Observations on Distribution and Intraspecific Variation in Pigmentation Patterns of Odontocete Cetacea in the Western North Atlantic

1973 ◽  
Vol 30 (8) ◽  
pp. 1111-1130 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. C. Mercer
Keyword(s):  
Intraspecific Variation ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Intraspecific Variability ◽  
Delphinapterus Leucas ◽  
Phocoena Phocoena ◽  
Western Atlantic ◽  
Stenella Coeruleoalba ◽  
West Greenland ◽  
Monodon Monoceros

This paper comprises sight records for nine species and morphometries, color descriptions, and miscellaneous notes on the food and parasites of seven species of small odontocetes observed from West Greenland to Florida 1967–72. Of interest are the first western Atlantic extralimital record of Monodon monoceros, first Newfoundland records of Stenella coeruleoalba, and extralimital records of Delphinapterus leucas from Newfoundland. Intraspecific variability is described in the pigmentation patterns of Phocoena phocoena.

A Review of the Morid Fish Genus Lepidion of the North Atlantic With First Records of Lepidion eques from the Western North Atlantic

1970 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 457-498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilfred Templeman
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Sexual Maturity ◽  
Head Length ◽  
Western Atlantic ◽  
Morphometric Characters ◽  
Northeast Atlantic ◽  
West Greenland ◽  
Biological Station ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic

Seventeen specimens of Lepidion eques (Günther) taken by the Fisheries Research Board of Canada St. John's, Nfld., Biological Station are apparently the first records of the species from the western Atlantic west of West Greenland. Comparison with specimens from the northeast Atlantic shows some differences in averages of meristic and morphometric characters, but with overlapping ranges in these characters.Comparison of these North Atlantic L. eques with the Mediterranean Lepidion lepidion (Risso) revealed that although closely related, these species are separable on the bases of the smaller orbit diameter in relation to the head length and especially by the relatively larger postorbital length in L. lepidion. Lepidion guentheri (Giglioli) is distinctly different from these two species in some meristic and many morphometric characters. Lectotypes of L. eques and L. guentheri are designated. Various incorrect or doubtful records of Lepidion are discussed. Two giant lepidions reported recently from the northeast Atlantic as L. guentheri are tentatively assigned to Lepidion schmidti Svetovidov, a species hitherto known only from Japan.The distributions of the North Atlantic species of Lepidion are discussed and information is provided on sexual maturity.

Preliminary Notes on the Occurrence and Exploitation of Smaller Cetacea in Greenland

1975 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 1079-1082 ◽  
Author(s):  
Finn O. Kapel
Keyword(s):  
Minke Whale ◽  
Annotated Bibliography ◽  
Delphinapterus Leucas ◽  
Phocoena Phocoena ◽  
Balaenoptera Acutorostrata ◽  
White Whale ◽  
Monodon Monoceros ◽  
Pilot Whales ◽  
By Catch

Approximately 1000 common or harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) are taken annually, not including the by-catch in salmon driftnets. Catches of narwhal (Monodon monoceros) and beluga (white whale, Delphinapterus leucas) fluctuate in the low to middle hundreds annually. Estimates of the annual catches in the Thule district are 100 beluga and 300 narwhals. Sporadic catches of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephata melaena) seldom exceed 100 animals per annum. Catches of minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) have risen since the late 1950s, with approximately 200 or more per annum taken in West Grenland since the mid 1960s. An annotated bibliography of titles on smaller Cetacea in Greenland is given.

An Index of the Relative Abundance of Wintering Belugas, Delphinapterus leucas, and Narwhals, Monodon monoceros, off West Greenland

1993 ◽  
Vol 50 (11) ◽  
pp. 2323-2335 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. P. Heide-Jørgensen ◽  
H. Lassen ◽  
J. Teilmann ◽  
R. A. Davis
Keyword(s):  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Delphinapterus Leucas ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
The West ◽  
Baffin Bay ◽  
West Greenland ◽  
Abundance Estimate ◽  
Monodon Monoceros ◽  
Pack Ice ◽  
Ice Conditions

Systematic aerial surveys of the wintering grounds of belugas, Delphinapterus leucas, and narwhals, Monodon monoceros, in southern Baffin Bay and northern Davis Strait were conducted in late winter of 1981, 1982, 1990, and 1991. Most belugas were found between 67°N and 69°N and none were seen more than 80 km off the coast of West Greenland. Compared with the surveys in 1981 and 1982, a decline in relative abundance of belugas along West Greenland was evident in 1991. This decline was significant at a probability level of 0.13 of the bootstrapped distribution of the combined abundance estimate. Pod sizes declined significantly between the 1981–82 and 1990–91 surveys. The variations in ice conditions between years did not seem to affect the distribution, clumping, or pod sizes of the belugas. Narwhals were widely distributed in the close pack ice offshore between 65°N and 72°N. Along the West Greenland coast, narwhals were primarily seen at the mouth of Disko Bay. No change in relative abundance or pod sizes could be detected for narwhals.

scholarly journals Three recent ice entrapments of Arctic cetaceans in West Greenland and the eastern Canadian High Arctic

2002 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 143 ◽  
Author(s):  
MP Heide-Jørgensen ◽  
P Richard ◽  
M Ramsay ◽  
S Akeeagok
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Polar Bear ◽  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Bowhead Whale ◽  
Delphinapterus Leucas ◽  
Polar Bears ◽  
Canadian High Arctic ◽  
West Greenland ◽  
The One

