AUTHOR=Kim Hyun Kyong , Chan Benny K. K. , Yi Changho , Kim Il-Hun , Choi Yu Na TITLE=Barnacle Epibiosis on Sea Turtles in Korea: A West Pacific Region With Low Occurrence and Intensity of Chelonibia testudinaria (Cirripedia: Chelonibiidae) JOURNAL=Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution VOLUME=10 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ecology-and-evolution/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.785692 DOI=10.3389/fevo.2022.785692 ISSN=2296-701X ABSTRACT=
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 began in 1985, but until present, no turtle barnacles were recorded. This suggests that either the diversity and frequency of occurrence of turtle barnacles in Korean waters are low or the turtle barnacles have been understudied. This study complies with data collected over 6 years of sea turtle stranding events in Korea (2015–2020). We examined the diversity, frequency, and intensity of turtle barnacle occurrence. Of the 55 recorded strandings, loggerhead turtles were the most common (58%), followed by green turtles (33%). Only one species of barnacle,