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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 April 2014

Pirjo Mäkeläinen ,
Ruth Esteban ,
Andrew D. Foote ,
Sanna Kuningas ,
Julius Nielsen ,
Filipa I.P. Samarra ,
Tiu Similä ,
Nienke C.F. van Geel  and
Gíslia A. Víkingsson
Pirjo Mäkeläinen*
Affiliation:
University of Helsinki, Aquatic Sciences, Hydrobiology, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Helsinki, Finland
Ruth Esteban
Affiliation:
CIRCE, Conservation Information and Research on Cetaceans, C/Cabeza de Manzaneda 3, Algeciras-Pelayo, 11390 Cadiz, Spain
Andrew D. Foote
Affiliation:
Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Øster Volgade 5-7, DK-1350 Copenhagen, Denmark
Sanna Kuningas
Affiliation:
Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9TS, UK
Julius Nielsen
Affiliation:
DTU Aqua, Jægersborg Allé 1, 2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark
Filipa I.P. Samarra
Affiliation:
Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9TS, UK Marine Research Institute, Skulagata 4, PO Box 1390, 121 Reykjavík, Iceland
Tiu Similä
Affiliation:
Wild Idea, Box 181, 8465 Straumsjøen, Norway
Nienke C.F. van Geel
Affiliation:
Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust, 28 Main Street, Tobermory, Isle of Mull, PA75 6NU, UK
Gíslia A. Víkingsson
Affiliation:
Marine Research Institute, Skulagata 4, PO Box 1390, 121 Reykjavík, Iceland
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: P. Mäkeläinen, Seulastentie 12 C, 00740 Helsinki, Finland email: [email protected]
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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.

Keywords

killer whaleOrcinus orcacolour patternsaddle patcheye patch orientationgenetic drift
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 94 , Issue 6 , September 2014 , pp. 1335 - 1341
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2014 

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