Skip to main content

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
Cancel
×
Home
  • Home
Article
    • Aa
    • Aa

A comparison of pigmentation features among North Atlantic killer whale (Orcinus orca) populations

  • Pirjo Mäkeläinen (a1), Ruth Esteban (a2), Andrew D. Foote (a3), Sanna Kuningas (a4), Julius Nielsen (a5), Filipa I.P. Samarra (a4) (a6), Tiu Similä (a7), Nienke C.F. van Geel (a8) and Gíslia A. Víkingsson (a6)...
Abstract

Here we present a comparison of saddle and eye patch patterns of killer whales from Norwegian, Icelandic, British, Spanish and Greenlandic waters. We found only a small amount of variation in saddle patch shapes, which may reflect a recent phylogenetic divergence from the most recent common ancestor. Eye patch shapes were more variable than saddle patches in small details. Most individuals had eye patches with parallel orientation, with the exception of a small group of killer whales from the Hebrides, which, as previously reported, had sloping eye patches that sloped downward at the posterior end. This differentiation in pigmentation patterns of the Hebridean killer whales from neighbouring populations could reflect one or more of several evolutionary processes, including a deeper phylogenetic divergence, low gene flow with other local populations and drift.

Copyright
COPYRIGHT: © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2014 
Corresponding author
Correspondence should be addressed to: P. Mäkeläinen, Seulastentie 12 C, 00740 Helsinki, Finland email: pirjo.makelainen@saunalahti.fi
References
Hide All
Baird R.W. and Stacey P.J. (1988) Variation in saddle patch pigmentation in popuations of killer whales (Orcinus orca) from British Columbia, Alaska, and Washington State. Canadian Journal of Zoology 66, 2582–2585.
Barton N.H. and Charlesworth B. (1984) Genetic revolutions, founder effects, and speciation. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 15, 133–164.
Barton N. (1996) Natural selection and random genetic drift as causes of evolution on islands. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B; Biological Sciences 351, 785–795.
Beck S., Kötter S., Foote A.D., Harries O., Mandleberg L., Stevick P.T., Whooley P. and Durban J.W. (2013) Using opportunistic photo-identifications to detect a population decline of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in British and Irish waters. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 93. doi:10.1017/S0025315413001124.
Beck S., Kuningas S., Esteban R. and Foote A.D. (2012) The influence of ecology on sociality in the killer whale (Orcinus orca). Behavioral Ecology 23, 246–253.
Bigg M.A. (1982) An assessment of killer whale (Orcinus orca) stocks of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Reports of the International Whaling Commission 32, 655–666.
Deecke V.B., Nykänen M., Foote A.D. and Janik V.M. (2011) Vocal behaviour and feeding ecology of killer whales (Orcinus orca) around Shetland, UK. Aquatic Biology 13, 79–88.
Esteban-Pavo R. (2008) Abundancia, Estructura social y Parámetros de Historia Natural de la orca (Orcinus orca) en el Estrecho de Gibraltar. MSc thesis. University of Cadiz, Spain.
Evans W.E., Yablokov A.V. and Bowles A.E. (1982) Geographic variation in the color pattern of killer whales (Orcinus orca). Reports of the International Whaling Commission 32, 687–694.
Foote A.D. (2011) North Atlantic killer whales. Whalewatcher, killer whale: the top, top predator. Journal of the American Cetacean Society 40, 30–32.
Foote A.D., Newton J., Piertney S.B., Willerslev E. and Gilbert M.T.P. (2009) Ecological, morphological and genetic divergence of sympatric North Atlantic killer whale populations. Molecular Ecology 18, 5207–5217.
Foote A.D., Similä T., Víkingsson G.A. and Stevick P.T. (2010) Movement, site fidelity and connectivity in a top marine predator, the killer whale. Evolutionary Ecology 24, 803–814.
