Creen LurLles are LhoughL Lo undergo !"#$%& ()&(*+)+,- ./+&!

#0 12/31 durlng Lhelr llves, from opporLunlsuc

feedlng durlng Lhe oceanlc phase Lo an almosL excluslve herblvorous dleL once Lhey recrulL Lo coasLal
hablLaLs (Chaloupka & Llmpus 2001, 8oyle & Llmpus 2008, ArLhur eL al. 2008)
uurlng Lhelr oceanlc sLage -+%2!4(%(.1 mlghL consuLuLe a complemenLary food resource Lo Lhelr normal
dleLs (8oyle & Llmpus 2008, arker eL al. 2011).
1he 5#$*$!0!) -(!1& has been ldenued as a feedlng and resung ground for [uvenlle green LurLles occurrlng
year round (Lpez-Mendllaharsu M eL al 2006, Marunez-Souza eL al. 2011, velez-8ublo eL al. 2013 ), buL llule
ls know abouL Lhe dleL of green LurLles Lhere.
ln order Lo sLudy [uvenlle green LurLle dleL ln Lhe uruguayan coasL, we collecLed guL conLenLs from 34
speclmens sLranded along Lhe uruguayan coasL durlng Lhe perlod 2009-2013 (llg.1).
AlmosL all Lhe cephalopod beaks were ldenued aL leasL Lo Lhe genus level, based on beak morphologyby
reference Lo Lhe avallable llLeraLure (Clarke 1986, xavler & Cherel 2009). uependlng on Lhe color and
Lransparency of Lhe wlng beaks and Lhe bouom of laLeral wall we dlsungulshed beLween recenLly consumed
beaks (wlLhln days) or old beaks, Lhose LhaL poLenually sLayed ln Lhe LurLles for longer ume (weeks/monLhs).
Cephalopods beaks were
always assoclaLed wlLh Lhe
presence of oaung marlne
debrls (so and hard plasuc,
foam, rope, eLc.) and oLher
organlc oaung lLems (l.e.:
gelaunous macrozooplankLon!
#$% &$' ' () ' *. , pel agl c
crusLaceans, eLc.) (llg. 2).
1he squld specles found are frequenL ln Lhe dleL of
predaLors.
1he beaks found were probably accumulaLed ln Lhe LurLles
dlgesuve LracL durlng Lhelr oceanlc sLage, remalnlng ln Lhe
guL aer Lhey reached Lhe coasLal zones (Permndez-Carlca
1993, Morals eL al. 2012 ). 1hls lnference ls supporLed by
Lhe smaller slze of LurLles LhaL feed on squlds. 1hls suggesLs
LhaL cephalopod lngesuon by [uvenlle green LurLles durlng
Lhelr oceanlc sLages may be common ln Lhls parL of Lhe
SouLhwesLern ALlanuc (SWA).
velez-8ublo C M
1,2
, A Carranza
3,4
, 8 Mlguez-Lozano
2
, C Marunez Souza
1,3,
u Cnzalez-aredes
1
, ! 1oms
2
1 kA8uM8L, 8lodlversldad y Conservacln. Av. 8lvera 3243, MonLevldeo C 11400, uruguay
2 lnsuLuLo Cavanllles de 8lodlversldad y 8lologla Lvoluuva, unlverslLy of valencla, ApLdo. 22083, L-46071 valencla, Spaln
3 CenLro unlvesrlLarlo reglonal LsLe (Cu8L) Sede Maldonado, unLa del LsLe, uruguay
4 rea 8lodlversldad y Conservacln, Museo naclonal de PlsLorla naLural, C.C. 399, C.. 11000, MonLevldeo, uruguay
3 rograma de s-Craduao em Cceanograa 8lolglca, unlversldade lederal do 8lo Crande, 8lo Crande, 8S, 8razll
6789 :: 8lo de la laLa
e s L u a r y m a p , L h e
uruguayan coasL were
dlvlded lnLo Lhree zones
based on Lhe dlerences
l n h y d r o l o g l c a l
characLerlsucs: lLZ, CLZ
and CZ. 1he black clrcles
lndlcaLe Lhe locauons of
collecuon of sLranded
green LurLles. 1he leuers
lndlcaLes Lhe lmporLanL
feedlng areas for [uvenlle
g r e e n L u r L l e s l n
ur u g u a y a n c o a s L a l
waLers: ;< MA of Cerro
verde, =< unLa del
ulablo, >< MA of Cabo
olonlo, ?< La aloma and
@< unLa del LsLe.
AB -+%2!4(%(. "+!C1 were found ln Lhe sLomachs and/or lnLesunes of 17 of Lhe 34 green LurLles analysed (lC =
31.3). All Lhe LurLles measured presenL [uvenlle slze (CCL Su) = 40.0 7.0 cm, range 29.8-62.0. 1urLles wlLh
cephalopod beaks ln Lhelr guLs were slgnlcanLly smaller Lhan Lhose wlLhouL beaks (CCLn-L, l
1,43
=4.367, p<0.03).
8eaks were asslgned Lo 6 morphospecles of squlds (Cephalopoda: Cegopslda)
from 3 genera, +,-%./0(/,-s, 1-'2./0(/,-'! 3456-$ $47 8$'2&./0(/,-' (llg. 3).
1he domlnanL specles ln Lerms of occurrence were !" $%&'()* (lC= 42) and
+" ,-((%..* /-&012/1.' (lC= 24), oceanlc medlum-depLh Lo deep-waLer
squlds LhaL apparenLly undergo onLogeneuc and dlel verucal mlgrauons ln Lhe
waLer column ln oshore hablLaLs.
