Dear colleagues, We would like to inform you that the following article was recently published in *Diseases of Aquatic Organisms*:
*Lacaziosis-like disease among bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus photographed in Gulfo Dulce, Costa Rica.* Brooke L. Bessesen, Lenin Oviedo, Leslie Burdett Hart, David Herra-Miranda, Juan Diego Pacheco-Polanco, Lesli Baker, Guido Saborío-Rodriguez, Luis Bermúdez-Villapol, Alejandro Acevedo-Gutiérrez ABSTRACT: Lacaziosis (also known as lobomycosis) is a chronic dermal disease caused by the fungal agent *Lacazia loboi*, which affects both humans and dolphins. Photographic data have been used to identify lacaziosis-like disease (LLD) among dolphins in the waters of North and South America, and here we report LLD in bottlenose dolphins*Tursiops truncatus* off the coast of Costa Rica, the first reporting in Central American waters. During the periods of 1991 to 1992 and 2010 to 2011, 3 research teams conducted separate dolphin surveys in the Pacific tropical fiord Golfo Dulce, and each documented skin lesions in the resident population of bottlenose dolphins. Photo-ID records were used to identify LLD-affected bottlenose dolphins and to assess their lesions. Findings showed between 13.2 and 16.1% of the identified dolphins exhibited lesions grossly resembling lacaziosis. By combining efforts and cross-referencing photographic data, the teams explored the presence of LLD in Golfo Dulce over a time gap of approximately 20 yr. Our findings expand the geographical range of the disease and offer insight into its longevity within a given population of dolphins. KEY WORDS: Skin lesions · Cetaceans · *Lacazia loboi* · LLD · Eastern Pacific · Central America 2014. Vol 170: 173-180 Article link: http://www.int-res.com/articles/dao2013/107/d107p173.pdf Please send correspondence to Brooke Bessesen: [email protected] -- Leslie Burdett Hart, PhD Jardon and Howard Technologies, Inc. (JHT) NOAA/NOS/NCCOS Hollings Marine Laboratory 331 Ft. Johnson Rd. Charleston, SC 29412 Phone: 843-725-4831 Fax: 843-762-8737 Email: [email protected]
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