New haplotypes found in stranded long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) in the eastern North Atlantic and adjacent waters

• Published in: Marine Mammal Science
• Main Authors: Ball, Rachel J., Kitchiner, Ashleigh, Davison, Nicholas J., Berrow, Simon, McKeown, Niall J., IJsseldijk, Lonneke L., Geary, Matthew, McDowall, Ian, Muir, Anna P.
• Other Authors: University of Chester; University of Glasgow; Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme; Irish Whale and Dolphin Group; Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology; Aberystwyth University; Utrecht University
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Wiley 2022
• Subjects: cetacean; genetic diversity; matrilineal structure; mitochondrial DNA; stranding; mass-stranding event; Globicephala melas; McKeown; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10034/626974; https://chesterrep.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10034/626974/MMSCI-5085.R2.pdf?sequence=4; https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12893

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: [Ball, R. J., Kitchiner, A., Davison, N. J., Brownlow, A., Berrow, S., McKeown, N. J., IJsseldijk, L. L., Geary, M., McDowall, I.,& Muir, A. P. (2022). New haplotypes found in stranded long‐finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) in the eastern North Atlantic and adjacent waters. Marine Mammal Science, 38(3), 898-912], which has been published in final form at [https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12893]. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited. Long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas) mitochondrial (mtDNA) genetic diversity is considered low, especially in the North Atlantic, where only six haplotypes have been recorded using a 345bp portion of the control region. Previous studies have been based on a small number of samples and have not included samples from Ireland or the Netherlands. We utilized mtDNA control region sequencing of individuals stranded around Ireland, Scotland, and the Netherlands between 1995-2019 (n=180) to assess regional diversity. Following alignment of 631bp, nine haplotypes were identified, of which five were newly described (haplotype diversity (h)=0.511). Pairwise tests revealed significant differentiation between the Irish and Scottish samples. Potential confounding factors are discussed but, given the dangers of failing to recognize population structure this needs to be investigated further using nuclear markers and ...