A Comparative Study of Mini-FLOTAC With Traditional Coprological Techniques in the Analysis of Cetacean Fecal Samples
Free-ranging cetaceans are considered sentinels for the marine ecosystem's health. New and non-invasive methods have been set up for the collection of fecal samples from free-ranging big whales at sea, permitting to gain an excellent epidemiological picture of parasitic infections in wild popul...
Published in: | Frontiers in Veterinary Science |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.908486 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2022.908486/full |
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crfrontiers:10.3389/fvets.2022.908486 2024-02-11T10:02:21+01:00 A Comparative Study of Mini-FLOTAC With Traditional Coprological Techniques in the Analysis of Cetacean Fecal Samples Marcer, Federica Cassini, Rudi Parisotto, Nancy Tessarin, Cinzia Marchiori, Erica 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.908486 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2022.908486/full unknown Frontiers Media SA https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Frontiers in Veterinary Science volume 9 ISSN 2297-1769 General Veterinary journal-article 2022 crfrontiers https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.908486 2024-01-26T09:58:03Z Free-ranging cetaceans are considered sentinels for the marine ecosystem's health. New and non-invasive methods have been set up for the collection of fecal samples from free-ranging big whales at sea, permitting to gain an excellent epidemiological picture of parasitic infections in wild populations. To select the best protocol to be used for copromicroscopic examination in cetaceans stool samples, we evaluated the sensitivity of two commonly used techniques, i.e., a sedimentation-floatation method and the Mini-FLOTAC through validation by helminth isolation from the digestive tract. For this aim, gastrointestinal content and fecal samples were collected during necropsy from 44 cetaceans, including bottlenose dolphins ( Tursiops truncatus ), striped dolphins ( Stenella coeruleoalba ), sperm whales ( Physeter macrocephalus ), Risso's dolphins ( Grampus griseus ), Cuvier's beaked whales ( Ziphius cavirostris ), pilot whale ( Globicephala melas ), and fin whales ( Balaenoptera physalus ). Helminths were recovered through washing and filtering of the gastrointestinal contents and morphologically identified. Copromicroscopic examinations were performed on formalin-preserved fecal samples, using a sodium nitrate, sodium thiosulphate, and sucrose solution (s.g. = 1.450) for both methods. Helminths belonging to 9 taxa (i.e., the trematodes Synthesium tursionis, Synthesium delamurei, Campula palliata, Braunina cordiformis, Pholeter gastrophilus , the nematode Anisakis sp., cestodes of the family Tetrabothriidae and the acanthocephalan Bolbosoma sp.) were isolated. Eggs referable to the same taxa, with the exception of cestodes, were found in copromicroscopic analyses. Sensitivity of the Mini-FLOTAC method appeared higher or equal for all taxa, proving superior to the sedimentation-flotation method for the detection of all except Anisakis sp. The concordance of the two tests indeed revealed a moderate to perfect agreement ( kappa values 0.42–1). Not excluding the limitations inherent to the techniques themselves, ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Balaenoptera physalus Physeter macrocephalus Frontiers (Publisher) Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9 |
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Frontiers (Publisher) |
op_collection_id |
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unknown |
topic |
General Veterinary |
spellingShingle |
General Veterinary Marcer, Federica Cassini, Rudi Parisotto, Nancy Tessarin, Cinzia Marchiori, Erica A Comparative Study of Mini-FLOTAC With Traditional Coprological Techniques in the Analysis of Cetacean Fecal Samples |
topic_facet |
General Veterinary |
description |
Free-ranging cetaceans are considered sentinels for the marine ecosystem's health. New and non-invasive methods have been set up for the collection of fecal samples from free-ranging big whales at sea, permitting to gain an excellent epidemiological picture of parasitic infections in wild populations. To select the best protocol to be used for copromicroscopic examination in cetaceans stool samples, we evaluated the sensitivity of two commonly used techniques, i.e., a sedimentation-floatation method and the Mini-FLOTAC through validation by helminth isolation from the digestive tract. For this aim, gastrointestinal content and fecal samples were collected during necropsy from 44 cetaceans, including bottlenose dolphins ( Tursiops truncatus ), striped dolphins ( Stenella coeruleoalba ), sperm whales ( Physeter macrocephalus ), Risso's dolphins ( Grampus griseus ), Cuvier's beaked whales ( Ziphius cavirostris ), pilot whale ( Globicephala melas ), and fin whales ( Balaenoptera physalus ). Helminths were recovered through washing and filtering of the gastrointestinal contents and morphologically identified. Copromicroscopic examinations were performed on formalin-preserved fecal samples, using a sodium nitrate, sodium thiosulphate, and sucrose solution (s.g. = 1.450) for both methods. Helminths belonging to 9 taxa (i.e., the trematodes Synthesium tursionis, Synthesium delamurei, Campula palliata, Braunina cordiformis, Pholeter gastrophilus , the nematode Anisakis sp., cestodes of the family Tetrabothriidae and the acanthocephalan Bolbosoma sp.) were isolated. Eggs referable to the same taxa, with the exception of cestodes, were found in copromicroscopic analyses. Sensitivity of the Mini-FLOTAC method appeared higher or equal for all taxa, proving superior to the sedimentation-flotation method for the detection of all except Anisakis sp. The concordance of the two tests indeed revealed a moderate to perfect agreement ( kappa values 0.42–1). Not excluding the limitations inherent to the techniques themselves, ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Marcer, Federica Cassini, Rudi Parisotto, Nancy Tessarin, Cinzia Marchiori, Erica |
author_facet |
Marcer, Federica Cassini, Rudi Parisotto, Nancy Tessarin, Cinzia Marchiori, Erica |
author_sort |
Marcer, Federica |
title |
A Comparative Study of Mini-FLOTAC With Traditional Coprological Techniques in the Analysis of Cetacean Fecal Samples |
title_short |
A Comparative Study of Mini-FLOTAC With Traditional Coprological Techniques in the Analysis of Cetacean Fecal Samples |
title_full |
A Comparative Study of Mini-FLOTAC With Traditional Coprological Techniques in the Analysis of Cetacean Fecal Samples |
title_fullStr |
A Comparative Study of Mini-FLOTAC With Traditional Coprological Techniques in the Analysis of Cetacean Fecal Samples |
title_full_unstemmed |
A Comparative Study of Mini-FLOTAC With Traditional Coprological Techniques in the Analysis of Cetacean Fecal Samples |
title_sort |
comparative study of mini-flotac with traditional coprological techniques in the analysis of cetacean fecal samples |
publisher |
Frontiers Media SA |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.908486 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2022.908486/full |
genre |
Balaenoptera physalus Physeter macrocephalus |
genre_facet |
Balaenoptera physalus Physeter macrocephalus |
op_source |
Frontiers in Veterinary Science volume 9 ISSN 2297-1769 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.908486 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Veterinary Science |
container_volume |
9 |
_version_ |
1790598289334206464 |