AUTHOR=Specht Nicolas R. , Keve Gergő , Fernández-Maldonado Carolina , Caro Alejandra Cerezo , Takács Nóra , Kontschán Jenő , Hornok Sándor 

TITLE=Molecular investigation of endoparasites of marine mammals (Cetacea: Mysticeti, Odontoceti) in the Western Mediterranean

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Veterinary Science

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2024.1431625

DOI=10.3389/fvets.2024.1431625

ISSN=2297-1769

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Introduction</title><p>Whales, dolphins, and porpoises are susceptible to infections by protozoan and metazoan parasites.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>In this study, tissue samples, as well as flatworms and roundworms, were collected from a common bottlenose dolphin (<italic>Tursiops truncatus</italic>), three short-beaked common dolphins (<italic>Delphinus delphis</italic>), two striped dolphins (<italic>Stenella coeruleoalba</italic>), a harbor porpoise (<italic>Phocoena phocoena</italic>), a long-finned pilot whale (<italic>Globicephala melas</italic>), and a fin whale (<italic>Balaenoptera physalus</italic>). These samples were molecularly analyzed.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>In one <italic>D. delphis, Toxoplasma gondii</italic> was detected in multiple organs, including the cerebellum. The cysts of the tapeworms <italic>Clistobothrium delphini</italic> and <italic>Clistobothrium grimaldii</italic> were identified in <italic>G. melas</italic>. Flukes collected from <italic>D. delphis</italic> belong to <italic>Brachycladium atlanticum</italic>, while those removed from <italic>S. coeruleoalba</italic> probably represent a new species. Four species of lungworms were also identified: <italic>Halocercus delphini</italic> in <italic>S. coeruleoalba</italic>, <italic>Halocercus</italic> sp. in <italic>T. truncatus</italic>, <italic>Stenurus globicephalae</italic> in <italic>G. melas</italic>, and a potentially new <italic>Pharurus</italic> sp. in <italic>P. phocoena</italic>.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>These findings show, to the best of our knowledge, for the first time, the presence of <italic>T. gondii</italic> DNA in <italic>D. delphis</italic>. The cerebellum of the animal was <italic>Toxoplasma</italic>-infected, which might be relevant to inadvertent stranding. In this study, new genetic markers were sequenced for several helminth parasites of marine mammals, possibly including undescribed species.</p></sec>