Evidence of Prenatal Infection in the Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncates) with the Lungworm Halocercus lagenorhynchi (Nematoda: Pseudaliidae)

Abstract

Adult lung nematodes identified as Halocercus lagenorhynchi were collected from the lungs of four Tursiops truncatus calves. The calves ranged in age from newborn to 3-wk-old and were found on both the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of Florida (USA). This finding suggests the possibility of a more cosmopolitan distribution of prenatal infection with lung nematodes in cetaceans than previously suspected.