Intestinal Perforation by a Sting Ray Spine in an Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin Resulting in Fatal Peritonitis
Paul T. Cardeilhac1, DVM, PhD; Robert L. Jenkins2
On 10 February 1979, the freshly dead carcass of a juvenile female Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) was found at Crescent Beach, Florida by the Florida Marine Patrol. At necropsy, an 11.5 cm long calcified sting ray spine was found to have perforated the small intestine at a point some two-thirds the length of the small intestine from the pylorus to the descending aspect of the intestine. The spine extended approximately one-third of its length into the peritoneal cavity. The assigned cause of death was the inflammation and peritonitis resulting from intestinal perforation. Necropsy findings will be discussed along with similar instances.