@article{Revelles_Cardona_Aguilar_Borrell_Fernández_San Félix_2007, title={Stable C and N isotope concentration in several tissues of the loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta from the western Mediterranean and dietary implications}, volume={71}, url={https://scientiamarina.revistas.csic.es/index.php/scientiamarina/article/view/30}, DOI={10.3989/scimar.2007.71n187}, abstractNote={<p align=justify>The isotopic concentrations of carapace scutes, skin, muscle and blood of loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) from the Balearic Archipelago were analysed to investigate the pattern of variation between tissues and to assess the position of this species in the trophic webs of the Algerian Basin. Skin showed higher δ<sup>13</sup>C values than muscle or carapace scutes and these showed higher values than blood. Conversely, muscle showed higher δ<sup>15</sup>N values than skin, skin showed higher values than blood and blood showed higher values than carapace scutes. Dead and live sea turtles from the same habitat did not differ in the concentration of stable isotopes. However, some of the tissues of the turtles caught in drifting longlines in the oceanic realm showed higher δ<sup>13</sup>C values than those from the turtles caught by hand or in trammel nets over the continental shelf, although they did not differ in the δ<sup>15</sup>N. Comparison of the concentration of stable isotopes in the turtles with that of other species from several areas of the Algerian Basin revealed that they consumed planktonic prey and that the trophic level of the sea turtles was higher than that of carnivorous cnidarians but lower than that of zooplanktophagous fish and crustaceans.</p>}, number={1}, journal={Scientia Marina}, author={Revelles, Mónica and Cardona, Luis and Aguilar, Alex and Borrell, Assumpció and Fernández, Gloria and San Félix, Manuel}, year={2007}, month={Mar.}, pages={87–93} }