Internal parasites of the two subspecies of the West Indian manatee Trichechus manatus

Abstract

The West Indian manatee Trichechus manatus is divided into 2 subspecies: the Antillean (T. m. manatus) and Florida (T. m. latirostris) manatees. This study reports sample prevalence of manatee parasites from populations of these 2 subspecies in different geographical locations. Although necropsy is a valuable diagnostic tool for parasite infections, the need for antemortem diagnostic techniques is important. Fecal samples collected during necropsies of Antillean manatees (n = 3) in Puerto Rico and Florida manatees (n = 10) in Crystal River, Florida, as well as from live-captured Florida manatees (n = 11) were evaluated using centrifugal flotation with sucrose and ethyl acetate sedimentation to compare parasites from each of the populations. Although both fecal examination methods provided similar results, the centrifugal flotation method required less time for diagnosis. The most common parasite eggs found in both populations included the trematodes Pulmonicola cochleotrema and Nudacotyle undicola, oocysts of the coccidian Eimeria spp., and eggs of the ascarid Heterocheilus tunicatus. Eggs of the trematode Chiorchis groschafti were found in both populations of manatees; however, eggs of a related species, Chiorchis fabaceus, were abundant in the Florida samples, but not found in Puerto Rico populations. Trematode eggs of Moniligerum blairi were found in both populations, but were more common in the Florida manatee (42%) than the Antillean manatee (33%). To our knowledge, this is the first report of both Eimeria manatus and Eimeria nodulosa oocysts in Antillean manatees from Puerto Rico.

Parasite fauna of wild Antillean manatees (Trichechus manatus manatus) of the Andean Region, Colombia

“…In the present study, Eimeria spp. revealed as the most prevalent parasites and these findings are in agreement with data on manatees inhabiting Florida and Puerto Rico (Additional file 1: Table S1) [25, 36]. DNA sequencing-based analyses identified three Eimeria species in Colombian manatee samples, i.e.…”

“…To our best knowledge, Entamoeba infections in aquatic mammals have so far only been reported in certain whale species such as sperm whales, blue whales, fin whales and sei whales [41], and there is one report for manatees [36]. Nonetheless, the Entamoeba -like cysts reported in Florida manatees [36] present a larger size and differ in the number and form of the nuclei. Therefore, future parasitological research in manatees requires a broader approach, e.g.…”

Causes of Mortality for Endangered Antillean Manatees in Cuba

“…Mortality of T. manatus has been linked to several anthropogenic and natural factors (Bossart et al, 1998(Bossart et al, , 2002aLangtimm et al, 1998Langtimm et al, , 2004Lightsey et al, 2006;Marsh et al, 2011). Anthropogenic threats are associated with hunting, interaction with fisheries, collisions with watercraft, and habitat loss, whereas natural threats are related to the incidence of diseases, parasites, predation, and stress from adverse climatic conditions (Bossart et al, 1998(Bossart et al, , 2002aLangtimm et al, 1998Langtimm et al, , 2004Mignucci-Giannoni et al, 2000;Parente et al, 2004;Lightsey et al, 2006;Marsh et al, 2011;Borges et al, 2017;Wyrosdick et al, 2018).…”