The appearance of FP tumors varies from smooth to cauliflower-like with small spiky projections. The tumors arise mostly on a turtle's soft skin tissue, around the neck, at the base of flippers, and near the eye. They are occasionally found at the seams between scales on the shell and plastron, which is the ventral or lower area of the shell. The color of tumors can be white, pink, red, gray, purple or black. The size of the tumor varies from less than the size of a pea to larger than a grapefruit. The number of tumors per turtle can be as many as 70. A large mass of tumors can interfere with normal swimming and feeding. Blood analyses have indicated that turtles with many tumors are typically anemic. However, there were no differences in blood parameters between non-diseased and mildly afflicted green turtles with small amounts of tumors on their bodies.

Biologists are continuing to collect data and tissue samples in studies of FP at hotspots for the disease such as the Indian River Lagoon, Lake Worth Lagoon, Mosquito Lagoon, Florida Bay, and the Florida Keys. In cooperative research facilitated by FWC, veterinarians, immunologists, and pathologists are working to understand what causes this mysterious disease.

Additional resources on fibropapillomatosis in green turtles:

FOLEY, A. M., B. A. SCHROEDER, A. E. REDLOW, K. J. FICK-CHILD, AND W. G. TEAS. 2005. Fibropapillomatosis in stranded green turtles (Chelonia mydas) from the Eastern United States (1980-1998): trends and associations with environmental factors. J. Wildl. Dis. 41(1): 29-41.

HERBST, L. H. 1994. Fibropapillomatosis of marine turtles. Annu. Rev. Fish Dis. 4:389-425.

HIRAMA, S. and L. M. EHRHART. Description, prevalence and severity of green turtle fibropapillomatosis in three developmental habitats on the east coast of Florida. Florida Scientist.