19:9 ;.%*(';(<$ ls wldely buL unevenly dlsLrlbuLed ln Lhe souLhern subLroplcal
areas of Lhe ALlanuc, +" '3.'(4/' has a clrcumglobal dlsLrlbuuon ln souLhern
waLers and +" '&/31&* exLends LhroughouL Lhe Lroplcal and subLroplcal
ALlanuc (nesls 1987, voss eL al. 1998). +9 =0%$45- ls known Lo be dlsLrlbuLed ln
Lhe AnLarcuc, sub-AnLarcuc and subLroplcal waLers (8odhouse and Lu 1998,
xavler eL al. 2002).
lor Lhe oLher Lwo genera Lhls seems Lo be Lhe rsL record norLh of ca. 46 S.
D2+ %#+1+)& E(#C 12(E1 &2+ #+4+F!)-+ (G &2+ -+%2!4(%(.1 /) &2+ ./+& (G
H$F+)/4+ *#++) &$#&4+1 !). /I%#(F+1 C)(E4+.*+ () &2+ +-(4(*0 !).
./1&#/"$,() (G J+*(%1/. 1K$/.1 /) &2+ LM ;&4!),-9
Powever, lL ls sull unclear how non-experL dlvers as small [uvenlle sea LurLles may
predaLe over fasL swlmmlng squlds specles? We hypoLheslze LhaL LurLles could prey
squlds durlng Lhelr nocLurnal mlgrauon Lo Lhe eplpelaglc zone, alLhough Lhe mosL
llkely explanauon ls a scavenger behavlor over dead squlds on sea surface.
AuLhors are really greauul Lo all karumbe members and volunLeers who once formed
parL of Lhe nCC. Also Lo all Lhe persons (shermen, naval refecLure, llfe guard
servlce, rangers, clvll organlzauons and cluzens). AuLhors wlsh Lo Lhank Lo Lhe Marlne
Zoology unlL of Lhe unlverslLy of valencla Lo help ln Lhe lasL parL of Lhls work. !1 ls
supporLed by pro[ecL CCL 2011-30413 of Lhe Spanlsh MlnlsLry of Lconomy and
Compeuuveness. llnanclal suppoerL from llAW Lo karumbe, 8uord small granL Lo
Cv and Agencla naclonal de lnvesugacln e lnnovacln (Anll) Lo AC ls also
acknowledge. 1hls research was conducLed under llcence (no. 200/04, 073/08 and
323/11) from Lhe launa ueparLmenL MlnlsLry of Caule, AgrlculLure and llshlng of
uruguay.
6789 B: lour green LurLle dlgesuve conLenLs analyzed.
1he presence of cephalopods beaks ls always assoclaLed
wl Lh oaung l Lems (marl ne debrl s, gel aunous
macrozooplanckLon)
6789 N: upper and lower beaks of
cephalopods morphospecles found ln Lhe
dlgesuve conLenLs of green LurLles: ;
+,-%./,0(2' =0%$45-, = 1-'2./0(/,-'
:.440<<- ;.%*(';(<$, > 1-'2./0(/,-'
$/<$42;$, ? 8$'2&./0(/,-' *'5;%,.*,5<$
and @ 345;,-$ '*. Scale 2 cm.
Clarke (1986) A handbook for Lhe ldenucauon of Cephalopod 8eaks.
Conzlez Carman eL al. (2012) 8evlslung Lhe onLogeneuc shl paradlgm: Lhe case of [uvenlle green LurLles ln Lhe SWALlanuc. !LM8L
Permndez-Carlca (1993) 1he dleL of Lhe swordsh >-*,-$' &<$7-(' Llnnaeus, 1738, ln Lhe cenLral easL ALlanuc, wlLh emphasls on Lhe role of
cepahlopods. l8
Morals eL al. (2012) Cephalopod lngesuon by [uvenlle green sea LurLles (+,0<.4-$ )57$'): redaLory or scavenglng behavlor? P8
nesls (1987) Cephalopods of Lhe world
8odhouse & Lu (1998) +,-%./0(/,-' =0%$45- fromLhe ALlanuc secLor of Lhe SouLhern Ccean (Cephalopoda: ChlroLeuLhldae). SA!MS
voss eL al. (1998) 1he Cephalopod famlly PlsuoLeuLhldae (Cegopslda): sysLemaucs, blology, and blogeography.
xavler & Cherel (2009) Cephalopod 8eak Culde for Lhe SouLhern Ccean. 8rlush AnLarcuc Survey
xavler eL al. (2002) ulsLrlbuuon of cephalopods recorded ln Lhe dleL of aLagonlan LooLhsh (?-''.'2;,(' 0<0&-4.-70') around SouLh
Ceorgla. 8
Cur sLudy adds lnformauon Lo Lhese specles provldlng F!4$!"4+ /)G(#I!,() on
+-(4(*0 !). ./1&#/"$,() of LM; -+%2!4(%(.1 LhaL have noL been sub[ecL Lo a
commerclal shery.
Avallable knowledge on Lhe dlsLrlbuuon of [uvenlle green LurLles ln Lhe SWA suggesLs
LhaL Lhe dlsLrlbuuon llmlL for Lhls specles mosL llkely ls locaLed around 40 S (see e.g.
Conzlez Carman eL al. 2012). 1hus, we are condenL enough Lo say LhaL cephalopod
lngesuon occurs norLh of Lhls lauLude.
ln Lhls llne Lhls sLudy exLends Lhe ALlanuc dlsLrlbuuon of aL leasL Lwo cephalopods
specles (8$'2&./0(/,-' *'5;%,.*,5<$ and 3456-$ '*) well norLh of Lhe AnLarcuc
Convergence Lo Lhe reglon of Lhe SubLroplcal lronL.
6789 O: 1-'2./0(/,-' :.440<<-