Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T22:07:30.825Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The chemical structure of the spermaceti organ of the Sperm Whale

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2009

Robert J. Morris
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

In the last few years there has been much interest in various physiological processes known to take place within toothed whales, dolphins, and porpoises (odontocetes). Such processes as respiration, audio-communication, echolocation, and buoyancy control have all been studied (Evans, 1967; Caldwell and Caldwell, 1968; Matthews, 1968; Poulter, 1968; Norris, 1968; 1969; Norris and Evans, 1967; Clarke, 1970). The odontocetes have been found to possess a large, fat-rich body called a “melon” in their foreheads, directly in front of the skull. It has been suggested that this melon is an acoustical transducer for transmitting and possibly focusing ultrasonic sound waves into the surrounding water for the purpose of echolocation (Norris, 1968; 1969; Norris and Evans, 1967). Certainly all odontocetes are known to produce orientated beams of sound, generated, it is thought, at the extermities of the animal's nasal plug (Evans and others, 1964; Norris, 1964).

Type
Articles
Information
Polar Record , Volume 17 , Issue 108 , September 1974 , pp. 249 - 254
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1974

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

Ackman, R. G.and others. 1971. Composition of wax esters, triglycerides and diacyl glyceryl ethers in the jaw and blubber fats of the Amazon River Dolphin (Inia geoffrensis). By Ackman, R. G., Eaton, C. A., and Litchfield, C.. Lipids, Vol 6, No 2, p 69–77.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ackman, R. G.and others. 1973. Molecular species of wax esters in jaw fat of Atlantic Bottlenosed Dolphin. By Ackman, R. G., Sipos, J. C., Eaton, C. A., Hilaman, B. L., and Litchfield, C.. Lipids, Vol 8, No 12, p 661–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caldwell, D. K.and others. 1966. Behavior of the sperm whale Physeter catodon L. By D. K. Caldwell, M. C. Caldwell, and D. W. Rice. In: Norris, K. S., ed. Whales, dolphins and porpoises. Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press, p 678–717.Google Scholar
Caldwell, M. C. and Caldwell, D. K. 1968. Vocalization of naive captive dolphins in small groups. Science, Vol 159, No 3819, p 1121–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clarke, M. R. 1970. Function of the spermaceti organ of the sperm whale. Nature, Vol 228, No 5274, p 873–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Evans, W. E. 1967. Vocalization among marine mammals. In: Tavolga, W. N., ed. Marine bio-acoustics, Oxford, Pergamon Press, Vol 2, p 159–86.Google Scholar
Evans, W. E.and others. 1964. The directional characteristics of delphinid sounds. By W. E. Evans, W. W. Sutherland, and R. G. Beil. In: Tavolga, W. N., ed., Marine bio-acoustics, Oxford, Pergamon Press, p 353–72.Google Scholar
Fraser, F. C. and Purves, P. E. 1960. Hearing in cetaceans. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Zoology, Vol 7, No 1, 140p.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Litchfield, C. R.and others, 1971. Isovaleroyl triglycerides from the blubber and melon oils of the beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas). By Litchfield, C. R., Ackman, R. G., Sipos, J. C., and Eaton, C. A.. Lipids, Vol 6, No 9, p 674–81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Litchfield, C. R.and others. 1973. Compositional topography of melon lipids in the Atlantic Bottlenosed Dolphin: implications for echolocation. By Litchfield, C. R., Karol, R., and Greenberg, A. J.. Marine Biology, Vol 23, No 1, p 165–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Litchfield, C. R. and Greenberg, A. J. 1974. Comparative lipid patterns in the melon fats of dolphins, porpoises and toothed whales. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Vol 47, No 213, p 401–08.Google Scholar
Matthews, L. H., ed. 1968. The whale. London, Allen and Unwin, 287 p.Google Scholar
