Short communication Isolation of culturable microorganisms from free-ranging bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from the southeastern United States Pamela J. Morris a,b, *, Wesley R. Johnson b , John Pisani c , Gregory D. Bossart d,e , Jeff Adams f , John S. Reif g , Patricia A. Fair f a Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine & Coastal Sciences, University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29412, United States b Hollings Marine Laboratory, Charleston, SC 29412, United States c Micrim Laboratory, 800 NE 62nd Street 202, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33334, United States d Georgia Aquarium, 225 Baker Street, NW Atlanta, GA 30313, United States e Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University, 5600 U.S. 1 North, Ft. Pierce, FL 34946, United States f National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Ocean Service/Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research, Charleston, SC 29412, United States g Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80524, United States 1. Introduction Marine mammals, such as cetaceans, are ideal sentinels for human health as many reside in near-coastal habitats and are exposed to a wide variety of infectious biological agents and chemical pollutants (Bossart, 2006; Moore, 2008). While the number of reported marine mammal diseases is increasing (Bossart, 2007), our knowledge regarding the potential for the marine environment to serve as a reservoir for known and emerging pathogens is limited. Examination of a subset of stranded Atlantic bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) indicated that 31% died of infectious disease with bacterial infections accounting for the majority of mortality (McFee and Veterinary Microbiology xxx (2010) xxx–xxx ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received 30 January 2010 Received in revised form 25 August 2010 Accepted 30 August 2010 Keywords: Bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus Pathogen Bacteria Bacterial diversity Fungi ABSTRACT Reports of diseases in marine mammals are increasing worldwide, however our understanding of the microorganisms associated with marine mammals is still limited. In this study, we cultured bacteria and fungi isolated from the upper respiratory tract (blowhole), gastric fluid and anus of 180 wild bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from two estuarine locations along the southeastern Atlantic Coast of the United States. A total of 339 and 491 isolates from Charleston, SC (CHS) and Indian River Lagoon, FL (IRL) dolphins, respectively, were cultured from gastric (70 CHS/82 IRL), fecal (141 CHS/184 IRL), and blowhole (128 CHS/225 IRL) swabs on selective media used for routine clinical microorganisms of human concern. The most frequently cultured Gram-negative bacteria from all sample and study types were Plesiomonas shigelloides, Aeromonas hydrophila, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas fluorescens. Among the Gram-positive bacteria, Clostridium perfringens, Bacillus sp., and Staphylococcus Coag. Neg were the predominant organisms. For fungi, the most abundant species were Candida glabrata, budding yeasts, and Candida tropicalis. Of concern, the MRSA strain of Staphylococcus aureus was detected in the blowhole and gastric swabs from CHS dolphins. In general, a greater prevalence of bacteria and fungi (four-fold increase) were cultured from IRL than CHS animals. Together, these culture-dependent studies, coupled to on-going culture-independent approaches, should help establish a baseline of microorganisms associated with bottlenose dolphins and aid in the identification of organisms responsible for infectious diseases(s) in these animals. ß 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V. * Corresponding author at: Hollings Marine Laboratory, 331 Ft Johnson Road, Charleston, SC 29412, United States. Tel.: +1 843 991 8355; fax: +1 843 762 8737. E-mail address: pjmorris@belle.baruch.sc.edu (P.J. Morris). G Model VETMIC-5005; No. of Pages 8 Please cite this article in press as: Morris, P.J., et al., Isolation of culturable microorganisms from free-ranging bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from the southeastern United States. Vet. Microbiol. (2010), doi:10.1016/j.vet- mic.2010.08.025 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Veterinary Microbiology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/vetmic 0378-1135/$ – see front matter ß 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V. doi:10.1016/j.vetmic.2010.08.025