title: Three Anisakis spp. isolated from toothed whales stranded along the eastern Adriatic Sea coast.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, 21000 Split, Croatia.
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Blažeković
authors.affiliation: Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, 21000 Split, Croatia.
authors.forename: Ivana Lepen
authors.initials: IL
authors.lastname: Pleić
authors.affiliation: University of Zagreb, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Đuras
authors.affiliation: University of Zagreb, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Tomislav
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gomerčić
authors.affiliation: Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, 21000 Split, Croatia. Electronic address: mladineo@izor.hr.
authors.forename: Ivona
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mladineo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017129:Anisakiasis / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D017163:Anisakis / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D058974:Phylogeography; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014907:Whales / Q000469:parasitology*
chemical_list: D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV
keywords: Adriatic Sea; Anisakis spp.; Genetic divergence; Population; Stranded whales