Skin biopsies for cell cultures from Mediterranean free-ranging cetaceans

Various species of Mediterranean cetaceans have declined dramatically this century. One of the most abundant species until the late 1970s, the common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), is now rare in many parts of the basin (Notarbartolo di Sciara and Demma, 1994). Ecotoxicological data on cetaceans are of interest for various reasons, principally because cetaceans do not have sweat and sebaceous glands or gills, so they are a relatively closed system. Recent studies on the metabolic capacity of cetaceans has shown that these marine mammals have a relatively inefficient detoxifying capacity (Watanabe et al., 1989; Tanabe & Tatsukawa, 1992; Fossi ¿f al.,1992; 1997a, 1997b; Fossi & Marsili, 1997). Moreover, the species of cetaceans are thought to have different sensitivities to environmental contaminants, especially organochlorines (OCs), and this may impinge on their vulnerability to these contaminants (Marsili et al., 1996; Marsili et al., 1998). Most studies of contamination and biomarker responses in marine mammals have been conducted using animals killed by hunting, tacitly approving this activity. The development of a series of non-destructive techniques to evaluate biomarker responses and residue levels is strongly recommended for the hazard assessment, protection, and conservation of endangered species of marine mammals (Fossi and Marsili, l9n). A non-invasive sampling method, the skin biopsy, and use of the material obtained to culture fibroblasts, have been developed in this study. In this paper, we present this method for biopsies of Mediterranean specimens of striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba), bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) and Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus).