Genetic variation in blue whales in the eastern pacific: implication for taxonomy and use of common wintering grounds

Abstract Many aspects of blue whale biology are poorly understood. Some of the gaps in our knowledge, such as those regarding their basic taxonomy and seasonal movements, directly affect our ability to monitor and manage blue whale populations. As a step towards filling in some of these gaps, micros...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecular Ecology
Main Authors: Leduc, R. G., Archer, F. I., Lang, A. R., Martien, K. K., Hancock‐Hanser, B., Torres‐Florez, J. P., Hucke‐Gaete, R., Rosenbaum, H. C., van Waerebeek, K., Brownell, R. L., Taylor, B. L.
Other Authors: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2016
Subjects:
Genetics
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Galapagos
Pacific
Blue whale
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/mec.13940
https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fmec.13940
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/mec.13940
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Summary:Abstract Many aspects of blue whale biology are poorly understood. Some of the gaps in our knowledge, such as those regarding their basic taxonomy and seasonal movements, directly affect our ability to monitor and manage blue whale populations. As a step towards filling in some of these gaps, microsatellite and mtDNA sequence analyses were conducted on blue whale samples from the Southern Hemisphere, the eastern tropical Pacific (ETP) and the northeast Pacific. The results indicate that the ETP is differentially used by blue whales from the northern and southern eastern Pacific, with the former showing stronger affinity to the region off Central America known as the Costa Rican Dome, and the latter favouring the waters of Peru and Ecuador. Although the pattern of genetic variation throughout the Southern Hemisphere is compatible with the recently proposed subspecies status of Chilean blue whales, some discrepancies remain between catch lengths and lengths from aerial photography, and not all blue whales in Chilean waters can be assumed to be of this type. Also, the range of the proposed Chilean subspecies, which extends to the Galapagos region of the ETP, at least seasonally, perhaps should include the Costa Rican Dome and the eastern North Pacific as well.

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