Aspects of the distribution of Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris) in relation to topographic features in the Pelagos Sanctuary (north-western Mediterranean Sea)

2007 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
pp. 177-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurélie Moulins ◽  
Massimiliano Rosso ◽  
Barbara Nani ◽  
Maurizio Würtz
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Encounter Rate ◽  
Beaked Whale ◽  
Sea Floor ◽  
Topographic Features ◽  
Western Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Beaked Whales ◽  
Cuvier’S Beaked Whale ◽  
North Western

Cuvier's beaked whale is a poorly-known species. It has been considered common since 1980 in the Pelagos Sanctuary (north-western Mediterranean Sea), but it has hardly been studied, chiefly due to difficulties in sighting. Stranding data indicates that the beaked whale is present all along the Ligurian coast. As with any deep-diving odontocete, Cuvier's beaked whale feeds mostly on deep-sea squid, but also on some fish and a small number of crustaceans. As a consequence, it is thought to be found mainly in waters deeper than 1000 m, where the sea bed has a particular slope. The aim of this work is to analyse a large quantity of sightings in order to define the favoured habitat of the beaked whale. Topographic features such as depth, depth gradient and bathymetric anomaly were analysed due to their direct influence on the prey of Cuvier's beaked whales. Data were registered between Genova and Imperia, from 2000 to 2006. Two hundred and forty-seven sightings were recorded, a total of 532 whales. The mean herd size observed was 2.3±1.5 (range=1–11). For 40 sightings, the group composition was divided into maturity categories, using results obtained by photo-identification. Seventeen groups consisted of purely immature animals, and 4 groups consisted of only mature animals. The 19 mixed herds were composed mainly of 4.0±2.2 individuals (range=2–8) and consisted of 58% mature individuals. The 17 immature groups consisted of 2.1±0.9 individuals. Mature animals were usually found alone. Forty-eight per cent of beaked whales were seen where the depth was between 756 and 1389 m but the encounter rate was higher between depths of 1389 and 2021 m. The sightings were more frequent (34%) where the sea floor slope was between 31 and 51 m/km but the encounter rate was higher where the sea floor slope was between 11 and 31 m/km. The encounter rate for Cuvier's beaked whales was higher where the depth anomaly was positive with values between 342 and 586 m.

Partitioning of the Pelagos Sanctuary (north-western Mediterranean Sea) into hotspots and coldspots of cetacean distributions

2008 ◽  
Vol 88 (6) ◽  
pp. 1273-1281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurélie Moulins ◽  
Massimiliano Rosso ◽  
Marco Ballardini ◽  
Maurizio Würtz
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Continental Slope ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Sperm Whales ◽  
Fin Whale ◽  
Striped Dolphin ◽  
Western Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Beaked Whales ◽  
Risso's Dolphin ◽  
North Western

This study used Monte Carlo methods to generate simulations that considered the effort distribution to determine the locations of significant aggregations of cetacean sightings inside the northern Pelagos Sanctuary (north-western Mediterranean Sea). For three years, monitoring has been conducted from five motor vessels covering about 30,050 km. The most frequently encountered species were the striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba representing 64.7% of all sightings, the fin whale Balaenoptera physalus (17.0%), Cuvier's beaked whale Ziphius cavirostris (9.9%), Risso's dolphin Grampus griseus (4.3%) and the sperm whale Physeter catodon (2.2%). Sightings' positions and effort coverage were distributed over a grid of 5′ longitude and 5′ latitude. Spatial concentrations of sightings were analysed according to the distribution of effort to identify ‘hotspots’ (locations where the species occurred at a significantly greater frequency than expected), and ‘coldspots’ (locations with a significantly lower frequency than expected). Most fin whale hotspots (14) were located on the bathyal plain between 2000 and 2500 m, four hotspots were around the 1000 m isobaths, and one is located close to the seamount off Genoa. Fin whale coldspots were mainly along the coast. Striped dolphin hotspots were widely distributed over two main areas, in waters with depths between 2000 and 2500 m and at the continental slope; coldspots for this species were also mainly along the coast in the northern part of the study area. Many hotspots were found in the Genoa Canyon, and hotspots of striped dolphins, Cuvier's beaked whales, sperm whales and Risso's dolphins overlapped in this region. Some of the hotspots of Cuvier's beaked whales were identified at the seamount in the study area, where no other species was sighted frequently. Risso's dolphin hotspots were mainly near the 1000 m isobath. For sperm whales, several hotspots were identified: three associated with steep slope features (such as canyons or the continental slope), and one was in the centre of the flat area of Pelagos where the depth is 2500 m. This study highlights the ecological importance of particular locations inside the Pelagos Sanctuary—locations that should be protected from anthropogenic degradations for marine mammal conservation.

