In January 1998 and 1999, two mass strandings of dolphins occurred in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. The strandings were composed of 97 and 53 animals, respectively. Tissues from 35 Atlantic white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus acutus) from the 1998 stranding and 52 from the 1999 stranding were examined histologically. In the 1998 stranding, unidentified protozoal tissue cysts were seen in skeletal muscle from 11 of 28 (39%) dolphins. In addition, two dolphins had a protozoal tissue cyst in cardiac muscle. In the 1999 stranding, nine of 23 (39%) dolphins had the same protozoal tissue cysts in skeletal muscle. The identification of these protozoal tissue cysts as Sarcocystis sp. was confirmed by light and transmission electron microscopy. The high prevalence of sarcocysts in these dolphins suggests that they are likely intermediate hosts for previously undescribed Sarcocystis spp. The ultrastructure of the sarcocyst walls suggests that more than one species of Sarcocystis are present in dolphins.
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Research Article|
April 01 2002
PREVALENCE OF SARCOCYSTIS SP. IN STRANDED ATLANTIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHINS (LAGENORHYNCHUS ACUTUS)
Ruth Ewing;
Ruth Ewing
8
1 University of Miami School of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Division of Comparative Pathology, 1600 NW 10th Avenue, Room 7101A, Miami, Florida 33136, USA
2 NOAA, National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Miami, Florida 33149, USA
8 Corresponding author: (e-mail: Ruth.Ewing@noaa.gov)
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Julia Zaias;
Julia Zaias
1 University of Miami School of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Division of Comparative Pathology, 1600 NW 10th Avenue, Room 7101A, Miami, Florida 33136, USA
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M. Andrew Stamper;
M. Andrew Stamper
3 New England Aquarium, Central Wharf, Boston, Massachusetts 02110, USA
4 Current address: EPCOT, The Living Seas, EC TRL W-251, P.O. Box 10,000 Lake Buena Vista, Florida 32830, USA
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Gregory D. Bossart;
Gregory D. Bossart
5 Miami Seaquarium, 4400 Rickenbacker CSWY, Miami, Florida 33149, USA
6 Current address: Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Division of Marine Mammal Research and Conservation, 5600 US 1 North, Fort Pierce, Florida 34946, USA
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J. P. Dubey
J. P. Dubey
7 USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Parasite Biology, Epidemiology and Systematics Laboratory, BARC-East, Beltsville, Maryland 20705, USA
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J Wildl Dis (2002) 38 (2): 291–296.
Article history
Received:
September 23 2000
Citation
Ruth Ewing, Julia Zaias, M. Andrew Stamper, Gregory D. Bossart, J. P. Dubey; PREVALENCE OF SARCOCYSTIS SP. IN STRANDED ATLANTIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHINS (LAGENORHYNCHUS ACUTUS). J Wildl Dis 1 April 2002; 38 (2): 291–296. doi: https://doi.org/10.7589/0090-3558-38.2.291
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