Available online at www.proenvironment.ro

ProEnvironment

ProEnvironment 3 (2010) 400 - 401

Original article - Short communication

On the Pygmy Sperm Whale Kogia breviceps (Blainville, 1838) Stranded at Silver Beach, , Southeast Coast of

RAVI .V.*, S. MURUGAN

Annamalai University, Faculty of Marine Sciences, -608502, Tamil Nadu, India

Received 20 September 2010; received and revised form 1 October 2010; accepted 25 October 2010 Available online 1 December 2010

Abstract

A Pygmy Sperm Whale Kogia breviceps was stranded at Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, Southeast coast of India. The whale measured 2.35metres and weighed approximately 300kg; the details of the morphometric measurements are provided in this paper.

Keywords: Pygmy Sperm Whale, Kogia breviceps , Tamil Nadu, India, morphometric

Marine mammals are the charismatic The present report is on K. breviceps megafauna of marine ecosystems and there are stranding (fig.1) at Cuddalore silver beach currently 125 recognized species [6] of marine (Lat.11 044’18N; Long. 79 047’13E), Tamil Nadu, mammals in the world (whales, dolphins, porpoises, southeast coast of India. The whale was identified dugong, seals, sea lions, walruses, manatees and sea by following a field guide [2]. otter). IUCN listed 25% of these species as threated [8]. The Pygmy sperm whale Kogia breviceps (Blainville, 1838) (Order Cetacea: Family Physeteridae) is widely distributed in the world oceans [1]. Most recently, West et al. (2009) reported that pygmy sperm whales eat a wide diversity of prey including fishes, cephalopods and crustaceans and engage in foraging activity between 600 m and 1,200 m spanning both the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones [7]. Pygmy sperm whales were frequently recorded stranded species [4] from Hawaiian waters. Most of the records of the whales along the Indian coast are on their stranding only [3, 5].

* Corresponding author. Tel. +91-4144-243223 Fax: +91-4144-243555 e-mail: [email protected] Figure 1. The stranded pygmy sperm whale, K. breviceps

400 Ravi V. et al./ProEnvironment 3 (2010) 400 - 401

The whale was washed ashore in a body- The total length of the whale was 2.35 meters swollen condition on March 5, 2010. The caudal and weighed approximately 300 kg. The peduncle caught entangled in the fishing net and morphometric measurements of the pygmy sperm injured. whale are given in table 1.

Table 1. Morphometric characters of measured from the pygmy sperm whale, K.breviceps

Sl.No Morphometric characters Measurements (cm) 1. Snout to angle of mouth 20 2. Snout to blowhole 22 3. Blowhole width 5 4. Snout to centre of eye 25 5. Eye diameter 8 6. Inter orbital distance 18 7. Snout to tip of dorsal fin (Predorsal distance) 128 8. Snout to anterior insertion of flipper 200 9. Snout to caudal fin 235 10. Caudal fin length 35 11. Snout to centre of genital aperture 140 12. Snout to centre of anus 145 13. Flipper length 25 14. Fluke length 35 15. Dorsal fin height 25 16. Doral fin origin to caudal fin 92 17. Girth I: (body depth near flipper) 55 18. Girth II: maximum(body depth near stomach) 65 19. Girth III: (body depth near anus) 50

Acknowledgements The authors are thankful to Dr. T. Balasubramanian, Professor and Dean, Faculty of Islands (1937–2002): How do they compare with live Marine Sciences, Annamalai University for the animal surveys? Pacific Science 59:55–67. facilities provided . [5] Melinmani, B.S..2004. Stranding of a whale, Balaenoptera sp. near Vijaydurg landing centre of References Maharashtra coast. Mar. Fish. Infor. Serv., T & E Ser., No. 182 (CMFRI Publications, India), 14 [1] Blainville, 1838 [6] Vivekanandan E.., R. Jeyabaskaran, K.S.S.M. Yousuf, [2] Geraci, Joseph R. and Valerie J. Lounsbury, 2005. B. Anoop, K. S. Abhilash and M. Rajagopalan, 2010, Marine Mammals Ashore- A Field Guide for Strandings- Marine Mammal Research and Conservation in India. Second Edition. National Aquarium in Baltimore, CMFRI,Kochi, 20 Baltimore, MD, 371 [7] West K. L., W. A. Walker, R. W. Baird, Whitney [3] Kasinathan, C. 2002. On the landing of Black White, G. Levine, E. Brown and D. Schofield, 2009, Diet Porpoise Neophocaena phocaenoides at Sangumal (Palk of pygmy sperm whales ( Kogia breviceps ) in the Bay) near Rameswaram. Mar. Fish. Infor. Serv., T & E Hawaiian Archipelago. Marine Mammal Science, Vol. Ser., No. 173 (CMFRI Publications, India), 3 25, Issue 4, 931 – 943

[4] Maldini D., L. Mazzuca and S. Atkinson, 2005, [8] IUCN, 2009, IUCN Red List of Threated species Odontocete stranding patterns in the Main Hawaiian Version 2009.2, www.iucnredlist.org

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