Full text loading...
Mammal Study
Abstract
Abstract.
In this study, we examined a genetic variation of killer whales, Orcinus orca, from off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan, by sequencing the D-loop and cytochrome b (Cyt-b) regions of the mitochondrial genome. Three D-loop and two Cyt-b haplotypes were identified from eight skin biopsies. These five haplotypes had been previously deposited at GenBank and the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration (INSDC). Two D-loop and one Cyt-b haplotypes were consistent with the marine mammal-eating “Transient” ecotype previously reported in Japanese waters. One D-loop and one Cyt-b haplotypes were identified as the fish-eating “Resident” or “Offshore” ecotype that is the first record of this ecotype in Japanese waters. Our study showed that different ecotypes exist in Japanese waters, contributing to the conservation and management of killer whales.
We would like to express our deep gratitude to the following people who cooperated in carrying out this research. Oda Construction Co., Ltd., captain and crew of the Shiretoko Rausu cruise vessel “Hamanasu”, the Abashiri nature cruise vessel “Chipashiri”, and the T/S Ushio Maru of Hokkaido University. We thank Yukiko Yamamoto, Shiori Sasaki, Kaede Mizukoshi, Shota Haba, Sakurako Aoyama, Haruna Miyamoto and students and people participated in vessel research. We thank all those who supplied photographs including Hal Sato, Yuka Iwahara, and Haruna Okabe. The biopsy sampling protocol was approved by the Hokkaido University Animal Care and Use Committee (Permit number: 13-0124). This work was supported by crowd funding through Readyfor (https://readyfor.jp/), JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers JP23220006, JP24500326, JP15H05709, JP15K07227 and JP17K00208, JP20H03054 and Pro Natura Foundation Japan.
Data & Media loading...