Colony Location and Captivity Influence the Gut Microbial Community Composition of the Australian Sea Lion (Neophoca cinerea).

Unlabelled: Gut microbiota play an important role in maintenance of mammalian metabolism and immune system regulation, and disturbances to this community can have adverse impacts on animal health. To better understand the composition of gut microbiota in marine mammals, fecal bacterial communities of the Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea), an endangered pinniped with localized distribution, were examined. A comparison of samples from individuals across 11 wild colonies in South and Western Australia and three Australian captive populations showed five dominant bacterial phyla: Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, and Fusobacteria The phylum Firmicutes was dominant in both wild (76.

MOLECULAR DETECTION OF ANTIBIOTIC-RESISTANCE DETERMINANTS IN ESCHERICHIA COLI ISOLATED FROM THE ENDANGERED AUSTRALIAN SEA LION (NEOPHOCA CINEREA).

Greater interaction between humans and wildlife populations poses significant risks of anthropogenic impact to natural ecosystems, especially in the marine environment. Understanding the spread of microorganisms at the marine interface is therefore important if we are to mitigate adverse effects on marine wildlife. We investigated the establishment of Escherichia coli in the endangered Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea) by comparing fecal isolation from wild and captive sea lion populations.

Giardia duodenalis and Cryptosporidium occurrence in Australian sea lions (Neophoca cinerea) exposed to varied levels of human interaction.

Giardia and Cryptosporidium are amongst the most common protozoan parasites identified as causing enteric disease in pinnipeds. A number of Giardia assemblages and Cryptosporidium species and genotypes are common in humans and terrestrial mammals and have also been identified in marine mammals. To investigate the occurrence of these parasites in an endangered marine mammal, the Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea), genomic DNA was extracted from faecal samples collected from wild populations (n = 271) in Southern and Western Australia and three Australian captive populations (n = 19).