New Records on Acanthocephalans from California Sea Lions Zalophus californianus (Pinnipedia, Otariidae) from California, USA

Abstract

To increase the currently limited knowledge addressing acanthocephalans parasitizing California sea lions (Zalophus californianus), 33 animals including pups, juvenile and adult males and females from the Marine Mammal Center (TMMC), Sausalito, California, USA were examined. Totally, 2,268 specimens of acanthocephalans representing five species from the genera Andracantha (A. phalacrocoracis and Andracantha sp.), Corynosoma (C. strumosum and C. obtuscens) and Profilicollis (P. altmani) were found. Profilicollis altmani and A. phalacrocoracis, predominantly parasitize fish-eating birds; they were registered in Z. californianus for the first time. Prevalence and intensity of California sea lion infection and transmission of acanthocephalans in these hosts of different age groups were analyzed and discussed. We provide brief morphological descriptions of the five species of acanthocephalan found in California sea lions.

Revision of Corynosoma australe Johnston, 1937 (Acanthocephala: Polymorphidae) from a North American population using novel SEM images, Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis, and molecular analysis

“…We added measurements of cement glands, bursa, neck, and three hooks (apical, middle and posterior), female reproductive system, and the number of genital spines, to our description. An account of our smaller subset of 10 males and 12 females from the same California collection was briefly outlined by Lisitsyna et al (2018) and the fewer measurements provided there were similar to those reported by Lisitsyna et al (2019). Smales (1986) redescribed C. australe from Neophoca cinerea (type host) and Arctocephalus pusillatus in South Australia with measurements comparable to but at variance with measurements of our California material from Zalophus californianus.…”

“…Of the 1,201 specimens originally collected from the single sea lion in California in 2015, 51 specimens (24 males, 27 females) were initially reported as C. obtuscens (Lisitsyna et al, 2018; Figs. 1, 2.…”

“…Thirty-three sea lions, Zalophus californianus found stranded on the Pacific coast near San Francisco, California (37°46´ N; 122°25´ W) in February and March 2012, 2015 and 2016 were kept alive and subsequently died and examined for parasites in the Marine Mammal Center (TMMC), Sausalito, California (see Kuzmina et al, 2018 for details). A total of 1,201 adult specimens of C. australe were collected from one 2-year-old female sea lion, necropsied at TMMC in 2015 (Lisitsyna et al, 2018). Fifty-one specimens of this collection were whole mounted and studied by Lisitsyna et al (2019) to verify the synonymy of C. obtuscens with C. australe.…”

The elevation of a unique population of Corynosoma strumosum (Acanthocephala: Polymorphidae) from the Caspian seal, Pusa caspica, in the Caspian Sea to Corynosoma neostrumosum n. sp.

“…(2017), and Lisitsyna et al . (2018). None of these works, however, addressed the impact of long isolation on morphometric variability.…”

Marine Mammals on the Egyptian Mediterranean Coast "Records and Vulnerability"

“…Sea lions inhabit mainly beaches, rocks, islets and islands [29] estimated 30,000 California sea lions inside the Gulf of California. This species is one of the most abundant and recognized pinniped species from British Columbia, Canada to Baja California, Mexico [32,33].…”