Three ice entrapments of Monodontids have been reported in the western North Atlantic since 1993. Hunters in Disko Bay, West Greenland, discovered one in March 1994 that included about 150 narwhals (Monodon monoceros). The entrapment occurred during a sudden cold period which caused ice to form rapidly. The trapped whales were subject to hunting, but about 50 of the killed whales could not be retrieved in the ice. The whales were trapped in a small opening in the ice and because of that they would probably have succumbed even if not discovered by hunters. Two entrapments involving white whales or belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) occurred in the eastern Canadian Arctic in May 1999; one in Lancaster Sound discovered by polar bear (Ursus maritimus) researchers and one in Jones Sound discovered by hunters. The first included one bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) and about 40 belugas that were being preyed upon by polar bears. The second involved at least 170 belugas, of which about 100 were killed by polar bears and 17 were taken by hunters. The entrapments in Disko Bay and Jones Sound both occurred in areas where entrapments have previously been reported, whereas the one in Lancaster Sound was in a new area.

Inshore Records of Cetacea for Eastern Canada, 1949–68

1970 ◽  
Vol 27 (11) ◽  
pp. 1903-1915 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. E. Sergeant ◽  
A. W. Mansfield ◽  
B. Beck
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Delphinapterus Leucas ◽  
Phocoena Phocoena ◽  
Balaenoptera Musculus ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Balaenoptera Physalus ◽  
Stenella Coeruleoalba ◽  
Number Of Species ◽  
Blue Whales

New and previously published records are given for 19 species of Cetacea stranded naturally, netted, or shot on the coasts of eastern Canada from Cape Chidley, Labrador (60°30′N), to the United States border (45°N), from 1949 to 1968. The most commonly recorded species were Globicephala melaena, Phocoena phocoena, Balaenoptera physalus, and Delphinapterus leucas. Occurrence of Stenella coeruleoalba at Sable Island was confirmed. Four blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) stranded naturally, three of them in the western Gulf of St. Lawrence. Groups of fin whales (B. physalus) were twice stranded by ice in western Newfoundland. The greatest number of species stranded at Sable Island (44°N, 60°W).

scholarly journals Size and trends of the bowhead whale, beluga and narwhal stocks wintering off West Greenland

2002 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 191 ◽  
Author(s):  
MP Heide-Jørgensen ◽  
Mario Acquarone
Keyword(s):  
Bowhead Whale ◽  
Delphinapterus Leucas ◽  
Line Transect ◽  
Total Abundance ◽  
West Greenland ◽  
Bowhead Whales ◽  
Line Transect Survey ◽  
Monodon Monoceros ◽  
Northern Edge ◽  
Index Estimate

To assess the size and trends of the abundance of the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus), the beluga, or white whale (Delphinapterus leucas), and the narwhal (Monodon monoceros) visual aerial surveys were conducted in West Greenland in March 1998 and 1999. An estimated 49 bowhead whales (95% CI: 13 to 188) were present at the surface in 1998. Data from land-based observations enabled correction for bowhead whales that were not available at the surface to be seen during the survey. By applying a rounded average of 80% (SE=3) for submergence an estimate of 246 bowhead whales (95% CI: 62 to 978) in 1998 was obtained. The 76 and 47 sightings of beluga pods in 1998 and 1999, respectively, had distributions similar to those of previous surveys with the highest concentration at the northern edge of the northern part of Store Hellefiskebanke. No belugas were seen in the southernmost area between Maniitsoq and Paamiut. The index estimate of the abundance of belugas comparable with previous surveys was 929 (95% CI: 563 to 1,533) in 1998 and 735 (95% CI: 436 to 1,239) in 1999. When analysing the sightings as a line-transect survey and correcting for whales that were either submerged or at the surface but missed by the observers an estimated 7,941 (95% CI: 3,650 to 17,278) belugas wintered in West Greenland in 1998-1999. The uncorrected estimate of narwhal abundance was 524 (95% CI: 214 to 1,284) and correcting for the same biases as for the belugas gives a total abundance of 2,861 (95% CI: 954 to 8,578) narwhals in 1998-1999.

A Review of the Morid Fish Genus Halargyreus with First Records from the Western North Atlantic

1968 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 877-901 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilfred Templeman
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
The Other ◽  
Nominal Species ◽  
Meristic Characters ◽  
Western Atlantic ◽  
North Central ◽  
Northeast Atlantic ◽  
The North

Three specimens of Halargyreus johnsonii taken on the southwestern and southeastern slopes of the Grand Bank in 1959 and 1964 are apparently the first records of this species and genus from the western Atlantic. These specimens are compared with the holotypes of H. johnsonii Günther and of H. brevipes Vaillant and with the syntypes of H. affinis Collett and also with specimens identified as H. affinis from the north-central and northeast Atlantic and with specimens of H. johnsonii from Madeira and New Zealand. These three nominal species are also compared. Is it concluded that for the present all North Atlantic specimens may be referred to H. johnsonii and that the other two species names should be considered as junior synonyms of H. johnsonii.The New Zealand specimens of Halargyreus, described by Günther (1887, Challenger Rept., 22(Zoology), p. 1–268) as H. johnsonii, have higher numbers for some meristic characters than Atlantic specimens of H. johnsonii but these differences are not too great to be possibly due to environmental differences. Pending the study of additional specimens in better condition, these New Zealand specimens are tentatively allowed to remain as H. johnsonii.

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