Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-9pm4c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-28T21:59:56.432Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Biological threats and environmental pollutants, a lethal mixture for mediterranean cetaceans?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2013

Giancarlo Lauriano ,
Giovanni Di Guardo ,
Letizia Marsili ,
Silvia Maltese  and
Maria Cristina Fossi
Giancarlo Lauriano*
Affiliation:
Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), Via V. Brancati 60 00144 Rome, Italy
Giovanni Di Guardo
Affiliation:
University of Teramo, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Piazza Aldo Moro, 45-64100, Teramo, Italy
Letizia Marsili
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Siena, Via P.A. Mattioli 4, 53100, Siena, Italy
Silvia Maltese
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Siena, Via P.A. Mattioli 4, 53100, Siena, Italy
Maria Cristina Fossi
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Siena, Via P.A. Mattioli 4, 53100, Siena, Italy
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: G. Lauriano, Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), Via V. Brancati 60 00144 Rome, Italy email: giancarlo.lauriano@isprambiente.it
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The possible existence of any cause–effect relationships between the concentrations of organochlorines (OCs) and the presence of Morbillivirus and Toxoplasma gondii infections was investigated in both free-living and stranded specimens of Stenella coeruleoalba, Tursiops truncatus, Globicephala melas, Balaenoptera physalus and Physeter macrocephalus from the Mediterranean Sea. High blubber concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) were recorded in free-ranging G. melas. Tissue concentrations of PCBs and DDT in stranded T. truncatus (367 lipid weight (l.w.) and 143.7 mg/kg l.w., respectively) and S. coeruleoalba (139.9 l.w.; 92.9 mg/kg l.w.) were beyond the PCB threshold value for the appearance of adverse effects in marine mammals. Evidence of T. gondii infection was molecularly detected in three S. coeruleoalba and six T. truncatus.

