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Macro-elements K, Na, Cl, Mg, and Ca in body tissues of false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) from the Southern Ocean

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Abstract

Macro-elements such as potassium (K), sodium (Na), chlorine (Cl), magnesium (Mg), and calcium (Ca) are essential in marine mammals’ nutrition. These elements are involved in physiological processes. Upon consumption, they are assimilated and accumulate in tissues. For the first time, they were detected in lung, spleen, liver, kidney, muscle, uterus, ovary, and testis of 5, and in skin of 12, stranded false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) in sub-Antarctic waters of the South Atlantic Ocean. Results showed that testis reached the highest potassium mean concentration, 1.62 (0.25) wt% dry weight (DW) (standard deviation in parentheses), followed by muscle, 1.11 (0.12) wt% DW, and decreasing in skin to 0.351 (0.098) wt% DW. Testis and lung exhibited among the highest sodium concentrations, with 0.96 (0.20) and 0.93 (0.18) wt% DW, respectively. Chlorine concentration was highest in testis, (1.55 wt% DW) followed by uterus (1.26 wt% DW) and kidney [1.13 (0.16) wt% DW]. Magnesium reached higher concentrations in uterus (0.134 wt% DW) and muscle [0.109 (0.054) wt% DW]. Calcium was higher in lung [0.230 (0.05) wt% DW] and kidney (0.149; 0.294 wt% DW). Hepatic levels of K, Na, Cl, and Mg in false killer whales are generally within the range of other studied species, while Ca levels are the highest reported. Macro-element concentration ranges were established for diverse tissues and organs of the false killer whale as the current best available baseline reference values for assessments of general condition.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all the volunteers, veterinarians, and marine biologists for their assistance during field necropsies at Susana Cove, Estrecho de Magallanes, Chile. Our appreciation is extended to the officers of Armada de Chile, SERNAPESCA, and Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Chile. This research was approved by the Secretaría de Gobierno de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable de la Nación, Argentina (license no. 2680428/16). All samples of the species were imported from Punta Arenas, Chile to Buenos Aries, Argentina under CITES no. 16CL000003WS permission. We are grateful to Juan Jose Alava, PhD (Faculty of Science, The University of British Columbia, Canada) for language revision and other recommendations. Special thanks to Prof. Maria del Carmen Ferreiro for English editing of this manuscript. We thank anonymous reviewers, Dulcinea Groff, PhD, and the responsible editor, who provided helpful comments for the refinement of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”, Avenida Ángel Gallardo 470, C1405DJR, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Iris Cáceres-Saez & H. Luis Cappozzo

  2. Centro Bahía Lomas, Universidad Santo Tomas, Avenida Costanera, 01834, Punta Arenas, Chile

    Daniela Haro

  3. Clínica Veterinaria Timaukel y Centro de Rehabilitación de Aves Leñadura (CRAL), José Pithon, 01316, Punta Arenas, Chile

    Olivia Blank

  4. Instituto Antártico Chileno (INACH), Plaza Muñoz Gamero 1055, Punta Arenas, Chile

    Anelio Aguayo-Lobo

  5. Wildlife Conservation Society, Balmaceda 586, Punta Arenas, Chile

    Catherine Dougnac & Cristóbal Arredondo

  6. Tarukari, Non-government Organization, Santiago, Chile

    Cristóbal Arredondo

  7. Laboratorio de Análisis por Activación Neutrónica, Centro Atómico Bariloche, Av. E. Bustillo 8500, Bariloche, Argentina

    Sergio Ribeiro Guevara

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  1. Iris Cáceres-Saez
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Contributions

ICS and SRG: investigation, conceptualization, and study design; ICS, DHD, OB, CD, and CA: methodology in the field, cetacean necropsies, and sample collection; SRG, OB and AGL: laboratory and logistical resources. ICS and DHD: sample conditioning and processing in the laboratory; SRG: analytical method conduction; ICS and SRG: data processing and writing original draft; ICS, DHD, OB, CD, CA, AAL, HLC, and SRG: visualization, writing review, and editing the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Iris Cáceres-Saez.

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Cáceres-Saez, I., Haro, D., Blank, O. et al. Macro-elements K, Na, Cl, Mg, and Ca in body tissues of false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) from the Southern Ocean. Polar Biol 45, 537–548 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-022-03012-9

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