Survival improvements of marine mammals in zoological institutions mirror historical advances in human longevity.

An intense public debate has fuelled governmental bans on marine mammals held in zoological institutions. The debate rests on the assumption that survival in zoological institutions has been and remains lower than in the wild, albeit the scientific evidence in support of this notion is equivocal. Here, we used statistical methods previously applied to assess historical improvements in human lifespan and data on 8864 individuals of four marine mammal species (harbour seal, ; California sea lion, ; polar bear, ; common bottlenose dolphin, ) held in zoos from 1829 to 2020.

Adult-onset epilepsy and hippocampal pathology in a California sea lion (Zalophus californianus): A case study of suspected in utero exposure to domoic acid.

Domoic acid (DA) is a naturally occurring marine neurotoxin produced by Pseudo-nitzschia diatoms. Adult California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) can experience multiple post-exposure syndromes, including acute toxicosis and chronic epilepsy. Additionally, a delayed-onset epileptic syndrome is proposed for California sea lions (CSL) exposed in utero.

Ultraviolet light alters experimental aquarium water microbial communities.

The effect of ultraviolet (UV) light exposure, alone and in combination with CO exposure, on the water microbial community composition was tested in replicate experimental aquaria using source water from an established Amazon-themed exhibit housing mixed species of fishes. Total bacterial abundance, α-diversity metrics, and β-diversity metrics were determined 3 weeks and 1 week before, and weekly during 8 weeks of continuous treatment. The UV treatment significantly lowered the overall bacterial abundance while CO treatment had no effect.

Towards understanding microbial degradation of chloroquine in large saltwater systems.

Circulating saltwater aquariums hosting marine animals contain a wide range of microorganisms, which have strong implications on promoting animal health. In this study, we investigated the degradation of chloroquine phosphate, an anti-parasitic bath pharmaceutical used in saltwater quarantine and exhibition systems, and attributed the reduction in drug concentration to microbial degradation of chloroquine associated with pipeline microbial communities. To advance our knowledge on chloroquine degradation in aquatic systems, we conducted microbial and chemical analyses on three tropical saltwater systems.

An integrative review of lateral line depigmentation in marine and freshwater fish.

Objective: To qualitatively review reports on lateral line depigmentation (LLD) in marine and freshwater fish.

Sample: English-language publications concerning LLD published before March 1, 2020.

Procedures: Electronic searches of CAB abstracts, PubMed, and Web of Science databases and the proceedings of the International Association of Aquatic Animal Medicine were performed.