First live sighting of Deraniyagala’s beaked whale(Mesoplodon hotaula)or ginkgo-toothed beaked whale(Mesoplodon ginkgodens)in the western Pacific(South China Sea)with preliminary data on coloration,natural markings,and surfacing patterns  

作　　者：Massimiliano ROSSO Mingli LIN Francesco CARUSO Mingming LIU Lijun DONG Anna BORRONI Wenzhi LIN Xiaoming TANG Alessandro BOCCONCELLI Songhai LI 

机构地区：[1]Marine Mammal and Marine Bioacoustics Laboratory,Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Sanya,China [2]CIMA Research Foundation,Savona,Italy [3]Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering,Woods Hole,Massachusetts,USA

出　　处：《Integrative Zoology》2021年第4期451-461,共11页整合动物学（英文版）

基　　金：supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(Grant number 2016YFC0300803);the National Natural Science Foundation of China(41406182,41306169 and 41422604);the biodiversity investigation,observation and assessment program(2019-2023)of Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China;Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong(MM02-1516,AW02-1920).

摘　　要：Beaked whales represent around 25%of known extant cetacean species,yet they are the least known of all marine mammals.Identification of many Mesoplodon species has relied on examination of a few stranded individuals.Particularly,the ginkgo-toothed beaked whale(Mesoplodon ginkgodens)and Deraniyagala’s beaked whale(Mesoplodon hotaula)are among the least-known of beaked whale species,without confirmed sightings of living individuals to date.We present a sighting of 3 free-ranging individuals of M.ginkgodens/hotaula whale from a dedicated marine mammal vessel survey carried out in the South China Sea in April and May 2019.Photographic data(301 photographs)from the sighting were compared to photos of fresh stranded ginkgo-toothed beaked whale and Deraniyagala’s beaked whale from both historical and unpublished records.We found that free-ranging M.ginkgodens and M.hotaula individuals can be easily distinguished from other Mesoplodon species due to differences in melon and gape shapes and coloration patterns.However,accurate at-sea differentiation of M.ginkgodens and M.hotaula may not be possible due to high similarity in both coloration and scarring patterns.In addition to our photo-identification data,we collected what we believe to be the first preliminary descriptions of surfacing behavior and diving patterns of one of these species.Finally,the presence of scars possibly caused by fishing gear or marine litter raises concerns about anthropogenic impacts and conservation of these poorly known species.

关 键 词：Deraniyagala’s beaked whale ginkgo-toothed beaked whale marine litter Mesoplodon South China Sea 

分 类 号：P73[天文地球—海洋科学]