Dolphin A

Information about parasites of cetaceans in Australia is scarce and mostly opportunistic. The morphology of specimens of the metastrongyloid Stenurus globicephalae Baylis & Daubney, 1925 (Nematoda: Pseudaliidae), collected from the blowhole of a pilot whale Globicephala macrorhynchus Gray, 1846 (Cetacea: Delphinidae) off northern Tasmania, Australia, were studied. Light and scanning electron microscopical examinations enabled a detailed redescription of this nematode species, including corrections of some inaccuracies in previous species descriptions, particularly those concerning cephalic and caudal structures...

Numerous dams disrupt freshwater animals. The uppermost population of the critically endangered Yangtze finless porpoise has been newly formed below the Gezhouba Dam, however, information regarding the local porpoise is scarce. Passive acoustic monitoring was used to detect the behaviors of porpoises below the Gezhouba Dam. The influence of shipping, pandemic lockdown, hydrological regime, and light intensity on the biosonar activity of dolphins was also examined using Generalized linear models. Over the course of 4 years (2019-2022), approximately 848, 596, and 676 effective monitoring days were investigated at the three sites, from upstream to downstream...

Dolphins in the wild cooperate to find food, gain and maintain access to mating partners, look after their young ones, or for the sheer joy of play. Under human care, environmental enrichments provide mental and physical stimulation and opportunities for the dolphins to practice their natural abilities. In this review, I focus on a set of enrichment devices we designed for cooperative problem-solving. They allowed the dolphins to utilize and improve their cognitive skills, leading to improved socialization within the group...

A juvenile rough-toothed dolphin (Steno bredanensis) was live-stranded and rescued in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. From the results of diagnostic examinations, blood tests indicated that the dolphin was malnourished, dehydrated, and anemic. The dolphin died on sixth day of rescue despite treatment. At autopsy, 570g of foreign material, including 34 pieces of cellophanes and plastic debris (PD), were found in the forestomach. Additional gross findings, including some endoparasitism and presence of accessory spleens were also identified...

This study aimed to elucidate the foot kinematics and foot pressure difference characteristics of faster swimmers in undulatory underwater swimming (UUS). In total, eight faster and eight slower swimmers performed UUS in a water flume at a flow velocity set at 80% of the maximal effort swimming velocity. The toe velocity and foot angle of attack were measured using a motion capture system. A total of eight small pressure sensors were attached to the surface of the left foot to calculate the pressure difference between the plantar and dorsal sides of the foot...

INTRODUCTION: Hemodialysis (HD) units require large quantities of water. To reduce water consumption without compromising the adequacy and safety of dialysis, we studied a novel HD prescription with high temperature and low flow dialysate. METHODS: This was a single-center nonrandomized open-label cross-over pilot trial in patients with end-stage kidney disease on maintenance HD. Each participant was subjected to 3 different dialysis prescriptions for 1 month each as follows: (i) normal temperature with normal flow dialysate (NTNF prescription), (ii) high temperature with normal flow dialysate (HTNF prescription), and (iii) high temperature with low flow dialysate (HTLF prescription)...

There are extensive immunological reagents available for laboratory rodents and humans. However, for veterinary species there is a need for expansion of immunological toolkits, with this especially evident for marine mammals, such as cetaceans. In addition to their use in a research setting, immune assays could be employed to monitor the health status of cetaceans and serve as an adjunct to available diagnostic tests. Such development of specific and sensitive immune assays will enhance the proper care and stewardship of wild and managed cetacean populations...

BACKGROUND: The LBP-related attitudes and beliefs of clinicians may impact the experience of patients by influencing clinician decision-making and by shaping the attitudes, beliefs, and actions of patients. The purpose of this study was to identify the specific LBP-related attitudes and beliefs of US-based physical therapists and determine if those beliefs correlate with clinical decision-making. METHODS: An electronic survey was sent to US-based physical therapists...

When modeling the dynamics of infectious disease, the incorporation of contact network information allows for the capture of the non-randomness and heterogeneity of realistic contact patterns. Oftentimes, it is assumed that the underlying contact pattern is known with perfect certainty. However, in realistic settings, the observed data often serves as an imperfect proxy of the actual contact patterns in the population. Furthermore, the epidemic in the real world are often not fully observed; event times such as infection and recovery times may be missing...

BACKGROUND: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most common sleep-related breathing disorder characterized by repetitive collapse of the upper airway during sleep. However, little evidence is available on the differences between the sub-regions of the upper airway morphology and OSA severity. Since orthodontists frequently perform cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) in the neck area, we aimed to investigate the relationship and the differences between upper airway morphology and OSA severity using CBCT...

The striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) is a medium-sized pelagic dolphin with a single external nasal opening (blowhole) located in the rostral and dorsal regions of the skull. The nasal cavity is divided into three sections: the olfactory, respiratory, and vestibular areas. The surface epithelium lining the regio vestibularis is the first tissue in the nose to be directly affected by environmental antigens. Cetaceans have a significant amount of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) located throughout their bodies...

