Specificity of Stenurus (Metastrongyloidea: Pseudaliidae) infections in odontocetes stranded along the north-west Spanish coast

• Published in: International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife
• Main Authors: Saldaña Ruíz, Ana, López Sández, Ceferino Manuel, López Fernández, Alfredo, Covelo Figueiredo, Pablo, Remesar Alonso, Susana, Martínez Calabuig, Néstor, García Dios, David, Díaz Fernández, Pablo, Morrondo Pelayo, María Patrocinio, Díez Baños, Pablo, Panadero Fontán, Rosario
• Other Authors: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela. Departamento de Patoloxía Animal
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier
• Subjects: Cetacean; Odontocetes; Parasites; Stenurus; Strandings; Galician coast; Northeast Atlantic; Phocoena phocoena
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10347/29405; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2022.09.002

Parasites extracted from the lungs and the pterygoid sinus complex of 6 species of odontocetes stranded along the north-west Spanish coast (Northeast Atlantic) between 2009 and 2019 were morphologically identified. The samples belonged to 14 specimens, including 3 harbour porpoises, Phocoena phocoena, 6 short-finned pilot whales, Globicephala macrorhynchus, 1 long-finned pilot whale, Globicephala melas, 1 Risso's dolphin, Grampus griseus, 1 striped dolphin, Stenella coeruleoalba and 2 bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus. All animals (14/14) were infected by nematodes of the genus Stenurus spp.; moreover, two of them presented a mixed lung nematode infection by Stenurus spp. and Halocercus spp., and another two a mixed infection by Stenurus spp. and the trematode Nasitrema spp. in the pterygoid sinuses. The morphological characterization of the Stenurus specimens revealed the existence of three different species: Stenurus minor, present in the pterygoid sinuses of harbour porpoises with a mean intensity of 43.0 ± 9.0; Stenurus globicephalae, in the pterygoid sinuses of pilot whales and the Risso's dolphin (370.3 ± 579.4); and Stenurus ovatus infecting bottlenose and striped dolphins’ lungs (47.7 ± 76.5). This is the first citation of S. minor and S. ovatus in odontoceti from the Galician coast. Nematodes of the genus Stenurus are frequent in odontocetes stranded along the north-west Spanish coast. A clear host-parasite association was observed between S. minor and the Phocoenidae family, between S. globicephalae and the subfamily Globicephalinae and between S. ovatus and subfamily Delphininae. Different trophic position and niche segregation may lead to different patterns of specificity SI