Long-term recording of gastric ulcers in cetaceans stranded on the Galician (NW Spain) coast

Long-term (1990-1996) results of recording gastric ulcers in the common dolphin are presented for the NW Spanish Atlantic coast. The occurrence and abundance of cetacean carcasses (belonging to 10 species) with gastric ulcers are also given and discussed. Ulcerations were detected in 17.2% of the animals examined, with 15% for common dolphins and 0 to 29.4 % in other cetacean species. A positive relation was noted between ulcer counts and length and maturity of Delphinus delphis. Clusters of the nematode Anisakis simplex could be seen embedded in the gastric ulcers of 3 common dolphins. It could be concluded that gastric ulcers are non-fatal lesions in cetaceans stranded in NW Spain.