Brucella sp. sequence-type 27 associated with abortion in dwarf sperm whale Kogia sima

AbstractA dwarf sperm whale Kogia sima stranded alive along the Central Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. The whale, handled by tourists and local inhabitants, was weak, had buoyancy difficulties, and eventually aborted and died, showing severe necrotizing placentitis and other pathological signs. Both the mother and the fetus had antibodies against Brucella lipopolysaccharide. Brucella organisms were isolated from various tissues of both animals and were characterized. The bacterium genome corresponded to sequence-type 27 (ST27) and clustered together with other Brucella ST27 isolated in humans and cetaceans.

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Brucella sequence Type 27 isolated from Dwarf Sperm Whale (Kogia sima) stranded in the Costa Rican Pacific Coast

Access Microbiology ◽

10.1099/acmi.ac2019.po0596 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 1 (1A) ◽

Author(s):

Marcela Suárez-Esquivel ◽

Nazareth Ruiz-Villalobos ◽

Gabriela Hernández-Mora ◽

Rocío González-Barrientos ◽

Jose David Palacios-Alfaro ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Pacific Coast ◽

Sperm Whale ◽

Costa Rican ◽

Sequence Type ◽

Kogia Sima

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First record of the dwarf sperm whale (Kogia sima) in Caribbean waters of Costa Rica

Latin American Journal of Aquatic Mammals ◽

10.5597/lajam00145 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 7 (1-2) ◽

Author(s):

J. D. Palacios-Alfaro

Keyword(s):

Costa Rica ◽

Sperm Whale ◽

First Record ◽

Kogia Sima

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Microplastic ingestion by a herring Opisthonema sp., in the Pacific coast of Costa Rica

10.1101/670679 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Luis Bermúdez-Guzmán ◽

Crista Alpízar-Villalobos ◽

Johan Gatgens-García ◽

Gabriel Jiménez-Huezo ◽

Marco Rodríguez-Arias ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Costa Rica ◽

Pacific Coast ◽

Direct Effects ◽

Central Pacific ◽

Marine Life ◽

Multidisciplinary Study ◽

The Pacific ◽

Tropical Areas ◽

Filter Feeders ◽

Aquatic Food

AbstractDespite there is a growing interest in studying the presence and effects of microplastics (MP) in fishes and other aquatic species, knowledge is still limited in tropical areas. In this study, we examined the presence of MP in the gastrointestinal content of 30 filter feeders of thread herring, Opisthonema complex (Clupeiformes: Clupeidae) from the Central Pacific coast of Costa Rica. We detected the presence of MP in 100% of the individuals with an average of 36.7 pieces per fish, of which 79.5% were fibers and 20.5% particles. To our knowledge, this is the first study in Costa Rica that demonstrates the presence of MP in planktivorous fishes. The effects of microplastics ingestion by O. libertate and its transit through aquatic food webs should be studied in greater detail, with greater number of sampling points at different times of the year. However, our work confirms that contamination by microplastics is having direct effects on the marine life of Costa Rica.CapsuleThis is the first multidisciplinary study in Costa Rica demonstrating the presence and nature of microplastics in the digestive tract of planktivorous fish.

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The community of Mata de Limón, central Pacific coast of Costa Rica and the extraction of colonchos Callichirus seilacheri (Bott, 1955) (Decapoda: Axiidea: Callianassidae)

Latin American Journal of Aquatic Research ◽

10.3856/vol43-issue3-fulltext-19 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 43 (3) ◽

pp. 575-580

Author(s):

Patricio Hernáez ◽

Hernán Granda-Rodríguez

Keyword(s):

Costa Rica ◽

Central America ◽

Pacific Coast ◽

Management Program ◽

Strongly Correlated ◽

Total Abundance ◽

Central Pacific ◽

Sustainable Harvesting ◽

Local Resource ◽

The Pacific

We conducted monthly visits to the coastal community of Mata de Limón (December 2011 to November 2012) in central Pacific of Costa Rica for assessment the extraction of the burrowing shrimp called coloncho Callichirus seilacheri, a species intensely caught as bait for fishing along the Pacific coast of Central America. The outcomes indicate that fishery effort varied between 4 and 14 harvesters day-1 with a high percentage of them from the same community (70-100%). Daily catch varied between 76 and 1120 shrimps and its value was strongly correlated with catches realized for the local harvesters (R2= 0.88). The shrimps density and total abundance in Mata de Limón was estimated in 1.2 ± 0.88 ind m-2 and 49,607 ± 3,638 individuals, respectively. Ovigerous females were exclusively present between May and November, peak in September. According to our outcomes, population of C. seilacheri in Mata de Limón could be in risk of overfishing if the daily catches exceed 800 individuals. The main results of the present study allow recommend the implementation of a total fishing ban during the reproduction peak of C. seilacheri directed to protection and conservation of this local resource for its sustainable harvesting. Also, we suggest the establishment of a management program between the community of Mata de Limón and the Instituto Costarricense de Pesca y Acuicultura (INCOPESCA) in order to optimize and legalize the extraction of this important resource.

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