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Fetus in Fetu in a Harbor Seal (Phoca vitulina richardi): Histopathologic, Genetic, and Toxicologic Analysis

Abstract

A young harbor seal (Phoca vitulina richardi), stranded on the coast of California, was found to have a 20-cm-diameter cranial cervical mass. Surgical excision revealed the subcutaneous mass to be covered in haired skin with multiple glabrous areas and structures resembling a jaw with tooth buds, eyelids, and a tail. The mass deformed the host pup's skull. Histologic examination revealed a complete vertebra in the tail, teeth in the jaw, and areas resembling tongue and larynx. Class 1 MHC sequences amplified by polymerase chain reaction from the mass and the host twin were identical. The mass was diagnosed as a fetus in fetu, a rare congenital anomaly in which 1 conjoined twin is completely enclosed in the body of the other twin. The host pup died, and no additional defects were found; however, blubber levels of persistent organic pollutants were high. The cause of the congenital anomaly in this pup is uncertain.

Key words: Congenital defect; contaminants; fetus in fetu; harbor seal; major histocompatibility complex; Phoca vitulina richardi; twin.

Request reprints from Dr. Linda Lowenstine, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Veterinary Medicine, One Shields Avenue, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 95616 (USA). E-mail: ljlowenstine{at}ucdavis.edu