Perfil hematológico, bioquímico sérico, nutricional e biométrico de filhotes de peixe-boi marinho (Trichechus manatus manatus Linnaeus, 1758) mantidos em cativeiro no Centro Mamíferos Aquáticos – CMA/ICMBio, Ilha de Itamaracá, PE.

Abstract

Hematology and serum biochemistry are crucial to differential diagnose of several diseases and to aquatic mammals’ sanity monitoring. The establishment of hematologic and serum chemistry reference values make possible to identify possible clinical routine abnormalities and quickly define therapeutic procedures. The present study aimed to define the reference values for five hematologic parameters (erythrocytes, hemoglobin, hematocrit, MCV, MCH, MCHC and leukocytes) and 18 serum chemistry parameters (alanina aminotransferase,aspartate aminotransferase, urea, creatinine, glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol, total proteins and its fractions, phosphate, chloride, calcium and uric acid) were determined for nine Antillean manatees (Trichechus manatus manatus) calves (four males and four females, rescued from strandings occurred in Northeast brazilian coast, and one male born in captivity), held under the same handling procedures. After physical restrain, the samples were collected from brachial vascular bundle. Hematologic analyses were made in an automatic counter and serum chemistry analyses were determined with reagents, being limited to a semiautomatic process, using only samples not icteric, haemolytic or lipemic. Each individual development and the nutritional management were followed during all study period. All the hematologic data were submitted to descriptive statistics and differences between different age groups and sex were determined using an unpaired Student’s t-test (p<0.05). Weight, total measurement and milk consumption were submitted to ² to verify the existence ofdifferences between the orphaned calves and the one born in captivity. There wasn’t any difference between sexes or between the age groups (from zero to two-years-old and from two to three-years-old). The differences between the captive-born calf and the orphaned calves’s were statistically significant. Age and management, specially the related to diet, interfere significantly in serum chemistry analysis. Hematologic and serum chemistry reference values may contribute to the conservation and definition of management protocols for Antillean manatees held in captivity at CMA/ICMBio.