Morris, R. J. 1973. The lipid structure of the spermaceti organ of the sperm whale (Physeter catodon). Deep-Sea Research, Vol 20, No 10, p 911–16.Google Scholar
Morris, R. J. 1974. Further studies into the lipid structure of the spermaceti organ of the sperm whale (Physoter catodon). [Submitted to Deep-Sea Research for publication.]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norris, K. S. 1964. Some problems of echolocation in cetaceans. In: Tavolga, W. N., ed. Marine bio-acoustics, Oxford, Pergamon Press, p 317–36.Google Scholar
Norris, K. S. 1968. The evolution of acoustic mechanisms in odontocete cetaceans. In: Drake, E. T., ed. Evolution and environment. New Haven, Yale University Press, p 297–324.Google Scholar
Norris, K. S. 1969. The echolocation of marine mammals. In: Anderson, H. T., ed. The biology of marine mammals. New York, Academic Press, p 391–423.Google Scholar
Norris, K. S. and Evans, W. E. 1967. Directionality of echolocation clicks in the rough-tooth porpoise, Steno bredanensis (Lesson). In: Tavolga, W. N.ed. Marine bio-acoustics. Oxford, Pergamon Press, Vol 2, p 305–16.Google Scholar
Norris, K. S. and Harvey, G. W. 1972. A theory for the function of the spermaceti organ of the sperm whale (Physeter catodon L.). In: Galler, S. R.and others, ed. Animal orientation and navigation. Washington DC, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, p 397–417.Google Scholar
Pouchet, G. and Beauregard, H. 1885. Note sur l'organe des spermaceti. Comptes-Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances et Mémoires de la Société de Biologic. Vol 2, No 8, p 342–44.Google Scholar
Poulter, T. C. 1968. Marine mammals. In: Seboek, T. A., ed. Animal communication, techniques of study and results of research. Bloomington, Indiana University Press, p 405–65.Google Scholar
Raven, H. C. and Gregory, W. K. 1933. The spermaceti organ and nasal passages of the Sperm Whale (Physeter catodon) and other odontocetes. American Museum Navitates, Vol 677, No 1, p 1–18.Google Scholar
Schenkkan, E. J. and Purves, P. E. 1973. The comparative anatomy of the nasal tract and the function of the spermaceti organ in the Physeteridae (Mammalia, Odontoceti). Bijdragen Tot de Dierkunde, Vol 43, No 1, p 93–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Varanasi, V. and Malins, D. C. 1970a. Unusual wax esters from the mandibular canal of the porpoise (Tursiops gilli). Biochemistry, Vol 9, No 18, p 3629–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Varanasi, V. and Malins, D. C. 1970b. Ester and ether-linked lipids in the mandibular canal of a porpoise (Phocoena phocoena). Occurrence of isovaleric acid in glycerolipids. Biochemistrty, Vol 9, No 23, p 4576–79.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Varanasi, V. and Malins, D. C. 1971. Unique lipids of the porpoise (Tursiops gilli): differences in triacyl glycerols and wax esters of acoustic (mandibular canal and melon) and blubber tissues. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, Vol 231, p 415–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Varanasi, V. and Malins, D. C. 1972. Triacylglycerols characteristic of porpoise acoustic tissues: molecular structures of diisovaleroylglycerides. Science, Vol 176, No 4037, p 926–28.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Varanasi, V.and others. 1973. The isomeric composition of diisovaleroylglycerides: a specificity for the biosynthesis of the 1,3-diisovaleroyl structures. By Varanasi, V., Everitt, M., and Malins, D. C., International Journal of Biochemistry, Vol 4, p 373–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wedmid, Y.and others. 1973. Heterogeneity of lipid composition within the cephalic melon tissue of the pilot whale (Globicephala meloena). By Wedmid, Y., Litchfield, C., Ackman, R. G., Sipos, J. C., Eaton, C. A., and Mitchell, E. D.. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, Vol 326, No 3, p 439–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yamada, M. 1953. Contribution to the anatomy of the organ of hearing in whales. Scientific Reports of the Whales Research Institute, Vol 8, No 1, p 1–79.Google Scholar