title: Metazoan parasites of cetaceans off the northeastern coast of Brazil.
abstract: This study represents the first survey of the parasitic fauna of cetaceans off the northeastern coast of Brazil. Parasites were collected from 82 animals rescued from the states of Ceará to Bahia, including the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha. A total of 14 species of cetaceans were evaluated: Sotalia guianensis, Stenella sp., Stenella clymene, Stenella longirostris, Stenella coeruleoalba, Stenella frontalis, Megaptera novaeangliae, Peponocephala electra, Steno bredanensis, Kogia breviceps, Kogia sima, Globicephala macrorhynchus, Tursiops truncatus, Physeter macrocephalus and Lagenodelphis hosei. The parasites were fixed and preserved in 70% ethanol or alcohol-formalin-acetic acid solution (AFA), clarified in phenol and mounted on slides for morphological identification. In total, 11 species and 8 genera of endo- and ectoparasites were identified: Halocercus brasiliensis, Halocercus kleinenbergi, Stenurus globicephalae, Halocercus sp., Anisakis sp., Crassicauda sp. (Nematoda), Phyllobothrium delphini, Monorygma grimaldii, Scolex pleuronectis, Strobicephalus triangularis, Tetrabothrius forsteri, Tetrabothrius sp., Trigonocotyle sp., Diphyllobothrium sp. (Cestoda), Campula sp. (Trematoda), Bolbosoma sp. (Acanthocephala), Cyamus boopis, Syncyamus pseudorcae and Xenobalanus globicipitis (Crustacea). The identification of some species represented novel records for the country and increased the occurrence of some parasites to new hosts. The use of standardized methodologies for collecting and evaluating a larger number of animals is essential for a better understanding of host-parasite relationships in cetaceans and their use as biological indicators in the region.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Veterinárias, Universidade Estadual do Ceará, Faculdade de Veterinaria, Av. Paranjana, 1700, Campus do Itaperi, Fortaleza, Ceará CEP 60740-913, Brazil.
authors.forename: Vitor Luz
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.forename: Claudia Maria Leal
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Bevilaqua
authors.forename: Alena Mayo
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Iñiguez
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mathews-Cascon
authors.forename: Felipe Bezerra
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: Lourdes Marina Bezerra
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Pessoa
authors.forename: Ana Carolina Oliveira
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: de Meirelles
authors.forename: João Carlos Gomes
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Borges
authors.forename: Juliana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Marigo
authors.forename: Laiza
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Soares
authors.forename: Flávio José
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: de Lima Silva
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001267:Atlantic Ocean / Q000453:epidemiology; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002589:Cestoda; D002591:Cetacea; D003445:Crustacea; D004478:Ectoparasitic Infestations / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D006374:Helminthiasis, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D008297:Male; D009348:Nematoda; D014200:Trematoda