Abstract
Parasite monitoring is considered a necessary step for cetacean management and conservation. Between February 2013 and July 2015, 26 dolphins (15 Stenella coeruleoalba, 10 Tursiops truncatus, and one Grampus griseus) stranded along the Tuscan coastline of the protected marine area “Pelagos Sanctuary”, were examined. Organs, tissues, and faecal and blood samples taken from all animals were analysed by parasitological, immunological, and molecular techniques. Twenty-one out of 26 dolphins (80.77%) tested positive for at least one parasite species, and 13/15 (86.7%) S. coeruleoalba, 7/10 (70%) T. truncatus, and the single G. griseus were found positive. Identified parasites included the nematodes Skrjabinalius guevarai (7.69%, 2/26), Halocercus lagenorhynchi (3.85%, 1/26), Halocercus delphini (7.69%, 2/26), Stenurus ovatus (7.69%, 2/26), Crassicauda spp. (7.69%, 2/26); the trematodes Pholeter gastrophilus (26.92%, 7/26), Campula palliata (3.85%, 1/26); the cestodes Phyllobothrium delphini (42.31%, 11/26), Monorygma grimaldii (23.08%, 6/26), Tetrabothrium forsteri (7.69%, 2/26), Strobilocephalus triangularis (7.69%, 2/26), and the acanthocephalan Bolbosoma vasculosum (7.69%, 2/26). Moreover, 6/26 (23%) animals scored positive to Toxoplasma gondii at serology, but PCR confirmed the infection (T. gondii Type II genotype) in a single animal. In examined dolphins, obtained results showed a high prevalence of endoparasites, which included species considered as a cause of severe debilitation or death.
Highlights
The International Sanctuary for the Protection of Mediterranean Marine Mammals is the first International high seas marine protected area worldwide, and it has been added in the list of specially protected areas of Mediterranean interest [1]
With the aim to give a contribution to the knowledge of the parasite fauna of stranded cetaceans, this study reports data about parasite species identified in 26 dolphins stranded along the Tuscan coasts of the Pelagos Sanctuary in the period between February 2013 and July 2015
Data about parasite infections of cetaceans stranded along the Tuscan coastline of the “Pelagos Sanctuary” are still scarce [19]
Summary
The International Sanctuary for the Protection of Mediterranean Marine Mammals Pelagos Sanctuary) is the first International high seas marine protected area worldwide, and it has been added in the list of specially protected areas of Mediterranean interest [1]. The Sanctuary includes the Ligurian Sea and parts of the Corsican and Tyrrhenian seas, and it is composed by the internal maritime (15% of its extent) and territorial waters (32%) of France, Monaco, and Italy, as well as the adjacent high seas (53%) [2,4]. The Pelagos Sanctuary contains habitat suitable for the breeding and feeding needs of the entire complement of cetacean species regularly found in the Mediterranean Sea [2]. Five other species are regular components of the Sanctuary’s cetacean fauna: sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus; long-finned pilot whale
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