Genetic diversity and structure of blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) in Australian feeding aggregations

Catherine R M Attard; Luciano B. Beheregaray; Curt Jenner; Peter Gill; Micheline Jenner; Margaret Morrice; John Bannister; Rick LeDuc; Luciana Möller

doi:10.1007/s10592-010-0121-9

Genetic diversity and structure of blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) in Australian feeding aggregations

Catherine R M Attard, Luciano B. Beheregaray, Curt Jenner, Peter Gill, Micheline Jenner, Margaret Morrice, John Bannister, Rick LeDuc, Luciana Möller^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

25 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The worldwide distribution of blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) has not prevented this species from becoming endangered due to twentieth century whaling. In Australia there are two known feeding aggregations of blue whales, which most likely are the pygmy subspecies (B. m. brevicauda). It is unknown whether individuals from these feeding aggregations belong to one breeding stock, or multiple breeding stocks that either share or occupy separate feeding grounds. This was investigated using ten microsatellite loci and mitochondrial DNA control region sequences (N = 110). Both sets of markers revealed no significant genetic structure, suggesting that these whales are likely to belong to the same breeding stock.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2437-2441
Number of pages	5
Journal	Conservation Genetics
Volume	11
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-010-0121-9
Publication status	Published - Dec 2010

Keywords

Australia
Balaenoptera musculus
Blue whale
Microsatellite
Mitochondrial DNA

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10.1007/s10592-010-0121-9

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abstract = "The worldwide distribution of blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) has not prevented this species from becoming endangered due to twentieth century whaling. In Australia there are two known feeding aggregations of blue whales, which most likely are the pygmy subspecies (B. m. brevicauda). It is unknown whether individuals from these feeding aggregations belong to one breeding stock, or multiple breeding stocks that either share or occupy separate feeding grounds. This was investigated using ten microsatellite loci and mitochondrial DNA control region sequences (N = 110). Both sets of markers revealed no significant genetic structure, suggesting that these whales are likely to belong to the same breeding stock.",

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AU - Gill, Peter

AU - Jenner, Micheline

AU - Morrice, Margaret

AU - Bannister, John

AU - LeDuc, Rick

AU - Möller, Luciana

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KW - Mitochondrial DNA

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EP - 2441

JO - Conservation Genetics

JF - Conservation Genetics

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ER -

Genetic diversity and structure of blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) in Australian feeding aggregations

Abstract

Keywords

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