Environmental Isolates of Fungi from Aquarium Pools Housing Killer Whales ( Orcinus orca )

Systemic mycoses in killer whales ( Orcinus orca ) are rare diseases, but have been reported. Two killer whales died by fungal infections at the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium in Japan. In this study, the fungal flora of the pool environment at the aquarium was characterized. Alternaria spp., Aspergillus spp. ( A. fumigatus, A. niger , A. versicolor ), Fusarium spp. and Penicillium spp. were isolated from the air and the pool surroundings. The other isolates were identified as fungal species non-pathogenic for mammals. However, the species of fungi isolated from the environmental samples in this study were not the same as those isolated from the cases of disease in killer whales previously reported.