Keywords

environmental toxicologypollution monitoringorganochlorinesMorbillivirusToxoplasma gondiidiseasecetaceansMediterranean Sea
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 94 , Issue 6 , September 2014 , pp. 1221 - 1225
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bianchi, C.N. and Morri, C. (2000) Marine biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea: situation, problems and prospects for future research. Marine Pollution Bulletin 40, 367–376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bearzi, G., Notarbartolo di Sciara, G., Reeeves, R.R., Canadas, A. and Frantzis, A. (2004) Conservation plan for short beaked common dolphins in the Mediterranean Sea. Agreement on the conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic area. Monaco: ACCOBAMS.Google Scholar
DiGuardo, G. (2012) Morbillivirus–host interaction: lessons from aquatic mammals. Frontiers in Microbiology 3, 431.Google Scholar
Di Guardo, G., Marruchella, G., Agrimi, U. and Kennedy, S. (2005) Morbillivirus infections in aquatic mammals: a brief overview. Journal of Veterinary Medicine A 52, 88–93.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Di Guardo, G., Proietto, U., Di Francesco, C.E., Marsilio, F., Zaccaroni, A., Scaravelli, D., Mignone, W., Garibaldi, F., Kennedy, S., Forster, F., Iulini, B., Bozzetta, E. and Casalone, C. (2010) Cerebral toxoplasmosis in striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) stranded along the Ligurian Sea coast of Italy. Veterinary Pathology 47, 245–253.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fernàndez, A., Esperon, F., Herraez, P., De Los Monteros, A. E., Clavel, C., Bernabe, A., Sanchez-Vizcaino, J. M., Verborgh, P., De Stephanis, R., Toledano, F. and Bayon, A. (2008) Morbillivirus and pilot whale deaths, Mediterranean Sea. Emerging Infectious Diseases 14, 792–794.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Forcada, J., Notarbartolo di Sciara, G. and Fabbri, F. (1995) Abundance of fin whales and striped dolphins summering in the Corso-Ligurian basin. Mammalia 59, 127–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fossi, M.C., Casini, S., Bucalossi, D. and Marsili, L. (2008) First detection of CYP1A1 and CYP2B induction in Mediterranean cetacean skin biopsies and cultures fibroblasts by western blot analysis. Marine Environmental Research 66, 3–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fossi, M.C., Marsili, L.Casini, S. and Bucalossi, D. (2006) Development of new-tools to investigate toxicological hazard due to endocrine disruptor organochlorines and emerging contaminants in Mediterranean cetaceans. Marine Environmental Research 62, 200–204.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kannan, K., Blankenship, A.L., Jones, P.D. and Giesy, G.P. (2000) Toxicity reference values for the toxic effects of polychlorinated biphenyls to aquatic mammals. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment 6, 181–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keck, N., Kwiatek, O., Dhermain, F., Dupraz, F., Boulet, H., Danes, C., Laprie, C., Perrin, A., Godenir, J., Micout, L. and Libeau, G. (2010) Resurgence of Morbillivirus infection in Mediterranean dolphins off the French coast. Veterinary Record 166, 654–655.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lauriano, G., Panigada, S., Canneri, R., Manca Zeichen, M. and Notarbartolo di Sciara, G. (2010) Abundance estimate of striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) in the Pelagos Sanctuary (NW Mediterranean Sea) by means of line transect survey. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 11, 279–283.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levin, M., Morsey, B., Mori, C. and De Guise, S. (2004) Specific non-coplanar PCB-mediated modulation of bottlenose dolphin and beluga whale phagocytosis upon in vitro exposure. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A 67, 1517–1535.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levin, M., Morsey, B., Mori, C., Nambiar, P.R. and De Guise, S. (2005) PCBs and TCDD, alone and in mixtures, modulate marine mammal but not B6C3F1 mouse leukocyte phagocytosis. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A 68, 635–656.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mazzariol, S., Marcer, F., Mignone, W., Serracca, L., Goria, M., Marsili, L., Di Guardo, G. and Casalone, C. (2012) Dolphin Morbillivirus and Toxoplasma gondii coinfection in a Mediterranean fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus). BMC Veterinary Research 7, 8–20.Google Scholar
Montie, E.W., Fair, P.A., Bossart, G.D., Mitchum, G.B., Houde, M., Muir, D.C.G., Letcher, R.J., Mc Fee, W.E., Starczak, V.R., Stegemam, J.J. and Hahn, M.E. (2008) Cytochrome P4501A1 expression, polychlorinated byphenyls and hydroxylated metabolites, and adipocyte size of bottlenose dolphins from southeast United States. Acquatic Toxicology 86, 397–412CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Panigada, S., Pesante, G., Zanardelli, M., Capoulade, F., Gannier, A. and Weinrich, M.T. (2006) Mediterranean fin whales at risk from fatal ship strikes. Marine Pollution Bulletin 52, 1287–1298.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Panigada, S., Lauriano, G., Burt, L., Pierantonio, N., Donovan, G.P. (2011) Monitoring winter and summer abundance of cetaceans in the Pelagos Sanctuary (Northwestern Mediterranean Sea) through aerial surveys. Plos One 6, e22878: doi:10.1371/journalpone.0022878.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perrin, W.F., Donovan, G.P. and Barlow, J. (1994) Gillnets and cetaceans. Report of the International Whaling Commnission (Special issue) 15, 1–629.Google Scholar
Pretti, C., Mancianti, F., Nardoni, S., Ariti, G., Monni, G., Di Bello, D., Marsili, L. and Papini, R. (2010) Detection of Toxoplasma gondii infection in dolphins stranded along the Tuscany coast, Italy. Revue de Médecine Vétérinaire 161, 428–431.Google Scholar
Reeves, R.R. and Notarbartolo di Sciara, G. (2006) The status and distribution of cetaceans in the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea. Malaga: IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation, 137 pp.Google Scholar
Sato, H., Yoneda, M., Honda, T. and Kai, C. (2012) Morbillivirus receptors and tropism: multiple pathways for infection. Frontiers in Microbiology 3, 75.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Bressem, M.F., Raga, J.A., Di Guardo, G., Jepson, P.D., Duignan, P.J., Siebert, U., Barrett, T., Santos, M.C., Moreno, I.B., Siciliano, S., Aguilar, A. and Van Waerebeek, K. (2009) Emerging infectious diseases in cetaceans worldwide and the possible role of environmental stressors. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 86, 143–157.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed