Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-01T02:10:58.680Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

First record of a white rough-toothed dolphin (Steno bredanensis) off West Africa including notes on rough-toothed dolphin surface behaviour

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2010

Marijke N. de Boer
Marijke N. de Boer*
Affiliation:
Wageningen IMARES, Institute for Marine Resources and Ecosystem Studies, Postbus 167, 1790 AD Den Burg, The Netherlands
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Marijke N. de Boer, Wageningen IMARES, Institute for Marine Resources and Ecosystem Studies, Postbus 167 1790 AD Den Burg, Netherlands email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

In June 2009, a white rough-toothed dolphin (Steno bredanensis) calf was photographed in a group of at least 50 dolphins in the southern Gulf of Guinea, 95 nauticol miles off the Gabon coast (01°45′S 007°29′E), West Africa. Reports of unusually pigmented cetaceans are infrequent and this record represents the first of an all-white rough-toothed dolphin. Furthermore, there is little documentation concerning rough-toothed dolphins and this note contributes to the knowledge of this species in tropical West African waters.

Keywords

rough-toothed dolphinSteno bredanensispigmentationhypo-pigmentationWest AfricaGabon
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 3 , June 2010 , e66
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Addink, M.J. and Smeenk, C. (2001) Opportunistic feeding behaviour of rough-toothed dolphins Steno bredanensis off Mauritania. Zoologisch Verhandelingen Leiden 334, 38–48.Google Scholar
Baird, R.W., Webster, D.L., Mahaffy, S.D., McSweeney, D.J., Schorr, G.S. and Ligon, A.D. (2008) Site fidelity and association patterns in a deep-water dolphin: rough-toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis) in the Hawaiian Archipelago. Marine Mammal Science 24, 535–553.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Boer, M. N. (in press) Cetacean distribution and relative abundance in offshore Gabonese waters. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.Google Scholar
Cadenat, J. (1959) Rapport sur les petits cétacés ouest-africains: résultats des recherches entreprises sur ces animaux juqu'au mois de mars 1959. Bulletin de l'Institut Francais d'Afrique Noire, Série A: Sciences Naturelles 21, 1367–1409.Google Scholar
Fertl, D., Barros, N.B., Rowlett, R.A., Estes, S. and Richlen, M. (2004) An update on anomously white cetaceans, including the first account for the pantropical spotted dolphin (Stenella attenuata Grafmani). Latin American Journal of Aquatic Mammals 3, 163–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fertl, D. and Landry, A.M. Jr (1999) Sharksucker (Echeneis naucrates) on a bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and a review of other cetacean–remora associations. Marine Mammal Science 15, 859–863.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fertl, D. and Landry, A.M. Jr (2002) Sharksucker (Echeneis naucrates) on a bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) from Sarasota Bay, Florida, with comments on remora–cetacean associations in the Gulf of Mexico. Gulf of Mexico Science 151–152.Google Scholar
Fertl, D., Pusser, L.T. and Long, J.J. (1999) First record of an albino bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) in the Gulf of Mexico, with a review of anomalously white cetaceans. Marine Mammal Science 15, 227–234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fertl, D. and Rosel, P. (2002) Albinism. In Perrin, W.F., Würsig, B. and Thewissen, J.G.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of marine mammals. New York: Academic Press, pp. 16–18.Google Scholar
Götz, T., Verfuß, U. and Schnitzler, H. (2005) ‘Eavesdropping’ in wild rough-toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis). Biology Letters 2, 1–3.Google Scholar
Hain, J.H.W. and Leatherwood, S. (1982) Two sightings of white pilot whales, Globicephala meldena, and summarized records of anomalously white cetaceans. Journal of Mammalogy 63, 338–343.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jefferson, T.A. (2002) Rough-toothed dolphin Steno bredanensis. In Perrin, W.F., Würsig, B. and Thewissen, J.G.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of marine mammals. New York: Academic Press, pp. 1055–1059.Google Scholar
Jefferson, T.A., Curry, B.E., Leatherwood, S. and Powell, J.A. (1997) Dolphins and porpoises of West Africa: a review of records (Cetacea: Delphinidae, Phocoenidae). Mammalia 61, 87–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
JNCC (2004) Guidelines for minimising acoustic disturbance to marine mammals. Peterborough: JNCC.Google Scholar
Komdeur, J., Bertelsen, J. and Cracknell, G. (1992) Manual for aeroplane and ship surveys of waterfowl and seabirds. IWRB Special Publication, No. 19. Kalø, Denmark: National Environmental Research Institute.Google Scholar
Kuczaj II, S.A. and Highfill, L. (2005) Dolphin play: evidence for cooperation and culture? Behavioral and Brain Sciences 28, 705–706.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuczaj, S.A. and Yeater, D.B. (2007) Observations of rough-toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis) off the coast of Utila, Honduras. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 87, 141–148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuiken, T., Simpson, V.R., Allchin, C.R., Bennett, P.M., Codd, G.A., Harris, E.A., Howes, G.J., Kennedy, S., Kirkwood, J.K., Law, R.J., Merrett, N.R. and Phillips, S. (1994) Mass mortality of common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) in south west England due to incidental capture in fishing gear. The Veterinary Record 134, 81–89.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leatherwood, S. and Reeves, R.S. (1983) The Sierra Club handbook of whales and dolphins. San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books.Google Scholar
Leatherwood, S., Reeves, R., Perrin, W.F. and Evans, W.E. (1982) Whales, dolphins and porpoises of the eastern North Pacific and adjacent Arctic waters. NOAA Technical Report NMFS Circular No. 444.Google Scholar
Lodi, L. and Hetzel, B. (1999) Rough-toothed dolphin, Steno bredanensis, feeding behaviors in Ilha Grande Bay, Brazil. Biociências 7, 29–42.Google Scholar
MacLeod, C.D. and Bennett, E. (2006) Pan-tropical spotted dolphins (Stenella attenuata) and other cetaceans around St Helena. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 87, 339–344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maigret, J. (1994) Marine mammals and fisheries along the West African coast. Reports of the International Whaling Commission, Special Issue 15, 307–316.Google Scholar
Mann, J. (1999) Behavioural sampling methods for cetaceans: a review and critique. Marine Mammal Science 15, 102–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miyazaki, N. and Perrin, W.F. (1994) Rough-toothed dolphin Steno bredanensis (Lesson, 1828). In Ridgeway, S.H. and Harrison, R.J. (eds) Handbook of marine mammals. Volume 5. The first book of dolphins. London: Academic Press, pp. 1–21.Google Scholar
Morganonline (2007) Website: http://www.morganonline.nl/node/287Google Scholar
Nascimento, L.F., Spinelli, L.H.P., Santos, E. Jr, Queiroz, R.E.M., Pansard, K.C.A., Medeiros, P.I.A.P., Gondim, M.A., Jesus, A.H., Silva, F.J.L. and Yamamoto, E.M. (2007) Atypical coloration in a specimen of estuarine dolphin, Sotalia guianensis, on the littoral of the state of Rio Grande do Norte, north-east Brazil. JMBA Biodiversity Records (published on-line) 2 pages.Google Scholar
Neumann, D.R. and Orams, M.B. (2003) Feeding behaviours of short-beaked common dolphins, Delphinus delphis, in New Zealand. Aquatic Mammals 29, 137–149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ofori-Danson, P.K., Van Waerebeek, K. and Debrah, S. (2003) A survey for the conservation of dolphins in Ghanaian coastal waters. Journal of the Ghana Science Association 5, 45–54.Google Scholar
Ott, P.H. and Danilewicz, D. (1996) Southward range extensions of Steno bredanensis in the Southwest Atlantic and new records of Stenella coeruleoalba for Brazilian waters. Aquatic Mammals 22, 185–189.Google Scholar
Pittman, R. and Stinchcomb, C. (2002) Rough-toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis) as predators of Mahi mahi (Coryphaena hippurus). Pacific Science 56, 447–450.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ritter, F. (2002) Behavioral observations of rough-toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis) off La Gomera, Canary Islands (1995–2000), with special reference to their interactions with humans. Aquatic Mammals 28, 46–59.Google Scholar
Rosenbaum, H.C. and Collins, T. (2004) Cetacean conservation and research in Gabon. Report by the Wildlife Conservation Society, New York.Google Scholar
Steiner, L. (1995) Rough-toothed dolphin, Steno bredanensis: a new species record for the Azores, with some notes on behaviour. Arquipélago 13A, 125–127.Google Scholar
Stockin, K.A. and Visser, I.N. (2005) Anomalously pigmented common dolphins (Delphinus sp.) off northern New Zealand. Aquatic Mammals 31, 43–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Waerebeek, K. and Ofori-Danson, P.K. (1999) A first checklist of cetaceans off Ghana, Gulf of Guinea, and a shore-based survey of interactions with coastal fisheries. Paper SC/51/SM35 presented to the IWC Scientific Committee May 1999, p. 8.Google Scholar
Waring, G., Palka, D., Mullin, K., Hain, J., Heansen, L. and Bisack, K. (1997) US Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Marine Mammal Stock Assessments—1996. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-NE-114, pp. 206–208.Google Scholar
Watkins, W.A., Tyack, P., Moore, K.E. and Notarbartolo-di-Sciara, G. (1987) Steno bredanensis in the Mediterranean Sea. Marine Mammal Science 3, 78–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weir, C.R. (2006) Sightings of rough-toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis) off Angola and Gabon, south-east Atlantic Ocean. Abstract submitted to the 20th Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society, April 2006, Gdynia, Poland.Google Scholar
Weir, C.R. (2010) A review of cetacean occurrence in West African waters from the Gulf of Guinea to Angola. Mammal Review 40, 2–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar