Harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) are the most prevalent cetaceans in the North Sea. The fecal viral flora of 21 harbour porpoises stranded along the Dutch coastline was analyzed by a metagenomics approach. Sequences of a novel cetacean mastadenovirus, designated harbour porpoise adenovirus 1 (HpAdV-1), were detected. The sequence of a 23-kbp genomic region, spanning the conserved late region, was determined using primer walking. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that HpAdV-1 is most closely related to bottlenose dolphin adenovirus and clusters with Cetartiodactyla adenoviruses. The prevalence of HpAdV-1 was low (2.6%) based on targeted PCR-screening of the intestinal contents of 151 harbour porpoises stranded between 2010 and 2013.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00705-017-3310-8 | DOI Listing |
JASA Express Lett
January 2025
Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Bohdana Khmel'nyts'koho Street, 15, Kyiv 02000, Ukraine.
Dolphin and porpoise detections by the F-POD are not independent: Implications for sympatric species monitoring, Cosentino, Marcolin, Griffiths, Sánchez-Camí, and Tougaard [(2024). JASA Express Lett. 4, 031202] address a significant issue, the reliability of the discrimination of dolphins and porpoises in recordings of their acoustic clicks by F-POD loggers, but unfortunately present a misleading interpretation of the process and results.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiol Lett
January 2025
Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8601, Japan.
Despite numerous studies on the rise and fall of terrestrial megafauna in the late Quaternary, knowledge about marine megafauna from this period remains limited. In this study, we performed radiocarbon dating and partial mitochondrial DNA sequencing from the skeletal remains of three species of small odontocetes (Pacific white-sided dolphins, Dall's porpoises and harbour porpoises) excavated from prehistoric archaeological sites around the Japanese shore dating back to 8500-1000 years ago (ya). Pacific white-sided dolphins that habituated the eastern coast of Hokkaido around 2000 ya belonged to different maternal groups than those from over 5000 ya and today.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Comp Pathol
January 2025
Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme, School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland, UK.
Mycoplasma phocicerebrale, the causative agent of seal ('speck') finger, a zoonotic disease, is a common commensal in the oral cavity of various seal species. Historically associated with seal hunters, it remains a significant risk for those handling or rehabilitating marine mammals. While primarily known for causing severe cellulitis in humans, M.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Acoust Soc Am
December 2024
Key Laboratory of Underwater Acoustic Communication and Marine Information Technology of the Ministry of Education, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China.
Although air sinuses are prevalent in odontocetes and are an integral component of their sound reception system, the acoustic function of these air-filled structures remains largely unknown. To address this, we developed a numerical model using computed tomography data from a Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis) to investigate the role of the air sinuses in sound reception. By comparing sound reception characteristics between model cases with and without the air sinuses, we found that the air sinuses improved sound reception directivity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnimals (Basel)
December 2024
CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas), Godoy Cruz 2290 (C1425FQB) CABA, Argentina.
Vertebrates' tongues reflect part of their adaptations to diverse feeding strategies, the types of food items they eat, and the environments where they live. Our contribution was to analyze the macro- and microscopic morphology of the tongues of two porpoise species ( and ; juveniles and adults), whose biology is little known. Macroscopic and microscopic studies (conventional histology, scanning electron microscopy, immunohistochemistry, and morphometry) were performed.
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