Does anyone have photos of malformations on the fluke of bottlenose dolphins and is interested in discussing it? Last year there was a stranding of a young bottlenose with a malformation on its fluke. Since then I have been trying to gather information and references that might help in order to prepare a short note (hopefully!). Does anyone want to share information and be involved in the publication?
γειά σου Ioannis!
I'm not aware of papers specifically dealing with fluke malformations in dolphins or cetaceans in general, but several papers are dealing with bone, and spinal cord abnormalities in different species of delphinids. There are many reports of cetaceans with deformed and twisted bodies, and most of them show characteristic patterns of congenital skeletal deformity, including malformed vertebrae, ribs, and sternum. If you need some help I'm very interested in collaborate. Talk soon.
Ciao Nino...How are you ?????
Im aware of all those papers with bone and spinal abnormalities in cetaceans i was willing to find information specifically for the fluke or unpublished data in order to have enough data for a short note...Thank you so much though...
There have been reported cases of scoliosis in both mysticetes and odontocetes. Additionally I believe there is literature discussing topical malformations that could be attributed to various skin diseases.
Here is a link to a CT scan of a section of vertebra from a juvenile right whale
http://csi.whoi.edu/pathology/osteopathy-0004jpg
Scott actually i agree more with James, this seems to me more like an early "lobomycosis-like" disease or "pox-like" lessions that led to this result....
Take a look at my case.... http://ioniandolphinproject.org/gallery/fluke-malformation-side/
If your malformed dolphin survives any length of time, it might be worth documenting the nature of its adjustments. It would also be interesting if you find any evidence that other dolphins accommodate the malformed individual in any way, such as direct or indirect foot sharing.
Ann Weaver
Thanks Ann,
That could be great but not realistic, the dolphin was found stranded and it was dead for at least 5 days, only the fluke was in quite good condition. Is true that it wasn't a newborn seemed more like calf meaning that was alive for a certain amount of time.. but we can just guess if was assisted by other dolphins. From my point of view i think that by know it is worthy only a report to be prepared but nothing further.
What do you think?
Oh! I am sorry I missed that part. How old was it? Was there any evidence that the malformation might have contributed to its death (eg starvation?) Ann
The dolphin was almost 6 months old..... but there were no signs of starvation or fight (fighting with males) that led to death.... My theory is that probably the dolphin had more malformations on the cardiac muscle or so... that probably was the main cause of death.
e.g. we couldn't perform any necropsy, due to the fact that the dolphin was in advance sepsis.
Ioannis,
Looking closer at the flukes, it wonder about the role of a shark in mangling the fluke. If that was a possibility, the wound had healed. In my tudy area, there are a couple of dolphins with missing flukes and they seem to get fine but it may have been too much for a growing calf. your thoughts?
Ann
Sorry James about the late answer... we didn't look at the heart cause as i said before the dolphins was in advance sepsis and also non of us is specified for cardiac malformations..... i know that is rare but could be on of the possible explanations cause there was no sign of fight and it was already alive for almost six months that means that it could swim and actually if you see the sape of the fluke is true that it could swim with this fluke. Obviously not as good as a dolphin with normal fluke.
So now i m getting to you Ann, it could be possible that explanation in an area with sharks, but not in our area cause we don't have sharks and also the lob of the fluke that seems smaller is just underdeveloped and it has no signs of mangling.
So, i m coming again at the same conlusion that the fluke wasn't the main reason of the death....
Hi Ioannis,
Am travelling, didn't see your question before. From your photos, there is little doubt in my mind that fluke disorder you observed is a congenital malformation. I do not remember having seen this in Tursiops, but yes in Lagenorhynchus obscurus (by-caught juvenile) many years ago. When back at office will dig in archives, I should have a photo/data. At least some cetaceans seem to survive without flukes. Regards - Koen Van Waerebeek
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