine turtles have been traditionally considered model organisms to study sex-biased behaviour and dispersal. Although female philopatry has been identified in the loggerhead turtle, with adult females returning to specific locations to nest, studies on the philopatry and breeding migrations of males remain limited. In this study we analysed 152 hatchlings using 15 microsatellite markers. Each individual came from a different nest from samples taken at 8 nesting grounds in the Mediterranean. Our results revealed the existence of 5 genetically differentiated units, mostly due to restricted gene flow for both sexes. This supports existing satellite tracking studies that suggest that mating occurs close to nesting grounds in this region. The 5 management units identified within the Mediterranean included nesting grounds from (1) Libya and Cyprus, (2) Israel, (3) Lebanon, (4) Turkey and (5) Greece. The genetic similarity between distant nesting areas (i.e. Libya and Cyprus) suggests the presence of a more complex pattern of breeding behaviour. Three possible hypotheses, that remain to be tested in future studies, could explain this result: (1) mating might take place in common foraging grounds; (2) mating could occur en route while migrating to/from the breeding grounds; or (3) recent colonisation events could connect the 2 nesting grounds. Overall, our work suggests that widespread male-mediated gene flow between loggerhead nesting grounds is likely to have been previously overstated although opportunistic breeding patterns might connect some widely separated areas.

The assessment of the composition and dynamics of endangered populations is crucial for management and conservation, and appropriate genetic markers are critical. The genetic structuring of the Mediterranean green turtle (Chelonia mydas) populations and the origin of the stranded animals found along the Israeli coast was investigated using new highly polymorphic short tandem repeat (STR) markers. The structuring of nesting populations was studied using pairwise genetic distances and a principal coordinates analysis (PCoA). The contribution of the different nesting populations to the stranded sample was assessed by using a mixed-stock analysis. A clear population genetic structure, not detected before, has been revealed. The four nesting populations are genetically well differentiated, and thus should be considered as different management units. The populations from Turkey and Israel showed higher resemblance, despite residing at opposite ends of the Mediterranean distribution. The Turkish nesting population is the main source of the stranded turtles sampled along the Israeli shore, confirming that individuals from this population migrate from north to south along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, as previously shown by telemetry studies. The use of a highly polymorphic haplotyping method enabled the detection of a clear genetic structuring of the green turtle populations in the eastern Mediterranean Sea that was not revealed in previous studies, demonstrating the importance of marker selection in population genetics. The analysis of the genetic composition of the stranded turtles allowed us to investigate the migration patterns from nesting to foraging areas, supporting previous satellite-tracking and stable-isotope results. These results will help to delineate conservation management units for the species in the Mediterranean, and reveal connectivity among beaches and mixed aggregations. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Loggerhead turtles nesting in the Mediterranean Sea exhibit remarkable genetic structuring. This paper tests the hypothesis that young loggerhead turtles from different rookeries do not distribute homogeneously among the major Mediterranean foraging grounds, due to a complex pattern of surface currents. We extracted long fragments of mitochondrial DNA from 275 stranded or bycaught juvenile turtles from six foraging grounds (Catalano-Balearic Sea, Algerian basin, Tyrrhenian Sea, Adriatic Sea, northern Ionian Sea and southern Levantine Sea). We used a Bayesian mixed-stock analysis to estimate the contributions from rookeries in the Mediterranean, the North-west Atlantic and Cape Verde to the studied foraging grounds. Differences were found in the relative contribution of juvenile turtles of Atlantic and Mediterranean origin to each foraging ground. A decreasing proportion of Atlantic juveniles was detected along the main surface current entering the Mediterranean, with a high prevalence of turtles from eastern Florida in the Algerian basin and lower numbers elsewhere. In regard to the turtles of Mediterranean origin, juveniles from Libya prevailed in central and western Mediterranean foraging grounds other than the Algerian basin. Conversely, the Adriatic Sea was characterised by a large presence of individuals from western Greece, while the southern Levantine Sea was inhabited by a heterogeneous mix of turtles from the eastern Mediterranean rookeries (Turkey, Lebanon and Israel). Overall, the distribution of juveniles may be related to surface circulation patterns in the Mediterranean and suggests that fisheries might have differential effects on each population depending on the overlap degree between foraging and fishing grounds.

