Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-5g6vh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T07:22:54.758Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

First record of Halocercus sp. (Pseudaliidae) lungworm infections in two stranded neonatal orcas (Orcinus orca)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2018

A. Reckendorf ,
E. Ludes-Wehrmeister ,
P. Wohlsein ,
R. Tiedemann ,
U. Siebert  and
K. Lehnert
A. Reckendorf
Affiliation:
Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Werftstr. 6, D-25761 Buesum, Germany
E. Ludes-Wehrmeister
Affiliation:
Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Werftstr. 6, D-25761 Buesum, Germany
P. Wohlsein
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Buenteweg 17, D-30559 Hannover, Germany
R. Tiedemann
Affiliation:
Unit of Evolutionary Biology/Systematic Zoology, Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25, D-14476 Potsdam, Germany
U. Siebert
Affiliation:
Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Werftstr. 6, D-25761 Buesum, Germany
K. Lehnert*
Affiliation:
Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Werftstr. 6, D-25761 Buesum, Germany
*
Author for correspondence: K. Lehnert, E-mail: Kristina.Lehnert@tiho-hannover.de
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Orca (Orcinus orca) strandings are rare and post-mortem examinations on fresh individuals are scarce. Thus, little is known about their parasitological fauna, prevalence of infections, associated pathology and the impact on their health. During post-mortem examinations of two male neonatal orcas stranded in Germany and Norway, lungworm infections were found within the bronchi of both individuals. The nematodes were identified as Halocercus sp. (Pseudaliidae), which have been described in the respiratory tract of multiple odontocete species, but not yet in orcas. The life cycle and transmission pathways of some pseudaliid nematodes are incompletely understood. Lungworm infections in neonatal cetaceans are an unusual finding and thus seem to be an indicator for direct mother-to-calf transmission (transplacental or transmammary) of Halocercus sp. nematodes in orcas.

