Endo- and ectoparasites of large whales (Cetartiodactyla: Balaenopteridae, Physeteridae): Overcoming difficulties in obtaining appropriate samples by non- and minimally-invasive methods

Autor: Hermosilla, C.; Silva, L.M.R.; Rui, P.; Kleinertz, S.; Taubert, A.; Silva, M.A.
In:

International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife
Parasites and Wildlife
Bandangabe: 3
Auflage: 4
ISBN: 2213-2244
DOI: dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2015.11.002
Seite: 414 - 420
Jahr: 2015

Einordung:
Institut: Professur Aquakultur und Sea-Ranching

Abstract:
Baleen and sperm whales, belonging to the Order Cetartiodactyla, are the largest and heaviest existent
mammals in the world, collectively known as large whales. Large whales have been subjected to a variety
of conservation means, which could be better monitored and managed if physiological and pathophysiological
information, such as pathogen infections, could already be gathered from free-swimming
animals instead of carcasses. Parasitic diseases are increasingly recognized for their profound influences
on individual, population, and even ecosystem health. Furthermore, a number of parasite species have
gained importance as opportunistic neozoan infections in the marine environment. Nonetheless, traditional
approaches to study parasitic diseases have been impractical for large whales, since there is no
current routine method for the capture and handling of these large animals and there is presently no
practical method to obtain blood samples remotely from free-ranging whales. Therefore, we here not
only intend to review the endo- and ectoparasite fauna of large whales but also to provide new insights
in current available methods for gathering parasitological data by using non- or minimally invasive
sampling techniques. We focus on methods, which will allow detailed parasitological studies to gain a
broader knowledge on parasitoses affecting wild, free-swimming large whale populations.
© 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Australian Society for Parasitology. This is an
open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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