Barnacles of the superfamily Coronuloidea are obligate epibionts of various marine mammals, marine reptiles and large crustaceans. We used five molecular markers: 12S rDNA, 16S rDNA, 18S rDNA, 28S rDNA and Histone 3 to infer phylogenetic relationships among sixteen coronuloids, representing most of the recent genera of barnacles of this superfamily. Our analyses confirm the monophyly of Coronuloidea and that this superfamily and Tetraclitoidea are sister groups. The six-plated Austrobalanus clusters with these two superfamilies. Based on BEAST and ML trees, Austrobalanus is basal and sister to the Coronuloidea, but the NJ tree places Austrobalanus within the Tetraclitoidae, and in the MP tree it is sister to both Coronuloidea and Tetraclitoidae. Hence the position of Austrobalanus remains unresolved. Within the Coronuloidea we identified four clades. Chelonibia occupies a basal position within the Coronuloidea which is in agreement with previous studies. The grouping of the other clades does not conform to previous studies. Divergence time analyses show that some of the time estimates are congruent with the fossil record while some others are older, suggesting the possibility of gaps in the fossil record.

Young green turtles (Chelonia mydas) spend their early lives as oceanic omnivores, which consume primarily animal prey. Once they settle into neritic habitats (recruitment), they appear to shift rapidly into an herbivorous diet in tropical regions. However, the ontogeny of the dietary shift and the relevance of animal prey in the diet of neritic green turtles are poorly understood in subtropical and warm temperate regions. Stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in the carapace scutes of 22 green turtles from the eastern Mediterranean, ranging from 28 to 83 cm in curved carapace length (CCLmin), were analysed to test the hypothesis of a rapid nutritional shift following recruitment. Seagrasses prevailed in the stomach contents of all the green turtles that were larger than 30 cm CCLmin, but the concentration of stable isotopes in the carapace scutes revealed that turtles shorter than 40 cm CCLmin derived a negligible amount of assimilated nutrients from seagrasses. The concentration of stable isotopes in the carapace scutes also suggested that the contribution of seagrasses to the nutrients assimilated by green turtles increased steadily with turtle size and that some, but not all, of the turtles larger than 62 cm CCLmin were fully herbivorous. The overall evidence (gut contents analysis and stable isotope analysis) indicates that green turtles in the Mediterranean shift to a seagrass-based diet immediately after recruitment but turtle growth continues to rely on animal-derived nutrients for several years after recruitment. This asynchrony between the dietary and nutritional shifts is thought to be caused by the temperature sensitivity of bacterial fermentation and the low temperatures experienced by green turtles in the Mediterranean, which may result in a poor assimilation of the plant-derived nutrients for most of their neritic juvenile life.

We assessed mitochondrial DNA diversity in Trionyx triunguis from the Mediterranean basin (22 samples) and continental Africa (4 samples). The continental African group comprised 4 different and newly described haplotypes, while the Mediterranean group consisted of only 1 previously known haplotype, with the nucleotide divergence between the 2 groups being 1.5% ± 0.7%.

The present study reports the first record of Lagocephalus sceleratus and the first substantiated record of Bathophilus nigerrimus from the Mediterranean coast of Israel. Specimens of another four species, Mobula mobular, Tylosurus choram, Scarus ghobban and Tetrapturus belone, constitute second records from this region.

Sea turtles were targeted by fisheries in the Mediterranean from 1920 to 1970 and have undergone severe exploitation. At least 30,000 to 40,000 turtles were caught along the Palestinian coastline during the 1920s to 1930s. Although intentional cap- ture of marine turtles is now illegal, sea turtles are still incidentally caught by the fishing industry, making it a major cause of sea turtle mortality. The present study as- sesses the impact of the Israeli fishery fleet on the turtle population in the Levantine basin based on on-board observations and a fishermen survey. The results show that gillnets and trawlers are the main threats to sea turtles in this area. 21 turtles were caught during 1385.5 hours of trawling observations – a catch rate of 0.015 turtles per hour. We estimate that a total of 1,315 turtles are caught annually by Israeli trawlers. According to the fishermen survey, ∼21 turtles are caught each year by a single gillnet vessel, yielding an annual estimate of 1,672 turtles for the whole gillnet fleet. We have also found that only a small fraction of the turtles injured by trawlers is represented in the strandings. The mortality rate through trawling and the stranding density is the highest in the region, emphasizing the urgent need to regulate the Israe- li fishery. This fishery poses a major threat to the whole Levantine sea turtle popula- tion, especially during the vulnerable reproduction stage.

Loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta use a wide variety of foraging strategies, and some populations forage in sub-optimal habitats. Different foraging strategies may not be equiva- lent in terms of fitness and may result in differences in adult body size and clutch size among populations. Accordingly, we tested whether differences in clutch size among rookeries in the Mediterranean Sea are related to differential use of foraging grounds of contrasting productivity. Stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen of turtle hatchlings from 8 Mediterranean rookeries were used to characterise the foraging grounds of their mothers. Clutch size was also studied in each rookery to assess reproductive output linked to foraging ground productivity. According to stable isotope ratios, most of the females nesting in the considered rookeries foraged in the southern Ion- ian Sea. The highly productive Adriatic/northern Ionian Sea region was mainly used by females nesting in western Greece. The explanation for these patterns might be linked to water circulation patterns and drifting trajectories followed during developmental migrations, which might determine individual knowledge on the location of productive foraging patches. Average clutch size in each rookery was positively correlated to the proportion of females accessing highly productive areas such as the Adriatic/northern Ionian Sea. This has a strong influence on reproductive out-put, and hence females using the most productive foraging grounds had the largest clutch sizes. Fil: Cardona, Luis. Universidad de Barcelona; España Fil: Clusa, Marcel. Universidad de Barcelona; España Fil: Eder, Elena Beatriz. Universidad de Barcelona; España. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentina Fil: Demetropoulos, Andreas. Cyprus Wildlife Society; Chipre Fil: Margaritoulis, Dimitris. The Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece; Grecia Fil: Rees, Alan F.. The Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece; Grecia Fil: Hamza, Abdulmaula A.. Alfateh University; Libia Fil: Khalil, Mona. MEDASSET; Líbano Fil: Levy, Yaniv. Nature Parks Authority; Israel Fil: Türkozan, Oguz. Adnan Menderes University; Turquía Fil: Marín, Isabel. Universidad de Barcelona; España Fil: Aguilar, Alex. Universidad de Barcelona; España

Artificial night lights pose a major threat to multiple species. However, this threat is often disregarded in conservation management and action because it is difficult to quantify its effect. Increasing availability of high spatial-resolution satellite images may enable us to better incorporate this threat into future work, particularly in highly modified ecosystems such as the coastal zone. In this study we examine the poten- tial of satellite night light imagery to predict the distribution of the endangered loggerhead (Caretta caret- ta) and green (Chelonia mydas) sea turtle nests in the eastern Mediterranean coastline. Using remote sensing tools and high resolution data derived from the SAC-C satellite and the International Space Sta- tion, we examined the relationship between the long term spatial patterns of sea turtle nests and the intensity of night lights along Israel's entire Mediterranean coastline. We found that sea turtles nests are negatively related to night light intensity and are concentrated in darker sections along the coast. Our resulting GLMs showed that night lights were a significant factor for explaining the distribution of sea turtle nests. Other significant variables included: cliff presence, human population density and infra- structure. This study is one of the first to show that night lights estimated with satellite-based imagery can be used to help explain sea turtle nesting activity at a detailed resolution over large areas. This approach can facilitate the management of species affected by night lights, and will be particularly useful in areas that are inaccessible or where broad-scale prioritization of conservation action is required.

As the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) is a philopatric species with a strong genetic structure, the analysis of mtDNA can be used to track evolutionary and colonisation events. In this study we use a genetic approach to understand the population structure of C. caretta in the Mediterranean Sea and to test whether loggerheads could have colonised the Mediterranean during the Pleistocene and survived the cold phases in warm refugia. We amplified a long mtDNA D-loop fragment (815. bp) from 168 dead hatchlings sampled from a selection of rookeries in the Eastern Mediterranean: Libya, Israel, Lebanon, Cyprus and Greece. Previously published data from Turkey and Calabria (Southern Italy) were also included in the analyses. The population nesting in Libya emerged as the oldest population in the Mediterranean, dating from the Pleistocene ca. 65,000. years ago (20,000-200,000). This reveals that the Libyan population might have settled in the Mediterranean basin before the end of the last glacial period. The remaining nesting sites, except Calabria, were subsequently colonised as the population expanded. The populations nesting in Eastern Turkey and Western Greece settled ca. 30,000. years ago (10,000-100,000), whereas the remaining populations originated as a result of a more recent Holocenic expansion. As Calabria presented a unique Atlantic haplotype, found nowhere else in the Mediterranean, we consider this nesting site as the result of an independent colonisation event from the Atlantic and not the recent spread of Mediterranean populations. This reveals that the current genetic structure of C. caretta rookeries in the Mediterranean would be the result of at least two colonisation events from the Atlantic, the oldest one in Libya and a most recent in Calabria, combined with local extinctions during Pleistocenic glaciations and re-colonisations from glacial refugia in Libya, Eastern Turkey and Western Greece. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.