Keywords

Cetaceansendoparasiteskiller whalelife cyclenematodesvertical transmission
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 145 , Issue 12 , October 2018 , pp. 1553 - 1557
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, RC (1982) Host-parasite relations and evolution of the metastrongyloidea (nematoda) [mammals]. Memoires du Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Serie A. Zoologie (France), pp. 129–133.Google Scholar
Anderson, RC (2000) Nematode Parasites of Vertebrates: Their Development and Transmission. Wallingford: CABI. doi: 10.1079/9780851994215.0000.Google Scholar
Arnold, PW and Gaskin, DE (1975) Lungworms (Metastrongyloidea: Pseudaliidae) of harbor porpoise Phocoena phocoena (L. 1758). Canadian Journal of Zoology 53, 713–735.Google Scholar
Baylis, HA and Daubney, R (1925) A revision of the lung-worms of cetacea. Parasitology 17, 201–216.Google Scholar
Bergeron, E, Huot, J and Measures, LN (1997) Experimental transmission of Otostrongylus circumlitus (Railliet, 1899) (Metastrongyloidea: Crenosomatidae), a lungworm of seals in eastern Arctic Canada. Canadian Journal of Zoology 75, 1364–1371.Google Scholar
Dailey, M, et al. (1991) Evidence of prenatal infection in the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) with the Lungworm Halocercus lagenorhynchi (Nematoda: Pseudaliidae). Journal of Wildlife Diseases 27, 164–165.Google Scholar
Dailey, MD (1970) The transmission of Parafilaroides decorus (Nematoda: Metastrongyloidea) in the California sea lion (Zalophus californianus). In Proceedings of the Helminthological Society of Washington, pp. 215–222.Google Scholar
de Bruyn, PJN, Tosh, CA and Terauds, A (2013) Killer whale ecotypes: is there a global model? Biological Reviews 88, 62–80.Google Scholar
Delyamure, SL (1955) Helminthofauna of marine mammals; ecology and phylogeny. (Gel'mintofauna morskikh mlekopitayushchikh v svete ikh ekologii i filogenii), 1968th Edn. ed. Skrjabin, K. I. Academy of Science of the USSR, Laboratory of Helminthology.Google Scholar
Fauquier, DA, et al. (2009) Prevalence and pathology of lungworm infection in bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus from southwest Florida. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 88, 85–90.Google Scholar
Foote, AD, et al. (2009) Ecological, morphological and genetic divergence of sympatric North Atlantic killer whale populations. Molecular Ecology 18, 5207–5217.Google Scholar
Foote, AD, et al. (2011) Out of the pacific and back again: insights into the matrilineal history of pacific killer whale ecotypes. PLoS ONE 6, e24980.Google Scholar
Foote, AD, Kuningas, S and Samarra, FIP (2014) North Atlantic killer whale research; past, present and future. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 94, 1245–1252.Google Scholar
Forney, KA and Wade, PR (2007) Worldwide distribution and abundance of killer whales. In Estes, JA, Demaster, DPF Doak, D, Williams, TM and Brownell, RLJ (eds). Whales, Whaling, and Ocean Ecosystems. Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. 145–162. doi: 10.1525/california/9780520248847.003.0012.Google Scholar
Fraija-Fernández, N, et al. (2016) Helminth diversity of cetaceans: an update. In Kovács, A and Nagy, P (eds). Advances in Marine Biology, vol. 1, Hauppauge, New York, USA: Nova Science Publishers, Inc, pp. 29–100.Google Scholar
Gibson, DI, et al. (1998) A survey of the helminth parasites of cetaceans stranded on the coast of England and wales during the period 1990–1994. Journal of Zoology 244, 563–574.Google Scholar
Houde, M, Measures, LN and Huot, J (2003) Lungworm (Pharuruspallasii: Metastrongyloidea: Pseudaliidae) infection in the endangered St. Lawrence beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas). Canadian Journal of Zoology 81(3), 543–551.Google Scholar
Jefferson, TA, Webber, MA and Pitman, RL (2015) Cetaceans. In Jefferson, TA, Webber, MA and Pitman, RL (eds). Marine Mammals of the World – A Comprehensive Guide to Their Identification. London, UK: Elsevier Inc., pp. 24–357. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-409542-7.50004-4.Google Scholar
Jepson, PD, et al. (2016) PCB pollution continues to impact populations of orcas and other dolphins in European waters. Scientific Reports 6, 18573.Google Scholar
Kastelein, RA, et al. (2003) Food consumption and suckling in killer whales. International Zoo Yearbook 38, 204–218.Google Scholar
Lehnert, K, Raga, J and Siebert, U (2005) Macroparasites in stranded and bycaught harbour porpoises from German and Norwegian waters. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 64, 265–269.Google Scholar
Lehnert, K, et al. (2010) Transmission of lungworms of harbour porpoises and harbour seals: molecular tools determine potential vertebrate intermediate hosts. International Journal for Parasitology 40, 845–853.Google Scholar
Mazzariol, S and Centelleghe, C (2013) Standard Protocols for Postmortem Examination on Cetaceans. Project NETCET – IPA Adriatic Cross Border Cooperation Programme. https://www.blue-world.org/bw/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/NETCET_Standard-protocols-for-post-mortem-examination-of-cetaceans.pdf.Google Scholar
Measures, LN (2001) Lungworms of marine mammals. In Samuel, WM, Pybus, MJ and Kocan, AA (eds). Parasitic Diseases of Wild Mammals. Ames, Iowa, USA: Iowa State University Press, pp. 279–300. doi: 10.1002/9780470377000.ch10.Google Scholar
Morin, PA, et al. (2010) Complete mitochondrial genome phylogeographic analysis of killer whales (Orcinus orca) indicates multiple species. Genome Research 20, 908–916.Google Scholar
Olesiuk, PF, Bigg, MA and Ellis, GM (1990) Life history and population dynamics of resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) in the coastal waters of British Columbia and Washington State. Reports of the International Whaling Commission (Special Issue).Google Scholar
Raverty, SA, Gaydos, JK and St Leger, JA (2014) Killer whale necropsy and disease testing protocol. 82 pp. http://www.seadocsociety.org/killer-whale-necropsy-protocol-2014/.Google Scholar
Siebert, U, et al. (2001) Post-mortem findings in harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) from the German North and Baltic seas. Journal of Comparative Pathology 124, 102–114.Google Scholar
Siebert, U, et al. (2007) Pathological findings in Harbour seals (Phoca vitulina): 1996–2005. Journal of Comparative Pathology 137, 47–58.Google Scholar
Tiedemann, R, et al. (1996) Mitochondrial DNA sequence patterns of harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) from the North and the Baltic sea. Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde 61, 104–111.Google Scholar
Tomo, I, Kemper, CM and Lavery, TJ (2010) Eighteen-year study of South Australian dolphins shows variation in lung nematodes by season, year, age class, and location. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 46, 488–498.Google Scholar
Wiemann, A, et al. (2010) Mitochondrial control region and microsatellite analyses on harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) unravel population differentiation in the Baltic Sea and adjacent waters. Conservation Genetics 11, 195–211.Google Scholar
Wohlsein, P and Reifinger, M (2015) Todeszeichen und wundaltersbestimmung, 2nd. edition. In Baumgärtner, W and Gruber, AD (eds). Allgemeine Pathologie für die Tiermedizin. Stuttgart, Germany: Enke, pp. 269–281.Google Scholar
Wohlsein, P, et al. (2007) Distemper in a dolphin. Emerging Infectious Diseases 13, 1959–1961.Google Scholar