Two live sightings of Sowerby's beaked whale (Mesoplodon bidens) from the western Mediterranean (Tyrrhenian Sea)

2017 ◽  
Vol 98 (5) ◽  
pp. 1003-1009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Bittau ◽  
Mattia Leone ◽  
Adrien Gannier ◽  
Alexandre Gannier ◽  
Renata Manconi
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Tyrrhenian Sea ◽  
Beaked Whale ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
The North ◽  
Western Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Beaked Whales ◽  
Species Groups ◽  
The Mediterranean

Sowerby's beaked whale (Mesoplodon bidens) was previously known in the Mediterranean Sea from a single live stranding of two individuals in the French Riviera. We report here on two live sightings in the western Mediterranean, central-western Tyrrhenian Sea off eastern Corsica (Montecristo Trough) and off eastern Sardinia (Caprera Canyon) in 2010 and 2012, respectively. In both cases single individuals, possibly the same individual, occurred within groups of Cuvier's beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) suggesting inter-specific interactions. Based on our close observations of mixed-species groups of Sowerby's and Cuvier's beaked whales, we hypothesize that some previous long-distance sightings of beaked whales in the Mediterranean may not be reliably attributed to Z. cavirostris. The present sightings and previous live stranding indicate that the western Mediterranean Sea is the easternmost marginal area of M. bidens within the North Atlantic geographic range. Notes on behaviour are also provided.

scholarly journals Balneola vulgaris gen. nov., sp. nov., a member of the phylum Bacteroidetes from the north-western Mediterranean Sea

2006 ◽  
Vol 56 (8) ◽  
pp. 1883-1887 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurent Urios ◽  
Hélène Agogué ◽  
Françoise Lesongeur ◽  
Erko Stackebrandt ◽  
Philippe Lebaron
Keyword(s):  
16S Rrna ◽  
16S Rrna Gene ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Gene Sequence ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
16S Rrna Gene Sequence ◽  
Rrna Gene ◽  
Rrna Gene Sequence ◽  
Western Mediterranean Sea ◽  
North Western

A novel aerobic, Gram-negative bacterium, named 13IX/A01/164T, was isolated from surface waters in the coastal north-western Mediterranean Sea. Cells were motile, straight rods, 2.5 μm long and 0.2 μm wide, and formed orange colonies on marine agar medium. The G+C content of the genomic DNA of strain 13IX/A01/164T was 42 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence placed the strain in the phylum Bacteroidetes within the family Crenotrichaceae. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence comparison and physiological and biochemical characteristics, this isolate represents a novel species of a new genus, for which the name Balneola vulgaris gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Balneola vulgaris is 13IX/A01/164T (=DSM 17893T=CIP 109092T=OOB 256T).

scholarly journals A new species of Pista Malmgren, 1866 (Polychaeta, Terebellidae) from the north-western Mediterranean Sea

ZooKeys ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 838 ◽  
pp. 71-84
Author(s):  
Céline Labrune ◽  
Nicolas Lavesque ◽  
Paulo Bonifácio ◽  
Pat Hutchings
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Anterior Part ◽  
Posterior Part ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Single Pair ◽  
The North ◽  
Western Mediterranean Sea ◽  
North Western ◽  
A New Species

A new species of Terebellidae, Pistacolinisp. n., has been identified from the harbour of Banyuls-sur-Mer, north-western Mediterranean Sea. This new species was found in very high densities, exclusively in gravelly sand deposited manually, and was not found in the original source habitat of the gravel. This species is characterized by the colour of the ventral shields with pinkish anterior part and a blood red posterior part in live specimens, a pair of unequal-sized plumose branchiae inserted on segment II and anterior thoracic neuropodia with long-handled uncini. The presence of long-handled uncini even in the smallest specimens constitutes the major difference between Pistacolinisp. n. and other Pista species with a single pair of branchiae such as P.lornensis and P.bansei.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document