Dataset Information

First record of Ginkgo-toothed beaked whale (Mesoplodon ginkgodens) stranded in Korea.

ABSTRACT: Two stranded whales were found dead on the coast of Jeju, South Korea. Based on the outer appearance and autopsy findings, one was determined to be an adult and the other a calf. The carcasses were dissected for species identification and pathological examination. A genetic analysis was performed, and the morphological characteristics of the skull observed. Then, 448 bp of the 5' half of the mitochondrial (mt) DNA control region and 413 bp of the mtDNA cytochrome b gene were sequenced. A BLAST search revealed that the whales were ginkgo-toothed beaked whales (Mesoplodon ginkgodens). Morphological comparison of the adult skull with the holotype specimen confirmed the result. This is the first record of a stranded ginkgo-toothed beaked whale in Korea.

SUBMITTER: Kim SM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6715915 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

First record of Ginkgo-toothed beaked whale (Mesoplodon ginkgodens) stranded in Korea.

Kim Sun Min SM Eo Kyung Yeon KY Oh Jin Woo JW Lee Young Ran YR Yoo Mi Hyun MH Kitamura Shino S Tajima Yuko Y Yamada Tadasu T Kim Byung Yeob BY Youn Hee Jeong HJ Kimura Junpei J

The Journal of veterinary medical science 20190708 8

Two stranded whales were found dead on the coast of Jeju, South Korea. Based on the outer appearance and autopsy findings, one was determined to be an adult and the other a calf. The carcasses were dissected for species identification and pathological examination. A genetic analysis was performed, and the morphological characteristics of the skull observed. Then, 448 bp of the 5' half of the mitochondrial (mt) DNA control region and 413 bp of the mtDNA cytochrome b gene were sequenced. A BLAST s ...[more]

PMID: 31281140

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Project description:The True's beaked whale (Mesoplodon mirus, True 1913) is a poorly known member of the Ziphiidae family. Its distribution in the northern hemisphere is thought to be restricted to the temperate or warm temperate waters of the North Atlantic, while a few stranding records from the southern hemisphere suggest a wider and antitropical distribution, extending to waters from the Atlantic coast of Brazil to South Africa, Mozambique, Australia and the Tasman Sea coast of New Zealand. This paper (i) reports the first molecular confirmation of the occurrence of the True's beaked whale at the southern limit of its distribution recorded in the northeast Atlantic: the Azores and Canary Islands (macaronesian ecoregion); (ii) describes a new colouration for this species using evidence from a whale with molecular species confirmation; and (iii) contributes to the sparse worldwide database of live sightings, including the first underwater video recording of this species and close images of a calf. Species identification was confirmed in two cases using mitochondrial DNA control region and cytochrome b gene markers: a subadult male True's beaked whale that stranded in El Hierro, Canary Islands, in November 2012, and a subadult male found floating dead near Faial, the Azores, in July 2004. The whale that stranded in the Canary Islands had a clearly delimited white area on its head, extending posteriorly from the tip of the beak to cover the blowhole dorsally and the gular grooves ventrally. This colouration contrasts with previous descriptions for the species and it may be rare, but it exemplifies the variability of the colouration of True's beaked whales in the North Atlantic, further confirmed here by live sightings data. The recording of several observations of this species in deep but relatively coastal waters off the Azores and the Canary Islands suggests that these archipelagos may be unique locations to study the behaviour of the enigmatic True's beaked whale.

Project description:BackgroundEcholocation was a key development in toothed whale evolution, enabling their adaptation and diversification across various environments. Previous bioacoustic and morphological studies suggest that environmental pressures have influenced the evolution of echolocation in toothed whales. This hypothesis demands further investigation, especially regarding the molecular mechanisms involved in the adaptive radiation of toothed whales across multiple habitats. Here we show that the coding sequences of four hearing genes involved in echolocation (CDH23, prestin, TMC1, and CLDN14) have different signatures of molecular evolution among riverine, coastal, and oceanic dolphins, suggesting that the evolutionary constraints of these habitats shaped the underlying genetic diversity of the toothed whale sonar.ResultsOur comparative analysis across 37 odontocete species revealed patterns of accelerated evolution within coastal and riverine lineages, supporting the hypothesis that shallow habitats pose specific selective pressures to sonar propagation, which are not found in the deep ocean. All toothed whales with genes evolving under positive selection are shallow coastal species, including three species that have recently diverged from freshwater lineages (Cephalorhynchus commersonii, Sotalia guianensis, and Orcaella heinsohni - CDH23), and three species that operate specialized Narrow Band High Frequency (NBHF) Sonars (Phocoena sinus - prestin, Neophocaena phocaenoides - TMC1 and Cephalorhynchus commersonii - CDH23). For river dolphins and deep-diving toothed whales, we found signatures of positive selection and molecular convergence affecting specific sites on CDH23, TMC1, and prestin. Positively selected sites (PSS) were different in number, identity, and substitution rates (dN/dS) across riverine, coastal, and oceanic toothed whales.ConclusionHere we shed light on potential molecular mechanisms underlying the diversification of toothed whale echolocation. Our results suggest that toothed whale hearing genes changed under different selective pressures in coastal, riverine, and oceanic environments.

Dataset Information

First record of Ginkgo-toothed beaked whale (Mesoplodon ginkgodens) stranded in Korea.

Publications

First record of Ginkgo-toothed beaked whale (Mesoplodon ginkgodens) stranded in Korea.

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