Stranded humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) (Cetacea: Balaenopteridae) in Paraná River Delta, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Comments on the occurrence of marine mammals in the La Plata River Basin

• Published in: Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia
• Main Authors: Sergio O. Lucero, María Constanza Gariboldi, Valeria Bauni, Juan Manuel Meluso, Daniela del Castillo, Federico L. Agnolin, Sergio Bogan
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Spanish; Portuguese
• Published: Universidade de São Paulo 2018
• Subjects: Megaptera novaeangliae; Humpback whale; Delta del Río Paraná; Haplotypes; Argentina; Zoology; QL1-991; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Uruguay; Antarc*; Humpback Whale
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.11606/1807-0205/2018.58.01; https://doaj.org/article/45d4d9b31e444d05bdf510ed8344249d

Abstract The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is distributed among most oceans and seas of the globe (except Mediterranean Sea). These whales migrate from feeding regions in the Antarctic waters to breeding areas in tropical and subtropical seas. Here we report the stranding of a female young humpback whale, which was founded dead in the vicinity of the Talavera Island, in the Paraná River Delta, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. From the analysis of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene sequences, two novel haplotypes were found, totalizing four haplotypes described for the species. In the La Plata River Basin this species was found only twice at the end of the XIX century. Thus, the new finding constitutes an important addition to the list of cetaceans that occurs in Uruguay, Paraná and La Plata Rivers.