species

        Tissue banks collect and store biological samples. We collect and store tissues sampled from marine mammals stranded along the Italian coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, in cooperation with the Italian Stranding Network (Associazione Italiana per lo studio dei cetacei e dei rettili marini) and with the help of the University of Padua and the Italian Central Institute for Applied Marine Research (I.C.R.A.M., Roma).

        The Mediterranean Marine Mammals Tissue Bank stores also tissues sampled from marine mammals stranded along non-Italian Mediterranean coasts, and tissues from Mediterranean and non-Mediterranean marine mammals kept within controlled environment.

        Here follows a list of Mediterranean marine mammals (Cagnolaro et al., 1983; Jefferson et al., 1993; Notarbartolo and Demma, 2000; Rice, 1998) including species recently sighted by CSC personnell.  Hyper-text indicates species stored in the bank.

        Select the species of your interest to verify the number of individuals stored and tissue availability:

Order Cetacea

Suborder Mysticeti

Family Balaenopteridae

fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus L., 1758)

Minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata Lacépède, 1804)

humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae (Borowski, 1781)

Suborder Odontoceti

Family Delphinidae

short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis L. 1758)

Risso's dolphin, Grampus griseus (G.Cuvier, 1812)

striped dolphin, Stenella coeruleoalba (Meyen, 1833)

common bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus (Montagu, 1821)

rough-toothed dolphin, Steno bredanensis (Lesson, 1828)

long-finned pilot whale, Globicephala melas (Traill, 1809)

killer whale, Orcinus orca (L., 1758)

false killer whale, Pseudorca crassidens (Owen, 1846)

Famiglia Phocoenidae

harbour porpoise, Phocoena phocoena (L., 1758)

Family Ziphiidae

Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris G. Cuvier 1823)

Family Physeteridae

sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus L. 1758)

dwarf sperm whale, Kogia sima (Owen, 1866)

Ordine Carnivora

Pinnipeds

Family Phocidae

Mediterranean monk seal, Monachus monachus (Hermann, 1779)

Family Otariidae

South American sea lion, Otaria byronia (de Blainville, 1820) (= Otaria flavescens) **

Cagnolaro, L., Di Natale, A., Notarbartolo di Sciara, G., 1983. Guide per il riconoscimento delle specie animali delle acque lagunari e costiere italiane. AQ/1/224, 9. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Roma. 186 p.

Jefferson, T.A., Leatherwood, S., Webber, M.A., 1993. Marine Mammals of the World - Fao Species Identification Guide. UNEP and FAO

Notarbartolo Di Sciara, G. and Demma, M., 1994. Guida dei mammiferi marini del Mediterraneo. Franco Muzzio Editore

Rice, D.W., 1998 . Marine Mammals of the world: Systematics and distribution. Special Publication n. 4, The Society for Marine Mammalogy

** non-Mediterranean species, specimen dead in a controlled environment

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