Three species of marine turtles are recorded for the Adriatic fauna:
1. Loggerhead turtle, Caretta caretta
2. Green turtle, Chelonia mydas
3. Leatherback turtle, Dermochelys coriacea
The most frequent species in the Adriatic is certainly the Loggerhead turtle. Records of Loggerheads in the brackish water of the Neretva Delta, and in the fresh-water of the Skadar Lake (BOLKAY, 1924) and Prokljan Lake near Šibenik (DE LUCA et al. 1990) were interesting. The juvenile specimen of the Loggerhead, 15 cm total length, that was found dead on the rocky-shore of Kozarica, on the Island of Mljet (LIPEJ et al., 1987) should also be emphasized. Subsequent redetermination of two specimens from the Herpetological Collection at the Croatian Natural History Museum (HPM), determined as the Chelonia mydas (PAVLETIĆ, 1964), showed that these turtles were Loggerheads as well!
Only four specimens of the Green Turtle were recorded along the eastern Adriatic coast, all in the 19th century (STOSSICH, 1880; DAMIN, 1889; DEPOLI, 1898). According to the literature, this species is rare in the Adriatic (STOSSICH, 1880; FABER, 1883; RIEDL, 1963; POZZI, 1966).
Also, only five specimens of the Leathery Turtle were recorded, four of which were caught during September, and now belong to the Natural History Museum Collections in Zagreb, Rijeka, Split, and Dubrovnik (KOSIĆ, 1896; BABIĆ, 1920; CVITANIĆ, 1956; CRNKOVIĆ, 1957.) The last record in July of 1990 (Valbiska port, Krk island) was photo-documented by Ms. Nina De Luca.
Identification key to Adriatic Marine Turtle species