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Siebert U, Grilo ML, Kesselring T, Lehnert K, Ronnenberg K, Pawliczka I, Galatius A, Kyhn LA, Dähne M, Gilles A. Variation of blubber thickness for three marine mammal species in the southern Baltic Sea. Front Physiol 2022; 13:880465. [PMID: 36505079 PMCID: PMC9726720 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.880465] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2022] [Accepted: 11/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Evaluating populational trends of health condition has become an important topic for marine mammal populations under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). In the Baltic Sea, under the recommendation of Helsinki Commission (HELCOM), efforts have been undertaken to use blubber thickness as an indicator of energy reserves in marine mammals. Current values lack geographical representation from the entire Baltic Sea area and a large dataset is only available for grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) from Sweden and Finland. Knowledge on variation of blubber thickness related to geography throughout the Baltic Sea is important for its usage as an indicator. Such evaluation can provide important information about the energy reserves, and hence, food availability. It is expected that methodological standardization under HELCOM should include relevant datasets with good geographical coverage that can also account for natural variability in the resident marine mammal populations. In this study, seasonal and temporal trends of blubber thickness were evaluated for three marine mammal species-harbor seal (Phoca vitulina), grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) and harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)-resident in the southern Baltic Sea collected and investigated under stranding networks. Additionally, the effects of age, season and sex were analyzed. Seasonal variation of blubber thickness was evident for all species, with harbor seals presenting more pronounced effects in adults and grey seals and harbor porpoises presenting more pronounced effects in juveniles. For harbor seals and porpoises, fluctuations were present over the years included in the analysis. In the seal species, blubber thickness values were generally higher in males. In harbor seals and porpoises, blubber thickness values differed between the age classes: while adult harbor seals displayed thicker blubber layers than juveniles, the opposite was observed for harbor porpoises. Furthermore, while an important initial screening tool, blubber thickness assessment cannot be considered a valid methodology for overall health assessment in marine mammals and should be complemented with data on specific health parameters developed for each species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ursula Siebert
- Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW), University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover Foundation, Büsum, Germany,*Correspondence: Ursula Siebert,
| | - Miguel L. Grilo
- MARE—Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, ISPA—Instituto Universitário de Ciências Psicológicas, Sociais e da Vida, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Tina Kesselring
- Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW), University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover Foundation, Büsum, Germany
| | - Kristina Lehnert
- Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW), University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover Foundation, Büsum, Germany
| | - Katrin Ronnenberg
- Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW), University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover Foundation, Büsum, Germany
| | - Iwona Pawliczka
- Department of Oceanography and Geography, Krzysztof Skóra Hel Marine Station, University of Gdansk, Hel, Poland
| | - Anders Galatius
- Marine Mammal Research, Institute of Ecoscience, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Line A. Kyhn
- Marine Mammal Research, Institute of Ecoscience, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark
| | | | - Anita Gilles
- Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW), University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover Foundation, Büsum, Germany
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Volokhov DV, Zagorodnyaya TA, Shen Z, Blom J, Furtak VA, Eisenberg T, Fan P, Jeong KC, Gao Y, Zhang S, Amselle M. Streptococcus vicugnae sp. nov., isolated from faeces of alpacas ( Vicugna pacos) and cattle ( Bos taurus), Streptococcus zalophi sp. nov., and Streptococcus pacificus sp. nov., isolated from respiratory tract of California sea lions ( Zalophus californianus). Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2021; 71. [PMID: 33999792 DOI: 10.1099/ijsem.0.004826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Four novel independent strains of Streptococcus spp. were isolated from faeces of alpaca (SL1232T), cattle (KCJ4950), and from respiratory tract of wild California sea lions (CSL7508T, CSL7591T). The strains were indole-, oxidase- and catalase-negative, non-spore-forming, non-motile Gram-positive cocci in short and long chains, facultative anaerobes. The 16S rRNA gene of SL1232T and KCJ4950 shared 99.40-99.60% nucleotide similarity to strains of S. equinus, S. lutetiensis, S. infantarius, and the 16S rRNA gene of CSL7508T and CSL7591T demonstrated 98.72 and 98.92% similarity, respectively, to S. marimammalium. All other known Streptococcus species had the 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities of ≤95%. The genomes were sequenced for the novel strains. Average nucleotide identity (ANI) analysis for strains SL1232T and KCJ4950, showed the highest similarity to S. equinus, S. lutetiensis, and S. infantarius with 85.21, 87.17, 88.47, 85.54, 87.47 and 88.89%, respectively, and strains CSL7508T and CSL7591T to S. marimammalium with 87.16 and 83.97%, respectively. Results of ANI were confirmed by pairwise digital DNA-DNA hybridization and phylogeny, which also revealed that the strains belong to three novel species of the genus Streptococcus. Phenotypical features of the novel species were in congruence with closely related members of the genus Streptococcus and gave negative reactions with the tested Lancefield serological groups (A-D, F and G). MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry supported identification of the species. Based on these data, we propose three novel species of the genus Streptococcus, for which the name Streptococcus vicugnae sp. nov. is proposed with the type strain SL1232T (=NCTC 14341T=DSM 110741T=CCUG 74371T), Streptococcus zalophi sp. nov. is proposed with the type strain CSL7508T (=NCTC 14410T=DSM 110742T=CCUG 74374T) and Streptococcus pacificus sp. nov. is proposed with the type strain CSL7591T (=NCTC 14455T=DSM 111148T=CCUG 74655T). The genome G+C content is 36.89, 34.85, and 35.34 % and draft genome sizes are 1906993, 1581094 and 1656080 bp for strains SL1232T, CSL7508T, and CSL7591T, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dmitriy V Volokhov
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA
| | - Tatiana A Zagorodnyaya
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA
| | - Zhenyu Shen
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Missouri, 901 East Campus Loop, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
| | - Jochen Blom
- Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Heinrich Buff Ring 58, 35392, Giessen, Germany
| | - Vyacheslav A Furtak
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA
| | - Tobias Eisenberg
- Institute of Hygiene and Infectious Diseases of Animals, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Frankfurter Strasse 89-91, 35392 Giessen, Germany.,Hessian State Laboratory (LHL), Department of Veterinary Medicine, Schubertstrasse 60, 35392, Giessen, Germany
| | - Peixin Fan
- Department of Animal Sciences, Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, 2055 Mowry Road, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Kwangcheol Casey Jeong
- Department of Animal Sciences, Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, 2055 Mowry Road, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Yamei Gao
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA
| | - Shuping Zhang
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Missouri, 901 East Campus Loop, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
| | - Megan Amselle
- American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), 10801 University Blvd., Manassas, VA 20110, USA
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