A Conjoined Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Calf Stranded On The Aegean Sea Coast Of Turkey
29th Annual Conf. European Cetacean Society, Valletta, Malta, 23 - 25 Mart 2015, ss.99, (Özet Bildiri)
- Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Özet Bildiri
- Basıldığı Şehir: Valletta
- Basıldığı Ülke: Malta
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.99
- Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Adresli: Hayır
Özet
On 4 August 2014, a male conjoined dicephalic bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) calf was found dead on the beach of Dikili/İzmir, the Aegean coast of Turkey. It was considered that it had completed the fetal development based on its body length (BL: 94cm). Since the specimen was at the advanced stage of decomposition, it was immediately preserved in 10% formalin solution. It was later examined by necropsy and x-ray. In radiology, y-shaped vertebral column with two pairs of ribs was observed. Necropsy revealed that the conjoined dolphin has two pairs of lungs and two hearts, two stomachs, two spleens, but single liver, anus, penis and one pair of kidneys. Heart and lungs on the right side were markedly larger than those on the left side. There were two completely separate heads, a pair of pectoral fins, two dorsal fins (the right one was dwarfed) and one normal shaped caudal fin. The vertebral column was bifurcated at L3. As a result, the present case was classified as dithoracic paraphagus with further specification as dibrachialis conjoined twin. Conjoined twining is a complex congenital defect resulting from incomplete twinning. It has been reported more frequently in human and domestic animals and rarely reported in marine mammals. This is the first case reported in Turkey and the second in the Mediterranean Sea.