Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T23:03:55.088Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Epimeletic behaviour in rough-toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis) on the east coast of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2009

Jailson Fulgencio de Moura ,
Éderson da Silva Rodrigues  and
Salvatore Siciliano
Jailson Fulgencio de Moura*
Affiliation:
PPG em Saúde Pública e Meio Ambiente, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública/FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21410-210, Brazil Projeto de Monitoramento de Mamíferos Marinhos na Bacia de Campos — CENPES/PETROBRAS & ENSP/FIOCRUZ, Grupo de Estudos de Mamíferos Marinhos da Região dos Lagos, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública — FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21410-210, Brazil
Éderson da Silva Rodrigues
Affiliation:
Projeto de Monitoramento de Mamíferos Marinhos na Bacia de Campos — CENPES/PETROBRAS & ENSP/FIOCRUZ, Grupo de Estudos de Mamíferos Marinhos da Região dos Lagos, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública — FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21410-210, Brazil
Salvatore Siciliano
Affiliation:
Projeto de Monitoramento de Mamíferos Marinhos na Bacia de Campos — CENPES/PETROBRAS & ENSP/FIOCRUZ, Grupo de Estudos de Mamíferos Marinhos da Região dos Lagos, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública — FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21410-210, Brazil
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: J.F. de Moura, PPG em Saúde Pública e Meio Ambiente, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública/FLOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21410-210, Brazil email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

In this note we contribute new evidence of epimeletic behaviour in Steno bredanensis in Brazilian waters. On 2 April 2007 we received information from lifeguards about a dead stranded rough-toothed dolphin at Prainha, Arraial do Cabo, east coast of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. The dolphin was a male juvenile, 187 cm in total body length from the tip of the upper jaw to the caudal notch, and it was in a moderate state of decomposition. The results presented here, in addition to previous studies, indicate that rough-toothed dolphins display a highly complex social structure.

Keywords

Steno bredanensisepimeletic behaviourcare-giving behaviourrough-toothed dolphinsRio de JaneiroBrazil
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 2 , January 2009 , e12
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2009

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

Caldwell, M.C. and Caldwell, D.K. (1966) Epimeletic (care-giving) behavior in Cetacea. In Norris, K.S. (ed.) Whales, dolphins and porpoises. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, pp. 755–789.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Connor, R.C. and Norris, K.S. (1982) Are dolphins reciprocal altruists? The American Naturalist 119, 358–374.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cremer, M.J., Hardt, F.A.S. and Junior, A.J.T. (2006) Evidence of epimeletic behavior involving a Pontoporia blainvillei calf (Cetacea, Pontoporidae). Biotemas 19, 83–86.Google Scholar
Culik, B.M. and Wurtz, M. (2004) Review of small cetaceans: distribution, behavior, migration and threats. Bonn, Germany: UNEP/CMS Secretariat.Google Scholar
Di Beneditto, A.P.M., Ramos, R.M.A. and Lima, N.R.W. (2001) Sightings of Pontoporia blainvillei (Geravais and D'Orbigny, 1844) and Sotalia fluviatilis (Gervais, 1853) (Cetacea) in south-eastern Brazil. Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology 44, 291–296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dudzinski, K.M., Sakai, M., Masaki, K., Kogi, K., Hishii, T. and Kurimoto, M. (2003) Behavioral observations of bottlenose dolphins towards two dead conspecifics. Aquatic Mammals 29, 108–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Felix, F. (1994) A case of epimeletic behavior in a wild bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus in the Gulf of Guayaquil, Ecuador. Investigations in Cetacea 25, 227–234.Google Scholar
Flores, P.A.C. (2006) Birth and epimeletic behavior in marine tucuxi dolphins (Sotalia guianensis) in southern Brazil. In Siciliano, S. et al. (eds) Workshop on research of the genus SotaliaRio de Janeiro, Brazil19–23 June 2006.Google Scholar
Jefferson, T.A., Leatherwood, S. and Webber, M.A. (1993) FAO species identification guide: marine mammals of the world, 1st edn. Rome: United Nations Environment Programme.Google 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
Lodi, L. (1992) Epimeletic behavior of free-ranging rough-toothed dolphins, Steno bredanensis, from Brazil. Marine Mammal Science 8, 284–287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miyazaki, N. and Perrin, W.F. (1994). Rough-toothed dolphin Steno bredanensis (Lesson, 1828). In Ridgway, S.H. and Harrison, R.J. (eds) Handbook of marine mammals, vol. 5. The first book of dolphins. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Norris, K.S. and Prescott, J.H. (1961) Observations of Pacific cetaceans of California and Mexican Waters. University of California Publications in Zoology 63, 291–402.Google Scholar
Reeves, R.R., Smith, B.D., Crespo, E.A. and Sciara, G.N. di (2003) Dolphins, whales and porpoises: 2002–2010 Conservation Action Plan for the World's Cetaceans. Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN Publications Services Unit.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
Ritter, F. (2007) Behavioral responses of rough-toothed-dolphins to a dead newborn calf. Marine Mammal Science 23, 429–433.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rollo, M.M.M. Jr and Monteiro-Filho, E.L.A. (1994) Comportamento epiméletico de Tursiops truncatus na Região de Laguna, Estado de Santa Catarina, Brasil. In Anais da 6° Reunião de Trabalho de Especialistas em Mamíferos Aquáticos da América do Sul, Folrianópolis, Brasil, pp. 21–23.Google Scholar
Santos, M.C.O., Rosso, S., Siciliano, S., Zerbini, A.N., Zampirolli, E., Vicente, E. and Alvarenga, F. (2000). Behavioral observations of the marine tucuxi dolphin (Sotalia fluviatilis) in São Paulo estuarine waters, south-eastern Brazil. Aquatic Mammals 26, 260–267.Google Scholar
Siciliano, S., Moreno, I.B., Silva, E.D. and Alves, V.C. (2006) Baleias, botos e golfinhos na Bacia de Campos. Série guias de campo: Fauna Marinha da Bacia de Campos. Rio de Janeiro: ENSP/FIOCRUZ.Google Scholar
Siciliano, S., Ramos, R.M.A., Di Beneditto, A.P.M., Santos, M.C.O., Fragoso, A.B., Lailson-Brito, J. Jr, Azevedo, A.F., Vicente, A.F.C., Zampirolli, E., Alvarenga, F.S., Barbosa, L. and Lima, N.R.W. (2007) Age and growth of some delphinids in south-eastern Brazil. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 87, 293–303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar