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Taxonomic status of a “finner whale” (Balaenoptera swinhoei Gray, 1865) from southern Taiwan
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2018
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Source: Marine Mammal Science, 34(4), 1134-1140
[PDF-3.76 MB]
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Journal Title:Marine Mammal Science
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Description:Balaenoptera Lacépède, 1804 is the most polytypic genus of baleen whales and the most widely distributed cetacean genus. This genus, whose species are colloquially known as “rorquals,” has over 50 nominal species (Hershkovitz 1966). The most recent taxonomic revision included six species (Rice 1998) and one more, B. omurai, described by Wada et al. (2003) bring the total to seven. Six of the seven occur in the North Pacific, with the exception being B. bonaerensis. However, taxonomy has remained uncertain for some of the nominal species, many of which were named between 1840 and 1870. John E. Gray at the British Museum (Natural History) alone named 35 nominal species of baleen whales (Hershkovitz 1966). One species name that has been the most perplexing has been B. swinhoei Gray, 1866, which was given to a single specimen collected in Taiwan. The proximity of its collection has led us to assume that this specimen came from the east China Sea (ECS) population of fin whales (B. physalus). There is strong evidence that ECS fin whales represent a resident population genetically isolated from those off of the northeastern coast of Japan and the Kamchatka Peninsula, based on differences in blood type (Fujino 1960), body size measurements (Ichihara 1957), and limited distribution (Brownell 1981). The level of differentiation is sufficiently great that it is likely that they represent a distinct subspecies. Therefore, as part of a worldwide study on fin whale taxonomy, we wanted to genetically confirm that B. swinhoei was a fin whale as the name would be available for the ECS subspecies.
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Source:Marine Mammal Science, 34(4), 1134-1140
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ISSN:0824-0469;1748-7692;
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Rights Information:Accepted Manuscript
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