Foote A.D., Vilstrup J.T., de Stephanis R., Verborgh P., Abel Nielsen S.C., Deaville R., Kleivane L., Martin V., Miller P.J.O., Øien N., Perez-Gil M., Rasmussen M., Reid R.J., Robertson K.M., Rogan E., Similä T., Tejedor M.L., Vester H., Vikingsson G., Willerslev E., Gilbert M.T.P. and Piertney S.B. (2011) Genetic differentiation among North Atlantic killer whale populations. Molecular Ecology 20, 629–641.
Ford J.K.B., Ellis G.M. and Balcomb K.C. (2000) Killer whales. The natural history and genealogy of Orcinus orca in British Columbia and Washington. Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.
Hewitt G. (2000) The genetic legacy of the Quaternary ice ages. Nature, 405, 907–913.
Kuningas S., Similä T. and Hammond P.S. (2013) Population size, survival and reproductive rates of northern Norwegian killer whales (Orcinus orca) in 1986–2003. Journal of Marine Biology Association of the United Kingdom 93. doi:10.1017/S0025315413000933.
Luque P.L., Davis C.G., Reid D.G., Wang J. and Pierce G.J. (2006) Opportunistic sightings of killer whales from Scottish pelagic trawlers fishing for mackerel and herring off North Scotland (UK) between 2000 and 2006. Aquatic Living Resources 19, 403–410.
Mäkeläinen P.H., van Ginneken A.M. and Pietiäinen H. (2013) Fluctuating asymmetry in the saddle patch shape of the Pacific Ocean killer whale (Orcinus orca) populations. Annales Zooligici Fennici 50, 347–355.
Packard G.C. and Boardman T.J. (1988) The misuse of ratios, indices, and percentages in ecophysical research. Physiological Zoology 61, 1–9.
Pitman R.L., Durban J.W., Greenfelder M., Guinet C., Jorgensen M., Olson P., Plana J., Tixier P. and Towers J.R. (2011) Observations of a distinctive morphotype of killer whale (Orcinus orca), type D, from subantarctic waters. Polar Biology 34, 303–306.
Pitman R.L. and Ensor P. (2003) Three forms of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in Antarctic waters. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 5, 131–139.
Pitman R.L., Perryman W.L., LeRoi D. and Eilers E. (2007) A dwarf form of killer whale in Antarctica. Journal of Mammalogy 88, 43–48.
Samarra F.I.P., Deecke V.B., Vinding K., Rasmussen M.H., Swift R. and Miller P.J.O. (2010) Killer whales (Orcinus orca) produce ultrasonic whistles. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 128, e205–e210.
Sigurjonsson J., Lyrholm T., Leatherwood E., Jonsson E. and Vikingsson G., (1988) Photoidentification of killer whales, Orcinus orca, off Iceland, 1981 through 1986. Rit Fiskideildar 11, 99–114.
Similä T., Holst J.C. and Christensen I. (1996) Occurrence and diet of killer whales in northern Norway: seasonal patterns relative to the distribution and abundance of Norwegian spring-spawning herring. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 53, 769–779.
Simon M., McGregor P.K. and Ugarte F. (2007) The relationship between the acoustic behaviour and surface activity of killer whales (Orcinus orca) that feed on herring (Clupea harengus). Acta Ethologica 10, 47–53.
Visser I.N. and Mäkeläinen P. (2000) Variation in eye-patch shape of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in New Zealand waters. Marine Mammal Science 16, 459–469.
Recommend this journal

Email your librarian or administrator to recommend adding this journal to your organisation's collection.

Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom
  • ISSN: 0025-3154
  • EISSN: 1469-7769
  • URL: /core/journals/journal-of-the-marine-biological-association-of-the-united-kingdom
Please enter your name
Please enter a valid email address
Who would you like to send this to? *

CAPTCHA *

Skip to the audio challenge
×

Keywords:

Type Description Title
WORD
Supplementary Materials

Mäkeläinen Supplementary Material
Supplementary Material

 Word (1.2 MB)
1.2 MB

Metrics

Altmetric attention score

Full text views

Total number of HTML views: 2
Total number of PDF views: 24 *
Loading metrics...

Abstract views

Total abstract views: 194 *
Loading metrics...

* Views captured on Cambridge Core between September 2016 - 20th October 2017. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

Cancel
Confirm
×