Health Assessment and Seroepidemiologic Survey of Potential Pathogens in Wild Antillean Manatees (Trichechus manatus manatus)

Los manatíes (Trichechus manatus manatus) son mamíferos herbívoros y de hábitos oportunistas, se alimentan de casi 60 especies de plantas. El objetivo de este trabajo fue identificar los elementos de la dieta del manatí por medio de análisis de heces en dos sitios en México (Jonuta, Tabasco y Bahía de la Ascensión, Quintana Roo) y uno en Belice (Southern Lagoon). Las muestras provienen de manatíes de vida libre y en cautiverio que fueron capturados temporalmente para muestreo y evaluación de su salud durante el período 2004-2006. Un total de 24 muestras fueron procesadas. La identificación de los elementos de la dieta se basó en el análisis microhistológico de las heces y la separación de los ítems para su posterior comparación con material bibliográfico y colecciones histológicas. También se revisaron las muestras para la búsqueda de invertebrados. Las especies vegetales identificadas fueron: Thalassia testudinum, Rhizophora mangle, Halodule wrightii, Ruppia sp. y Panicum sp., esta última confirmada por primera vez para México. No se encontró evidencia de invertebrados en las muestras. El orden de importancia relativa de consumo de las especies vegetales por los manatíes coincide con lo reportado para otras regiones de América. Se recomienda hacer un mayor esfuerzo de muestreo en áreas donde se desconocen los ítems alimentarios de la especie.AbstractManatees (Trichechus manatus manatus) are herbivorous mammals with opportunistic habits that feed onapproximately 60 species of plants. The focus of this paper was to identify diet elements of the manateeby fecal analysis in two sites in Mexico (Jonuta, Tabasco and Bahía de la Ascensión, Quintana Roo) andone site in Belize (Southern Lagoon). Samples were obtained from wild manatees and captive manateestemporarily captured for health assessment and sampling during 2004-2006. A total of 24 samples wereanalyzed. Diet components were assessed by microhistological analysis of feces. Items were separated andcompared with bibliography and histological collections. Samples were also analyzed to detect invertebrates.Vegetal species found included Thalassia testudinum, Rhizophora mangle, Halodule wrightii, Ruppia sp. and Panicum sp., the latter confirmed for the first time for Mexico. No evidence of invertebrates wasfound in the samples. Relative importance of vegetal species consumed by manatees coincides with thefindings reported for other areas in the Americas. Further systematic sampling efforts are needed in areaswhere manatee diet items are unknown.

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Occurrence ofCryptosporidiumspp. in Antillean Manatees (Trichechus manatus) and Amazonian Manatees (Trichechus inunguis) from Brazil

Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine ◽

10.1638/2010-0216.1 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 42 (4) ◽

pp. 593-596 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

João Carlos Gomes Borges ◽

Leucio Câmara Alves ◽

Maria Aparecida da Gloria Faustino ◽

Miriam Marmontel

Keyword(s):

Trichechus Manatus ◽

Antillean Manatees

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Occurrence of Pulmonicola cochleotrema (syn. Cochleotrema cochleotrema) (Digenea: Opisthotrematidae) in Antillean manatees (Trichechus manatus manatus) in Brazil

Latin American Journal of Aquatic Mammals ◽

10.5597/lajam00133 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 7 (1-2) ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

V. L. Carvalho ◽

A. C. O. Meirelles ◽

M. R. A. Motta ◽

D. C. B. S. C. Maia ◽

M. V. M. Campello ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Trichechus Manatus ◽

Antillean Manatees

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Unusual aggressive behavior encountered by divers from Antillean manatees (Trichechus manatus manatus) in Puerto Rico

Latin American Journal of Aquatic Mammals ◽

10.5597/00238 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 12 (1-2) ◽

pp. 59-60

Author(s):

Chelsea A. Harms-Tuohy ◽

Evan A. Tuohy

Keyword(s):

Puerto Rico ◽

Aggressive Behavior ◽

Trichechus Manatus ◽

Scuba Divers ◽

Antillean Manatees

The reaction of a manatee mating herd to the presence of two SCUBA divers in Puerto Rico is presented.

