Cultural Transmission of Fine-Scale Fidelity to Feeding Sites May Shape Humpback Whale Genetic Diversity in Russian Pacific Waters

• Published in: Journal of Heredity
• Main Authors: Richard, Gaëtan, Titova, Olga, Fedutin, Ivan, Steel, Debbie, Meschersky, Ilya, Hautin, Marie, Burdin, Alexander, Hoyt, Erich, Filatova, Olga, Jung, Jean-Luc
• Other Authors: Laboratoire de Biologie et génétique des mammifères marins dans leur environnement (BioGEMME), Université de Brest (UBO), École normale supérieure de Lyon (ENS de Lyon), Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Kamchatka Branch of the Pacific Geographical Institute, Faculty of Biology (Russia, Moscow State University, Marine Mammal Institute and Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, University of Oregon Eugene, A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences Moscow (RAS), Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS), WDCS, Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB ), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2018
• Subjects: cultural transmission; Commander Islands; DNA polymorphisms; feeding grounds; humpback whales; Karaginsky Gulf; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Pacific; Humpback Whale; Alaska
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-01878619; https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esy033

International audience Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) differences between humpback whales on different feeding groundscan reflect the cultural transmission of migration destinations over generations, and thereforerepresent one of the very few cases of gene-culture coevolution identified in the animal kingdom.In Russian Pacific waters, photo-identification (photo-ID) studies have shown minimal interchangebetween whales feeding off the Commander Islands and those feeding in the Karaginsky Gulf,regions that are separated by only 500 km and have previously been lumped together as a singleRussian feeding ground. Here, we assessed whether genetic differentiation exists between these2 groups of humpback whales. We discovered a strong mtDNA differentiation between the 2feeding sites (FST = 0.18, ΦST = 0.14, P < 0.001). In contrast, nuclear DNA (nuDNA) polymorphisms,determined at 8 microsatellite loci, did not reveal any differentiation. Comparing our mtDNA resultswith those from a previous ocean-basin study reinforced the differences between the 2 feedingsites. Humpback whales from the Commanders appeared most similar to those of the westernGulf of Alaska and the Aleutian feeding grounds, whereas Karaginsky differed from all other NorthPacific feeding grounds. Comparison to breeding grounds suggests mixed origins for the 2 feedingsites; there are likely connections between Karaginsky and the Philippines and to a lesser extentto Okinawa, Japan, whereas the Commanders are linked to the Mexican breeding grounds. ThemtDNA differentiation between the Commander Islands and Karaginsky Gulf suggests a case ofgene-culture coevolution, correlated to fidelity to a specific feeding site within a particular feedingground. From a conservation perspective, our findings emphasize the importance of consideringthese 2 feeding sites as separate management units.