scholarly journals Campylobacter pinnipediorum subsp. caledonicus and C. pinnipediorum subsp. pinnipediorum recovered from abscesses in pinnipeds

2020 ◽  
Vol 142 ◽  
pp. 41-46
Author(s):  
G Foster ◽  
JL Baily ◽  
F Howie ◽  
AC Brownlow ◽  
JA Wagenaar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Isolate ◽  
Novel Species ◽  
Phoca Vitulina ◽  
Halichoerus Grypus ◽  
The Novel ◽  
California Sea Lions ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Harbour Seals ◽  
Phocid Seals ◽  
Bite Wounds

Campylobacter pinnipediorum was described recently for isolates recovered from pinnipeds. The novel species was further split into 2 subspecies based on host and geography, with C. pinnipediorum subsp. pinnipediorum recovered from otariid seals in California (USA) and C. pinnipediorum subsp. caledonicus recovered from phocid seals in Scotland. We report details of the infections of 7 pinnipeds from which C. pinnipediorum was isolated: C. pinnipediorum subsp. caledonicus was isolated from 2 harbour seals Phoca vitulina and a single grey seal Halichoerus grypus, and C. pinnipediorum subsp. pinnipediorum was isolated from California sea lions Zalophus californianus. Six of the isolates were recovered from samples collected at post-mortem investigation. In 2 of the Scottish seals and in 3 of the California seals, C. pinnipediorum was the sole bacterial isolate recovered from abscesses present and suggests they may have resulted from conspecific or intraspecific bite wounds.

Estimating the Blubber Content of Phocid Seals

1990 ◽  
Vol 47 (6) ◽  
pp. 1223-1227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morten Ryg ◽  
Christian Lydersen ◽  
Nina H. Markussen ◽  
Thomas G. Smith ◽  
Nils Are Øritsland
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass ◽  
Standard Error ◽  
Standard Length ◽  
Phoca Vitulina ◽  
Ringed Seal ◽  
Halichoerus Grypus ◽  
Grey Seal ◽  
Phoca Hispida ◽  
Harbour Seals ◽  
Phocid Seals

We have investigated the relationships between percent blubber content and xiphostemal blubber thickness or girth-to-length ratios in ringed seal (Phoca hispida), harp seal (Phoca groeniandica), and grey seal (Halichoerus grypus). The blubber content was significantly correlated with blubber depths and girth-to-length ratios in all three species, in addition, we have developed an estimator for percent blubber content (the LMD-index) based on standard length (L, in meters), body mass (M, in kilograms), and on blubber thickness (d, in meters) measured at a defined position dorsally. From these variables the percent blubber content (B%) can be estimated by the expression B% = 4.44 + 5693 [Formula: see text], with a standard error of the estimate of three percentage units. This index also gave reasonable estimates for blubber content in three harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) and eight bearded seals (Erignatus harbatus).

Fatal Interspecies Mating Attempts of a Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) with Harbour Seals (Phoca vitulina) on the German North Sea Coast

2020 ◽  
Vol 174 ◽  
pp. 166
Author(s):  
K. Hülskötter ◽  
S. Rohner ◽  
S. Groß ◽  
J. Lakemeyer ◽  
M. Fähndrich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Phoca Vitulina ◽  
Halichoerus Grypus ◽  
Grey Seal ◽  
Harbour Seals ◽  
Sea Coast ◽  
North Sea Coast

scholarly journals Observations on seals on the island of Surtsey in the period 1980-2012

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 41-43
Author(s):  
Erlingur Hauksson
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Site ◽  
Phoca Vitulina ◽  
The Other ◽  
South Coast ◽  
Harbour Seal ◽  
Halichoerus Grypus ◽  
Grey Seal ◽  
The South ◽  
Breeding Sites ◽  
Harbour Seals

Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus Fabricius) and harbour seals (Phoca vitulina L.) have been surveyed on the coasts of Iceland since 1980. During the period 1980-2012, both seal species have declined markedly in numbers at the Icelandic coast. The grey seal has established a considerable breeding site on the northern spit of the Surtsey island. This is at present one of the biggest grey seal rookeries on the southern shores of Iceland, with estimated about 60 pups born there in the autumn of 2012. On the other hand, the harbour seal has not been numerous on Surtsey during breeding time in the summer. Breeding sites of harbour seals on the south coast of Iceland closest to Surtsey are in the estuaries of the glacial rivers Ölfusá, Þjórsá, Markarfljót and Kúðafljót. Harbour seals, however, haul-out in great numbers on the northern shores of Surtsey during the winter, presumably using the island as a resting place after foraging in the adjacent waters.

