Dataset Information

Supernumerary teeth observed in a live True's beaked whale in the Bay of Biscay.

ABSTRACT: Mesoplodont beaked whales are one of the most enigmatic mammalian genera. We document a pod of four beaked whales in the Bay of Biscay breaching and tail slapping alongside a large passenger ferry. Photographs of the animals were independently reviewed by experts, and identified as True's beaked whales (Mesoplodon mirus). This is the first conclusive live sighting of these animals in the north-east Atlantic, and adds information to previous sightings that are likely to have been M. mirus. Photographs of an adult male appears to show two supernumerary teeth posterior to the apical mandibular tusks. Whilst analysed museum specimens (n = 8) did not show evidence of alveoli in this location, there is evidence of vestigial teeth and variable dentition in many beaked whale species. This is the first such record of supernumerary teeth in True's beaked whales.

SUBMITTER: Robbins JR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6796962 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Supernumerary teeth observed in a live True's beaked whale in the Bay of Biscay.

Robbins James R JR Park Travis T Coombs Ellen J EJ

PeerJ 20191014

Mesoplodont beaked whales are one of the most enigmatic mammalian genera. We document a pod of four beaked whales in the Bay of Biscay breaching and tail slapping alongside a large passenger ferry. Photographs of the animals were independently reviewed by experts, and identified as True's beaked whales (<i>Mesoplodon mirus</i>). This is the first conclusive live sighting of these animals in the north-east Atlantic, and adds information to previous sightings that are likely to have been M. mirus. ...[more]

PMID: 31632847

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Project description:The True's beaked whale (Mesoplodon mirus, True 1913) is a poorly known member of the Ziphiidae family. Its distribution in the northern hemisphere is thought to be restricted to the temperate or warm temperate waters of the North Atlantic, while a few stranding records from the southern hemisphere suggest a wider and antitropical distribution, extending to waters from the Atlantic coast of Brazil to South Africa, Mozambique, Australia and the Tasman Sea coast of New Zealand. This paper (i) reports the first molecular confirmation of the occurrence of the True's beaked whale at the southern limit of its distribution recorded in the northeast Atlantic: the Azores and Canary Islands (macaronesian ecoregion); (ii) describes a new colouration for this species using evidence from a whale with molecular species confirmation; and (iii) contributes to the sparse worldwide database of live sightings, including the first underwater video recording of this species and close images of a calf. Species identification was confirmed in two cases using mitochondrial DNA control region and cytochrome b gene markers: a subadult male True's beaked whale that stranded in El Hierro, Canary Islands, in November 2012, and a subadult male found floating dead near Faial, the Azores, in July 2004. The whale that stranded in the Canary Islands had a clearly delimited white area on its head, extending posteriorly from the tip of the beak to cover the blowhole dorsally and the gular grooves ventrally. This colouration contrasts with previous descriptions for the species and it may be rare, but it exemplifies the variability of the colouration of True's beaked whales in the North Atlantic, further confirmed here by live sightings data. The recording of several observations of this species in deep but relatively coastal waters off the Azores and the Canary Islands suggests that these archipelagos may be unique locations to study the behaviour of the enigmatic True's beaked whale.

Dataset Information

Supernumerary teeth observed in a live True's beaked whale in the Bay of Biscay.

Publications

Supernumerary teeth observed in a live True's beaked whale in the Bay of Biscay.

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