Health and condition in the adult Weddell seal of McMurdo Sound, Antarctica |
| |
Authors: | Mellish Jo-Ann E Hindle Allyson G Horning Markus |
| |
Affiliation: | a School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA b Alaska SeaLife Center, 301 Railway Avenue, PO Box 1329, Seward, AK 99664, USA c Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA d University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada e Oregon State University, Marine Mammal Institute, Dept. Fisheries and Wildlife, 2030 SE Marine Science Drive, Newport, OR 97365, USA |
| |
Abstract: | Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) are large-bodied, long-lived mammals that live only in the circumpolar Antarctic. As such, they represent an ideal sentinel species for the impacts of environmental change on polar species. However, longitudinal physiological studies of marine mammals are notoriously difficult due to their largely aquatic lifestyle, such that many baseline indicators of health and condition are not well defined. Fifty known-age, adult seals (9-27 years, 24 males, 26 females) in McMurdo Sound were sampled for mass, total body fat, blubber depth and a suite of blood parameters (21 variables) to assess hydration state, nutritional plane, reproductive hormones (females only), organ function and immune status. Total body mass increased with age, whereas variation in blubber depth was best described by mass and/or sex, with an overall greater blubber thickness in female seals (p < 0.001). Ten blood parameters showed a significant effect of one or more model variables, most prominently between the sexes. Serum chemistry suggested that females were better nourished and displayed lower indicators of acute stress compared to males. We noted limited age-related declines that might indicate impaired organ function. Overall, seals demonstrated clinically normal values for large mammals, even at the upper end of the age continuum. Future physiological studies in this species are strongly encouraged to incorporate potential sex effects in experimental design and analysis. |
| |
Keywords: | Weddell seal Leptonychotes weddellii Body condition Health parameters Marine mammals |
本文献已被 ScienceDirect PubMed 等数据库收录! |
|