ANALYSIS 16S RDNA OF THE TURTLES IN FORECLOSURE CAGES AT PADEI LAUT, CENTRAL SULAWESI, INDONESIA

Marine turtle is one of the protected aquatic animals as listed in CITES Appendix and IUCN red list. However, illegal fishing of marine turtle is still occurred Padei Laut Village, in Morowali Regency, Central Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. The research aims to study the population of marine turtle based on the carapace length and the genetic relationships. Data of carapace length was measured in-situ and genetic analysis was used mitochondrial DNA. The results showed that the carapace (ten samples which was green turtles/Chelonia mydas) was ranges between 42-102 cm; 91% of samples was immature and 9% was mature. Moreover, it also revealed that those turtles resembled by 99.98% of genetic similarity.