Hermosilla Carlos, Silva Liliana M R, Prieto Rui, Kleinertz Sonja, Taubert Anja, Silva Monica A
Institute of Parasitology, Biomedical Research Center Seltersberg, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Schubertstr. 81, 35392 Giessen, Germany.
MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre and Centre of the Institute of Marine Research (IMAR), University of the Azores, Rua Frederico Machado 4, 9901-862 Horta, Portugal.
Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildl. 2015 Nov 22;4(3):414-20. doi: 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2015.11.002. eCollection 2015 Dec.
Baleen and sperm whales, belonging to the Order Cetartiodactyla, are the largest and heaviest existent mammals in the world, collectively known as large whales. Large whales have been subjected to a variety of conservation means, which could be better monitored and managed if physiological and pathophysiological information, such as pathogen infections, could already be gathered from free-swimming animals instead of carcasses. Parasitic diseases are increasingly recognized for their profound influences on individual, population, and even ecosystem health. Furthermore, a number of parasite species have gained importance as opportunistic neozoan infections in the marine environment. Nonetheless, traditional approaches to study parasitic diseases have been impractical for large whales, since there is no current routine method for the capture and handling of these large animals and there is presently no practical method to obtain blood samples remotely from free-ranging whales. Therefore, we here not only intend to review the endo- and ectoparasite fauna of large whales but also to provide new insights in current available methods for gathering parasitological data by using non- or minimally invasive sampling techniques. We focus on methods, which will allow detailed parasitological studies to gain a broader knowledge on parasitoses affecting wild, free-swimming large whale populations.
须鲸和抹香鲸属于鲸偶蹄目，是世界上现存最大、最重的哺乳动物，统称为大型鲸类。大型鲸类已经受到了各种保护措施的保护，如果能够从自由游动的动物而非尸体上收集病原体感染等生理和病理生理信息，那么这些保护措施就能得到更好的监测和管理。寄生虫病因其对个体、种群乃至生态系统健康的深远影响而日益受到重视。此外，一些寄生虫物种作为海洋环境中的机会性新动物感染已变得越发重要。然而，传统的研究寄生虫病的方法对于大型鲸类并不实用，因为目前没有常规方法来捕获和处理这些大型动物，而且目前也没有实际可行的方法从自由放养的鲸鱼身上远程获取血液样本。因此，我们在此不仅打算回顾大型鲸类的体内和体外寄生虫区系，还打算通过使用非侵入性或微创采样技术，为当前收集寄生虫学数据的可用方法提供新的见解。我们关注的方法将使详细的寄生虫学研究能够更广泛地了解影响野生自由游动大型鲸类种群的寄生虫病。
