Genetic structure of the beaked whale genus Berardius in the North Pacific, with genetic evidence for a new species

• Published in: Marine Mammal Science
• Main Authors: Morin, Phillip A., Baker, Scott C., Brewer, Reid S., Burdin, Alexander M., Dalebout, Merel L., Fedutin, Ivan D., Filatova, Olga A., Hoyt, Erich, Jung, Jean Luc, Lauf, Morgane, Potter, Charles W., Richard, Gaëtan, Ridgway, Michelle, Robertson, Kelly M., Wade, Paul R.
• Other Authors: Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO - UC San Diego), University of California San Diego (UC San Diego), University of California (UC)-University of California (UC), Marine Mammal and Turtle Division (MMTD), Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC), NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Oregon State University (OSU), Fisheries Technology, University of Alaska Southeast (UAS), Kamchatka Branch of the Pacific Geographical Institute, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences Sydney (BEES), University of New South Wales Sydney (UNSW), Faculty of Biology Moscow, Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU), Laboratoire de Biologie et génétique des mammifères marins dans leur environnement (BioGEMME), Université de Brest (UBO), Smithsonian Institution, Oceanus Alaska, Auke Bay Ocean Center, Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2016
• Subjects: Ziphiidae; Arnoux’s beaked whale; Baird’s beaked whale; population structure; mitochondrial DNA; phylogenetics; cetacean; [SDV.GEN.GA]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Genetics/Animal genetics; [SDV.BID.SPT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Systematics; Phylogenetics and taxonomy; Bering Sea; Southern Ocean; Aleutian Islands
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-01363951; https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12345

International audience There are two recognized species in the genus Berardius, Baird's and Arnoux's beaked whales. In Japan, whalers have traditionally recognized two forms of Baird's beaked whales, the common “slate-gray” form and a smaller, rare “black” form. Previous comparison of mtDNA control region sequences from three black specimens to gray specimens around Japan indicated that the two forms comprise different stocks and potentially different species. We have expanded sampling to include control region haplotypes of 178 Baird's beaked whales from across their range in the North Pacific. We identified five additional specimens of the black form from the Aleutian Islands and Bering Sea, for a total of eight “black” specimens. The divergence between mtDNA haplotypes of the black and gray forms of Baird's beaked whale was greater than their divergence from the congeneric Arnoux's beaked whale found in the Southern Ocean, and similar to that observed among other congeneric beaked whale species. Taken together, genetic evidence from specimens in Japan and across the North Pacific, combined with evidence of smaller adult body size, indicate presence of an unnamed species of Berardius in the North Pacific.