Abstract
We report for the first time the infection of dolphins with Ascocotyle longa found in the intestines of three different species, Sotalia guianensis, Steno bredanensis, and Tursiops truncatus gephyreus, which were found washed ashore along the southeastern and southern Brazilian coast. The worms were identified based on morphological and molecular data using the 28S rDNA gene and the COI gene. Specimens of A. longa from the pinniped Otaria flavescens were also analyzed. As the first isolation of A. longa from cetaceans, the present study increases the distribution area and range of definitive hosts of this trematode, and provides new molecular data to complement the phylogeny of the group in future studies, thus contributing to the scientific knowledge of this potentially zoonotic parasite.
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Data availability
Permission to collect and transport deceived stranded dolphins was given by the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) under registration 11980-1 (SISBIO) and 5820094 (ABIO).
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Acknowledgments
We wish to thank IPeC, UNIVILLE, and UDESC along with their staff for providing samples. Thanks to A. A. Acosta for the language revision. The samples analyzed here were obtained through the Beach Monitoring Project at the Santos Basin (PMP/BS), which is a requirement established by the federal environmental licensing division of the Brazilian Environmental Agency (IBAMA), for the exploration of oil and gas at the Santos Basin pre-salt province by Petrobras.
Funding
M.B.E held scholarship grants from CNPq (140873/2017-1) and CAPES (88881.189606/2018-01). R.J.S. was supported by CNPq (309125/2017-0), CNPq-PROTAX (440496/2015-2), and FAPESP (2016/50377-1). M.J.C thanks CNPq for a research productivity scholarship (10477/2017-4). Additional financial support was provided by Fundo de Apoio à Pesquisa (FAP/UNIVILLE).
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MBE and RJS designed the study; MBE, ALSV, MJC, and PVC collected the data; MBE performed the research; MBE and MF analyzed the data; MBE and MF wrote the manuscript; MBE, MF, ALSV, MJC, and PVC revised and approved the final manuscript.
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Ebert, M.B., Fernández, M., Valente, A.L.S. et al. Ascocotyle longa (Digenea: Heterophyidae) infecting dolphins from the Atlantic Ocean. Parasitol Res 120, 347–353 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-020-06956-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-020-06956-1