Three Anisakis spp. isolated from toothed whales stranded along the eastern Adriatic Sea coast

• Published in: International journal for parasitology Vol. 45; no. 1; pp. 17 - 31
• Main Authors: Blažeković, Kristina, Lepen Pleić, Ivana, Đuras, Martina, Gomerčić, Tomislav, Mladineo, Ivona
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-01-2015
• Subjects: Adriatic Sea; Animals; Anisakiasis - parasitology; Anisakiasis - veterinary; Anisakis; Anisakis - classification; Anisakis - genetics; Anisakis - isolation & purification; Anisakis physeteris; Anisakis simplex; Anisakis spp; Electron Transport Complex IV - genetics; Female; Genetic divergence; Grampus griseus; Male; Marine; Mediterranean Sea; Molecular Sequence Data; Nematoda; Phylogeography; Population; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Stenella coeruleoalba; Stranded whales; Tursiops truncatus; Whales - parasitology; Ziphius cavirostris; Mediterranean Sea; MED, Adriatic Sea; Stranded whales; Population; Anisakis spp; Adriatic Sea; Genetic divergence
• ISSN: 0020-7519; 1879-0135
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2014.07.012

•Anisakis pegreffii is the most abundant anisakid (96.73%) in toothed whales.•Anisakis simplex s. s. and Anisakis physeteris are newly recorded in the Adriatic Sea.•The A. pegreffii population was not panmictic at a global level.•No distinctive pattern was noticed between host and parasite ecological traits.
Knowledge concerning cetacean ecology in the Mediterranean is limited but important for sustainable planning and enforcement of appropriate conservation measures. Any information that might help to elucidate their ecology is essential. We explored the population and genetic structures of Anisakis spp. nematodes isolated from four toothed whale species – bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba), Risso’s dolphins (Grampus griseus) and Cuvier’s beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) – stranded along the eastern Adriatic Sea coast (1990–2012) to reveal more information on host ecological patterns. Lower parasite prevalence was observed in resident dolphin species compared with occasionally occurring species, as well as in young compared with adult dolphins, indicating different feeding habits related to age. No unequivocal relationship between the biological traits of a host (age, body length, body mass and blubber depth) and Anisakis population parameters was observed. Phylogenetic analysis revealed a new geographical record of Anisakis simplex sensu stricto (1.96%) and Anisakis physeteris (1.31%) in the Adriatic Sea in addition to resident Anisakis pegreffii (96.73%). In an assessment of the Adriatic Sea and oceans worldwide, the genetic structure of Anisakis revealed that A. pegreffii populations do not differ among various final host species but do differ with respect to geographical location in contrast to previously accepted Anisakis panmixia.