Transmission and Predictors of Burden of Lungworms of the Striped Dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) in the Western Mediterranean

Pool, Rachel; Chandradeva, Nilani; Gkafas, Georgios A.; Raga, Juan Antonio; Fernández, Mercedes; Aznar, Francisco

doi:10.7589/2018-10-242

Cited by 14 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…It is unlikely that these correlations are the result of long-lasting infections acquired as neonates, as there were no infected neonates of bottlenose dolphins, but also because the prevalence of infection in both species of lungworms was higher in weaned individuals, many of which were adults. Older (larger) dolphins would have had more time to have been exposed to infected prey and would be more likely to consume infected prey due to higher metabolic requirements [ 7 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An interesting question is the extent to which vertical transmission could help reinforce the observed patterns of specificity. Currently, proof of vertical transmission exists for species of Halocercus [ 5 – 7 ] and Stenurus arctomarinus [ 8 ]. Evidence of H. delphini being capable of vertical transmission in striped dolphins from the Mediterranean has been published previously from part of this same population [ 7 ], and this study also provides new evidence to that effect, with the finding of H. delphini in a Risso’s dolphin neonate ( n = 8).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In other pseudaliids, evidence for trophic transmission is only implied by the absence of infection in unweaned hosts, coupled with the increase in prevalence with host age [ 1 ]. However, there is also evidence for vertical transmission from mother to calf at least for three species of Halocercus infecting bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus , orcas Orcinus orca , and striped dolphins Stenella coeruleoalba [ 5 – 7 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, the same odontocete species can have strikingly different levels of infection for the same pseudaliid species depending on geographic location. For example, the prevalence of Halocercus lagenorhynchi in striped dolphins in Italy, the UK and Costa Rica was 6.67%, 14.3% and 54.2%, respectively [ 9 – 11 ], and this species has never been detected in striped dolphins from the western Mediterranean Sea despite the high sampling effort [ 7 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Determinants of lungworm specificity in five cetacean species in the western Mediterranean

et al. 2021

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Background Current data about Pseudaliidae show contrasting patterns of host specificity between congeneric species. We investigated how both contact and compatibility between hosts and parasites contributed to the patterns of lungworm infection observed in a community of five species of cetaceans in the western Mediterranean. Methods The lungs of 119 striped dolphins Stenella coeruleoalba, 18 bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus, 7 Risso’s dolphins Grampus griseus, 7 long-finned pilot whales Globicephala melas, and 6 common dolphins Delphinus delphis were analysed for lungworms. Parasites were identified by morphology and analysis of ITS2 sequences using both maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference methods. Body length was used as a proxy for lungworm species fitness in different hosts and compared with Kruskal-Wallis tests. Infection parameters were compared between cetacean species using Fisher’s exact tests and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Phylogenetic specificity was explored by collating the overall lungworm species prevalence values in hosts from previous surveys in various localities. To explore the relative importance of vertical and horizontal transmission, Spearman’s rank correlation was used to look for an association between host size and lungworm burden. A Mantel test was used to explore the association between lungworm species similarity and prey overlap using dietary data. Results Halocercus delphini had higher infection levels in striped dolphins and common dolphins; Stenurus ovatus had higher infection levels in bottlenose dolphins; and Stenurus globicephalae had higher infection levels in long-finned pilot whales. These results are congruent with findings on a global scale. Morphometric comparison showed that the larger nematodes were found in the same host species that had the highest parasite burden. Lungworms were found in neonatal striped dolphins and a Risso’s dolphin, and there was a weak but significant correlation between host size and parasite burden in striped dolphins and bottlenose dolphins. There was also a weak but significant association between prey overlap and lungworm species similarity. Conclusions Data indicate that phylogenetic specificity has an important role in governing host–parasite associations, as indicated by the higher infection levels and larger nematode size in certain hosts. However, diet can also influence infection patterns in these preferred hosts and contribute to less severe infections in other hosts.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Determinants of lungworm specificity in five cetacean species in the western Mediterranean

et al. 2021

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“…Pseudaliids, on other hand, exploit a wide range of microhabitats of mysticetes and odontocetes, including the respiratory system, the middle ear, the eustachian tube and the cranial sinuses (MEASURES 2001;LEMPEREUR et al 2017). Information concerning their life cycle is rather scarce, although there is convincing evidence for vertical transmission in some species (MEASURES 2001;POOL et al 2020), and data on putative paratenic fish hosts in others (LEHNERT et al 2010). It is thought that pseudaliids have a terrestrial origin and made it to the sea with ancestors of marine mammals (LEHNERT et al 2010 and references therein).…”

Section: The Importance Of Parasitism In Cetaceansmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing the Understanding of Multispecies Feeding Events in Marine Hotspots by Medium Term Instrumentation and Tracking

Kleivane¹

2021

Contributions to the Global Management and Conservation of Marine Mammals

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O conteúdo deste livro está licenciado sob uma Licença de Atribuição Creative Commons Atribuição-Não-Comercial NãoDerivativos 4.0 Internacional (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Direitos para esta edição cedidos à Editora Artemis pelos autores. Permitido o download da obra e o compartilhamento, desde que sejam atribuídos créditos aos autores, e sem a possibilidade de alterá-la de nenhuma forma ou utilizá-la para fins comerciais.A responsabilidade pelo conteúdo dos artigos e seus dados, em sua forma, correção e confiabilidade é exclusiva dos autores. A Editora Artemis, em seu compromisso de manter e aperfeiçoar a qualidade e confiabilidade dos trabalhos que publica, conduz a avaliação cega pelos pares de todos manuscritos publicados, com base em critérios de neutralidade e imparcialidade acadêmica.

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Potential new species of pseudaliid lung nematode (Metastrongyloidea) from two stranded neonatal orcas (Orcinus orca) characterized by ITS‐2 and COI sequences

Lehnert

Boyi

Siebert

2023

Ecology and Evolution

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Knowledge about parasite species of orcas, their prevalence, and impact on the health status is scarce. Only two records of lungworm infections in orca exist from male neonatal orcas stranded in Germany and Norway. The nematodes were identified as Halocercus sp. (Pseudaliidae), which have been described in the respiratory tract of multiple odontocete species, but morphological identification to species level remained impossible due to the fragile structure and ambiguous morphological features. Pseudaliid nematodes (Metastrongyloidea) are specific to the respiratory tract of toothed whales and are hypothesized to have become almost extinct in terrestrial mammals. Severe lungworm infections can cause secondary bacterial infections and bronchopneumonia and are a common cause of mortality in odontocetes. DNA isolations and subsequent sequencing of the rDNA ITS‐2 and mtDNA COI revealed nucleotide differences between previously described Halocercus species from common dolphin ( H. delphini ) and harbor porpoises ( H. invaginatus ) that were comparatively analyzed, pointing toward a potentially new species of pseudaliid lungworm in orcas. New COI sequences of six additional metastrongyloid lungworms of seals and porpoises were derived to elucidate phylogenetic relationships and differences between nine species of Metastrongyloidea.

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Transmission and Predictors of Burden of Lungworms of the Striped Dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) in the Western Mediterranean

Cited by 14 publications

References 12 publications

Determinants of lungworm specificity in five cetacean species in the western Mediterranean

Determinants of lungworm specificity in five cetacean species in the western Mediterranean

Increasing the Understanding of Multispecies Feeding Events in Marine Hotspots by Medium Term Instrumentation and Tracking

Potential new species of pseudaliid lung nematode (Metastrongyloidea) from two stranded neonatal orcas (Orcinus orca) characterized by ITS‐2 and COI sequences

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