Marine Biology Commons^™

Immunocytes Of The Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops Truncatus) And West Indian Manatee (Trichechus Manatus Latirostris) : Morphologic Characterizations And Correlations Between Healthy And Disease States Under Free-Ranging And Captive Conditions, Gregory D. Bossart

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Interest in the health of marine mammals has increased due, in part, to the attention given to human impact on the marine environment. Recent mass strandings of the Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and rising mortalities of the endangered Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) have raised questions on the extent to which pollution, infectious disease, "stress," and captivity influence the immune system of these animals. This study has provided the first in-depth characterization of immunocytes in the peripheral blood of dolphins (n=180) and manatees (n=56). Immunocyte morphology and baseline values were determined in clinically normal animals …