Oceanic delphinids that occur in and around Navy operational areas are regularly exposed to intense military sonar broadcast within the frequency range of their hearing. However, empirically measuring the impact of sonar on the behavior of highly social, free-ranging dolphins is challenging. Additionally, baseline variability or the frequency of vocal state-switching among social oceanic dolphins during undisturbed conditions is lacking, making it difficult to attribute changes in vocal behavior to anthropogenic disturbance...

The vomeronasal organ (VNO) is a part of the accessory olfactory system, which detects pheromones and chemical factors that trigger a spectrum of sexual and social behaviors. The vomeronasal epithelium (VNE) shares several features with the epithelium of the main olfactory epithelium (MOE). However, it is a distinct neuroepithelium populated by chemosensory neurons that differ from the olfactory sensory neurons in cellular structure, receptor expression, and connectivity. The vomeronasal organ of rodents comprises a sensory epithelium (SE) and a thin non-sensory epithelium (NSE) that morphologically resembles the respiratory epithelium...

The Guiana dolphin (Sotalia guianensis) is a common species along Central and South American coastal waters. Although much effort has been made to understand its behavioral ecology and evolution, very little is known about its brain. The use of ultra-high field MRI in anatomical descriptions of cetacean brains is a very promising approach that is still uncommon. In this study, we present for the first time a full anatomical description of the Guiana dolphin's brain based on high-resolution ultra-high-field magnetic resonance imaging, providing an exceptional level of brain anatomical details, and enriching our understanding of the species...

Cetacean poxvirus (CePV) is the causative agent of tattoo skin disease (TSD) in dolphins, porpoises and whales, a condition characterized by pinhole, ring-like lesions or generalized tattoo-like skin lesions. This study genetically characterized cetacean poxviruses from stranded animals along mainland Portugal. Samples from skin lesions compatible with TSD were obtained from 4 odontocete species (Delphinus delphis, Stenella coeruleoalba, Phocoena phocoena, and Tursiops truncatus) and analyzed using a conventional PCR assay targeting the DNA polymerase gene partially...

The mammalian epidermis has evolved to protect the body in a dry environment. Genes of the epidermal differentiation complex (EDC), such as FLG (filaggrin), are implicated in the barrier function of the epidermis. Here, we investigated the molecular evolution of the EDC in sirenians (manatees and dugong), which have adapted to fully aquatic life, in comparison to the EDC of terrestrial mammals and aquatic mammals of the clade Cetacea (whales and dolphins). We show that the main subtypes of EDC genes are conserved or even duplicated, like late cornified envelope (LCE) genes of the dugong, whereas specific EDC genes have undergone inactivating mutations in sirenians...

INTRODUCTION: Use of mechanical ventilation during general anesthesia is a necessary practice in the anesthetization of small cetaceans as spontaneous ventilation fails to provide adequate gas exchange. Currently available methods of ventilation do not account for the intermittent breathing strategy of representative species within this infraorder of fully aquatic mammals and may have a significant effect on cardiac and respiratory physiology. METHODS: To understand the impact of mechanical ventilation on cardiopulmonary function in one small species of cetacean, the bottlenose dolphin ( Tursiops truncatus ), we compared controlled mechanical ventilation (CMV) to a novel ventilation method known as apneustic anesthesia ventilation (AAV)...

Since late 2021, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses of A/goose/Guangdong/1/1996 (H5N1) lineage have caused widespread mortality in wild birds and poultry in the United States. Concomitant with the spread of HPAI viruses in birds are increasing numbers of mammalian infections, including wild and captive mesocarnivores and carnivores with central nervous system involvement. Here we report HPAI, A(H5N1) of clade 2.3.4.4b, in a common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) from Florida, United States...

Passive acoustic monitoring has improved our understanding of vocalizing organisms in remote habitats and during all weather conditions. Many vocally active species are highly mobile, and their populations overlap. However, distinct vocalizations allow the tracking and discrimination of individuals or populations. Using signature whistles, the individually distinct calls of bottlenose dolphins, we calculated a minimum abundance of individuals, characterized and compared signature whistles from five locations, and determined reoccurrences of individuals throughout the Mid-Atlantic Bight and Chesapeake Bay, USA...

A quarter of marine mammals are at risk of extinction, with disease and poor habitat quality contributing to population decline. Investigation of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) provides insight into species' capacity to respond to immune and environmental challenges. The eighteen available cetacean chromosome level genomes were used to annotate MHC Class I loci, and to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationship of the described loci. The highest number of loci was observed in the striped dolphin ( Stenella coeruleoalba ), while the least was observed in the pygmy sperm whale ( Kogia breviceps ) and rough toothed dolphin ( Steno bredanensis )...