Pre-anal gland abscess in a male Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus).

OBJECTIVE: Anal glands have been identified in a variety of terrestrial and aquatic mammalian species, but there are few accounts describing their presence in cetaceans. To our knowledge, this report describes the first documented case of a pre-anal gland abscess in an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). ANIMAL: A 9-year-old male bottlenose dolphin (T truncatus) part of the US Navy Marine Mammal Program in San Diego Bay, California. CLINICAL PRESENTATION, PROGRESSION, AND PROCEDURES: The patient presented for a 3-day history of lethargy, failure to perform voluntary behaviors, and an elevated respiratory rate. Complete blood count and serum biochemistry results showed an inflammatory hemogram. Physical examination revealed a 4-cm circular swelling at the right pre-anal gland pore. The swelling was warm and erythematous, with multifocal pinpoint ulcerations. An abscess of the pre-anal gland was diagnosed using cytology, culture, and ultrasound. TREATMENT AND OUTCOME: Treatment included systemic oral antibiotic and antifungal therapy, along with daily lavage and warm compress of the gland. Treatment was successful, and the abscess resolved. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This case provides insight into a previously unreported disease process in bottlenose dolphins and encourages veterinarians to evaluate the pre-anal gland during routine physical examinations and complete further work-up if swelling or clinical signs associated with this region are present.

One Health: Children, Waterfowl, and Lead Exposure in Northwestern Nigeria.

The One Health concept focuses on the interrelationship between the health of humans, animals, and the environment. There is a delicate balance among these relationships, and when an imbalance exists, the effects can be catastrophic. Such an imbalance occurred in 2010, when elevated lead exposure in rural communities in northwestern Nigeria resulted in the deaths of an estimated 400 children younger than 5 years in a 12-month period. Before the children became ill, waterfowl began to die in great numbers, a connection that would not be realized until much later. This review covers toxicodynamics and the neurotoxic effects of lead in the developing central nervous system, the role that animals can play in recognizing lead exposure and contamination, and environmental sources of lead exposure. The experiences in Nigeria may be especially pertinent to the emerging problems associated with lead exposure and poisoning in the United States.

Morphometric Correlates of the Ovary and Ovulatory Corpora in the Bowhead Whale, Balaena mysticetus.

Gross morphology and morphometry of the bowhead whale ovary, including ovulatory corpora, were investigated in 50 whales from the Chukchi and Beaufort seas off the coast of Alaska. Using the presence of ovarian corpora to define sexual maturity, 23 sexually immature whales (7.6-14.2 m total body length) and 27 sexually mature whales (14.2-17.7 m total body length) were identified. Ovary pair weights ranged from 0.38 to 2.45 kg and 2.92 to 12.02 kg for sexually immature and sexually mature whales, respectively. In sexually mature whales, corpora lutea (CLs) and/or large corpora albicantia (CAs) projected beyond ovary surfaces. CAs became increasingly less interruptive of the surface contour as they regressed, while remaining identifiable within transverse sections of the ovarian cortex. CLs formed large globular bodies, often with a central lumen, featuring golden parenchymas enfolded within radiating fibrous cords. CAs, sometimes vesicular, featured a dense fibrous core with outward fibrous projections through the former luteal tissue. CLs (never more than one per ovary pair) ranged from 6.7 to 15.0 cm in diameter in 13 whales. Fetuses were confirmed in nine of the 13 whales, with the associated CLs ranging from 8.3 to 15.0 cm in diameter. CLs from four whales where a fetus was not detected ranged from 6.7 to 10.6 cm in diameter. CA totals ranged from 0 to 22 for any single ovary, and from 1 to 41 for an ovary pair. CAs measured from 0.3 to 6.3 cm in diameter, and smaller corpora were more numerous, suggesting an accumulating record of ovulation. Neither the left nor the right ovary dominated in the production of corpora. Anat Rec, 299:769-797, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Comparison of Dolphins' Body and Brain Measurements with Four Other Groups of Cetaceans Reveals Great Diversity.

We compared mature dolphins with 4 other groupings of mature cetaceans. With a large data set, we found great brain diversity among 5 different taxonomic groupings. The dolphins in our data set ranged in body mass from about 40 to 6,750 kg and in brain mass from 0.4 to 9.3 kg. Dolphin body length ranged from 1.3 to 7.6 m. In our combined data set from the 4 other groups of cetaceans, body mass ranged from about 20 to 120,000 kg and brain mass from about 0.2 to 9.2 kg, while body length varied from 1.21 to 26.8 m. Not all cetaceans have large brains relative to their body size. A few dolphins near human body size have human-sized brains. On the other hand, the absolute brain mass of some other cetaceans is only one-sixth as large. We found that brain volume relative to body mass decreases from Delphinidae to a group of Phocoenidae and Monodontidae, to a group of other odontocetes, to Balaenopteroidea, and finally to Balaenidae. We also found the same general trend when we compared brain volume relative to body length, except that the Delphinidae and Phocoenidae-Monodontidae groups do not differ significantly. The Balaenidae have the smallest relative brain mass and the lowest cerebral cortex surface area. Brain parts also vary. Relative to body mass and to body length, dolphins also have the largest cerebellums. Cortex surface area is isometric with brain size when we exclude the Balaenidae. Our data show that the brains of Balaenidae are less convoluted than those of the other cetaceans measured. Large vascular networks inside the cranial vault may help to maintain brain temperature, and these nonbrain tissues increase in volume with body mass and with body length ranging from 8 to 65% of the endocranial volume. Because endocranial vascular networks and other adnexa, such as the tentorium cerebelli, vary so much in different species, brain size measures from endocasts of some extinct cetaceans may be overestimates. Our regression of body length on endocranial adnexa might be used for better estimates of brain volume from endocasts or from endocranial volume of living species or extinct cetaceans.

Orbital gland structure and secretions in the Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus).

Orbital gland structure of the Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, was examined at the macroscopic, light microscopic, and electron microscopic levels. The gland completely encircles the ocular globe in a belt-like fashion near the conjunctival fornix but is considerably more developed medially. Duct openings are scattered throughout the fornix and over the surface of the palpebral conjunctiva. Microscopically, the gland has a tubuloalveolar arrangement; alveolar cells contain numerous secretory vesicles which can be interpreted as two structural types by light and electron microscopy. Histochemical staining demonstrates that both types contain glycosaminoglycans. Lipid analysis of the glandular secretion (dolphin tears) shows them to be non-oily and to contain only negligible amounts of cholesterol, triglycerides, phospholipids, and free fatty acids. The secretion is clear, slippery, and viscoelastic and well-adapted to protecting the eye and to reducing frictional forces between the eye surface and surrounding seawater.