Genetic characterization of eastern Atlantic hawksbill turtles at a foraging group indicates major undiscovered nesting populations in the region

Abstract

Despite the considerable population genetic and connectivity research on the hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) and the species being critically endangered, the eastern Atlantic remains understudied. We present the first analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences (n = 28) of hawksbill juveniles in a foraging aggregation at the Cape Verde Islands. Our results showed three haplotypes non-reported in any nesting population to date, with one of them accounting for 68% of the samples. These three haplotypes were closely related to each other but highly divergent from all known Caribbean and Western Atlantic haplotypes. These findings highlight the necessity of additional research, particularly expanding the genetic analyses throughout the western coast of Africa to include unsampled areas. Furthermore, we found three haplotypes (A, B, and F; 14% of the total samples) previously detected in rookeries from the western Atlantic. The genetic data presented here carried significant conservation and research applications.