engleski

Three Anisakis spp. isolated from toothed whales stranded in the Eastern Adriatic Sea coast

Knowledge on cetacean ecology in the Mediterranean is still limited to enable a sustainable planning and enforcement of appropriate conservation measures, therefore any information that might contribute to better understanding of their ecology is essential. We explored population and genetic structure of nematode Anisakis spp. isolated from 4 toothed whale species: bottlenose (Tursiops truncatus), striped (Stenella coeruleoalba), Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus) and Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris) stranded in the Eastern Adriatic Sea (1990 - 2012), in order to reveal more information on host ecological patterns. Lower parasite prevalence was observed in resident dolphin species compared to occasionally occurring, as well as in young compared to adult dolphins, indicating different feeding habits related to age. No unequivocal relationship between host’s biological traits (age, body length, body mass and blubber depth) and Anisakis population parameters was observed. Phylogenetic analysis revealed new geographical record of A. simplex sensu stricto (1.96%) and A. physeteris (1.31%) in the Adriatic Sea, in addition to resident A. pegreffii (96.73%). Assessment of the Adriatic and World’s oceans Anisakis genetic structure revealed that A. pegreffii populations do not differ among various final host species, but do differ in respect to geographic location, in contrast to previously accepted Anisakis panmixia.

Adriatic Sea; Anisakis spp.; genetic divergence; population; stranded whales

nije evidentirano