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Elementos de la dieta del manatí Trichechus manatus manatus en tres sitios importantes para la especie en México y Belice

Revista Ciencias Marinas y Costeras ◽

10.15359/revmar.10-5.2 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 5 ◽

pp. 25

Author(s):

Lavinia Flores-Cascante ◽

Benjamín Morales-Vela ◽

Nataly Castelblanco-Martínez ◽

Janneth Padilla-Saldívar ◽

Nicole Auil

Keyword(s):

Health Assessment ◽

Rhizophora Mangle ◽

Thalassia Testudinum ◽

Quintana Roo ◽

Systematic Sampling ◽

Halodule Wrightii ◽

Trichechus Manatus ◽

Herbivorous Mammals ◽

Microhistological Analysis ◽

First Time

Los manatíes (Trichechus manatus manatus) son mamíferos herbívoros y de hábitos oportunistas, se alimentan de casi 60 especies de plantas. El objetivo de este trabajo fue identificar los elementos de la dieta del manatí por medio de análisis de heces en dos sitios en México (Jonuta, Tabasco y Bahía de la Ascensión, Quintana Roo) y uno en Belice (Southern Lagoon). Las muestras provienen de manatíes de vida libre y en cautiverio que fueron capturados temporalmente para muestreo y evaluación de su salud durante el período 2004-2006. Un total de 24 muestras fueron procesadas. La identificación de los elementos de la dieta se basó en el análisis microhistológico de las heces y la separación de los ítems para su posterior comparación con material bibliográfico y colecciones histológicas. También se revisaron las muestras para la búsqueda de invertebrados. Las especies vegetales identificadas fueron: Thalassia testudinum, Rhizophora mangle, Halodule wrightii, Ruppia sp. y Panicum sp., esta última confirmada por primera vez para México. No se encontró evidencia de invertebrados en las muestras. El orden de importancia relativa de consumo de las especies vegetales por los manatíes coincide con lo reportado para otras regiones de América. Se recomienda hacer un mayor esfuerzo de muestreo en áreas donde se desconocen los ítems alimentarios de la especie.AbstractManatees (Trichechus manatus manatus) are herbivorous mammals with opportunistic habits that feed onapproximately 60 species of plants. The focus of this paper was to identify diet elements of the manateeby fecal analysis in two sites in Mexico (Jonuta, Tabasco and Bahía de la Ascensión, Quintana Roo) andone site in Belize (Southern Lagoon). Samples were obtained from wild manatees and captive manateestemporarily captured for health assessment and sampling during 2004-2006. A total of 24 samples wereanalyzed. Diet components were assessed by microhistological analysis of feces. Items were separated andcompared with bibliography and histological collections. Samples were also analyzed to detect invertebrates.Vegetal species found included Thalassia testudinum, Rhizophora mangle, Halodule wrightii, Ruppia sp. and Panicum sp., the latter confirmed for the first time for Mexico. No evidence of invertebrates wasfound in the samples. Relative importance of vegetal species consumed by manatees coincides with thefindings reported for other areas in the Americas. Further systematic sampling efforts are needed in areaswhere manatee diet items are unknown.

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Fecal microbiota of captive Antillean manatee Trichechus manatus manatus

FEMS Microbiology Letters ◽

10.1093/femsle/fnz134 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 366 (11) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Akihiko Suzuki ◽

Keiichi Ueda ◽

Takao Segawa ◽

Miwa Suzuki

Keyword(s):

Intestinal Microbiota ◽

Illumina Miseq ◽

Fecal Microbiota ◽

High Quality ◽

Trichechus Manatus ◽

Trichechus Manatus Latirostris ◽

Bacterial Phyla ◽

Illumina Miseq Platform ◽

Miseq Platform ◽

Antillean Manatees

ABSTRACTHerbivorous animals have unique intestinal microbiota that greatly helps with plant digestion in the host; however, knowledge on the microbiota of marine herbivores is limited. To better understand the taxonomy of intestinal microbiota in manatees, and the possible effects of captive conditions on that, we characterized the fecal microbiota of captive Antillean manatee Trichechus manatus manatus and compared the bacterial community with that of wild Florida manatees Trichechus manatus latirostris. Fecal samples were collected from four captive Antillean manatees in Ocean Expo Park, Okinawa, Japan. The high-quality sequences of the V3–V4 region of bacterial 16S rRNA obtained using an Illumina MiSeq platform were assigned to 16 bacterial phyla, and the most dominant was Firmicutes (84.05 ± 3.50%), followed by Bacteroidetes (8.60 ± 1.71%). Seven of the top 20 bacterial genera were responsible for hydrolyzing cellulose and metabolizing bile acid. The microbiota composition was remarkably different from that found in wild Florida manatees and more diverse than the composition in wild Florida manatees; hence, this result may be dependent on a captive environment. Our results highlight the unique intestinal microbiota in captive manatees, reflecting their diet and possibly an impact of the captive environment.

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