Abundance and maturity of three species of parasitic anisakine nematodes (Pseudoterranova decipiens, Contracaecum osculatum, Anisakis simplex) occurring in Sable Island harbour seals (Phoca vitulina)

2002 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 442-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne T Stobo ◽  
L Paul Fanning ◽  
Brian Beck ◽  
G Mark Fowler
Keyword(s):  
Prey Species ◽  
Phoca Vitulina ◽  
Final Host ◽  
Anisakis Simplex ◽  
Halichoerus Grypus ◽  
Commercial Fish ◽  
Pseudoterranova Decipiens ◽  
Harbour Seals ◽  
Seal Population ◽  
Contracaecum Osculatum

Three species of anisakine nematodes (Pseudoterranova decipiens, Contracaecum osculatum, Anisakis simplex) co-occur in the stomachs of Sable Island harbour seals (Phoca vitulina). The sealworm, P. decipiens, was the commonest nematode in these seals. Anisakis simplex was found in much smaller numbers, none mature, indicating that the harbour seal is not a true final host to this parasite. Contracaecum osculatum was rare but half were mature. Pseudoterranova decipiens increased in abundance with size of the seal. An inverse relationship was observed between P. decipiens abundance and the age of seals of similar size, probably owing to changes in diet. Numbers of P. decipiens may have declined over the summer, coincident with an increase in the proportion of mature worms in the stomach. From similarities between the worm infections of grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) and harbour seals, we infer that A. simplex abundance may also exhibit a decline in abundance. Contracaecum osculatum was only encountered during the latter half of the year, suggesting an association with prey species of corresponding periodicity in their distribution. We estimate that the abundance of sealworm in harbour seals is about 2.5% of that carried by the grey seal population. This could imply that harbour seals represent an insignificant vector of the sealworm infecting commercial fish species in the Northwest Atlantic, provided density-dependent relationships exist between worm abundances in different host species.

Mercury in Seals from Eastern Canada

1973 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 843-846 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. E. Sergeant ◽  
F. A. J. Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
Phoca Vitulina ◽  
Halichoerus Grypus ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Small Pelagic Fish ◽  
Marine Food Web ◽  
Cystophora Cristata ◽  
Pagophilus Groenlandicus ◽  
Harbour Seals ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Marine Food

Mercury concentrations in the tissues of four species of seals from individual localities in eastern Canada were highest in liver (usually 1–100 ppm) but up to 387 ppm and lowest in blubber (usually 0.1 ppm). Levels in muscle ranged from < 0.16 to 2.35 ppm. Values similar to those in muscle were found in the few specimens of heart, intestine, and lungs analyzed, and higher values in kidney and hair. Ratios of mercury in the liver to that in the muscle for adult seals were much greater than those found in two species of freshwater fish and three species of domestic animals exposed to wide ranges of mercury concentrations in their food. The ratios for seal pups, however, resembled those in the other animals.Mercury in seals increased with age and appeared to vary with the position in the marine food web of the organisms which they eat. Harp seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus), which feed on small pelagic fish and crustaceans, accumulated an order of magnitude less mercury than grey (Halichoerus grypus) and harbour (Phoca vitulina) seals, which live on large pelagic and benthic fish and cephalopods. However, grey and harbour seals are resident in eastern Canadian waters, which presumably contain higher mercury levels than arctic waters, where harp seals spend about half the year. Yet hood seals (Cystophora cristata), which spent more than half the year in arctic waters but feed on large fish and cephalopods, had mercury levels as high as grey and harbour seals.

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