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Reproductive Physiology of the Resident Population of Fin Whales in the Gulf of California

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Reproductive Physiology of the Resident Population of Fin Whales in the Gulf of California INSTITUTO POLITECNICO NACIONAL CENTRO INTERDISCIPLINARIO DE CIENCIAS MARINAS REPRODUCTIVE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE RESIDENT POPULATION OF FIN WHALES IN THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA TESIS QUE PARA OBTENER EL GRADO DE DOCTORADO EN CIENCIAS MARINAS PRESENTA ERICA CARONE LA PAZ, B.C.S., DICIEMBRE DE 2019 ----.J SIP-14 INSTITUTO POLITÉCNICO NACIONAL SECRETARIA DE INVESTIGACiÓN Y POSGRADO ACTA DE REVISiÓN DE TESIS En la Ciudad de La Paz, S .C.S., siendo las 12:00 horas del dfa 17 del mes de Octubre del 2019 se reunieron los miembros de la Comisión Revisora de Tesis designada por el Colegio de Profesores de Estudios de Posgrado e Investigación de CICIMAR para examinar la tesis titulada : "REPRODUCflVE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE RESIDENT POPULATION OF FIN WHALES IN THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA" Presentada por el a'lumno: CARONE ERICA Apellido paterno matemo nombre(r­s) ----,-r-----,--,--,----,--, Con registro: I B I 1 I 5 I o o I 8 4 Aspirante de: DOCTORADO EN CIENCIAS MARINAS Después de intercambiar opiniones los miembros de la Comisión manifestaron APROBAR LA DEFENSA DE LA TESIS, en virtud de que satisface los requisitos señalados por las disposiciones reglamentarias vigentes. LA COMISION REVISORA D;,"ct~ "~RON LANIEL ~ \~ »~' V •. ' DR. JAIM~TGun..REZ DRA. CLAUD>AJANETL OE..ANDE> CAMACHO S. /lt¡{¿Uó-Il DRA. SHANNON KATHILEEN CROWELL ATKINSON OF¡50RES DR. SE INSTITUTO POLITÉCNICO NACIONAL SECRETARíA DE INVESTIGACIÓN Y POSGRADO CARTA CESIÓN DE DERECHOS En la Ciudad de La Paz, 8.C.S., el día 28 del mes de ___O~c~~==~e~_ del año 2019 El (la) que suscribe ___________-.:...M~e=-:n=__:::C;..c.E=-:Rc::I:...;:C;:..:A=---C::cA.::;:R"-O;:..:N:..:.E=--___________ Alumno (a) del Programa DOCTORADO EN CIENCIAS MARINAS con número de registro 8150084 adscrito al CENTRO INTERDISCIPLlNARIO DE CIENCIAS MARINAS manifiesta que es autor(a) intelectual del presente trabajo de tesis, bajo la dirección de: DRA. DlANE GENDRON LANIEL y cede los derechos del trabajo titulado: "REPRODUCTIVE PHVSIOLOGV OF THE RESIDENT POPULATION OF FIN WHALES IN THE GULF QF CALIFORNIA" al Instituto Politécnico Nacional, para su difusión con fines académicos y de investigación. Los usuarios de la información no deben reproducir el contenido textual, gráficas o datos del trabajo sin el permiso expreso del autor y jo director del trabajo. Éste, puede ser obtenido escribiendo a la siguiente dirección: [email protected] - [email protected] Si el permiso se otorga, el usuario deberá dar el agradecimiento correspondiente y citar la fuente del mismo. M en C. ERICA CARONE Nombrey firma del alumno INDEX INDEX .................................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION ........................................................................................................ iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................... v LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................... vii GLOSSARY ........................................................................................................... x RESUMEN .......................................................................................................... xiv ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................... xvi 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 2. BACKGROUND .............................................................................................. 4 2.1. Fin whale ..................................................................................................... 4 2.2. Reproduction in large whales ................................................................... 6 2.3. Biomarkers in blubber ............................................................................... 8 2.3.1. Hormones ............................................................................................. 9 2.3.2. Lipids .................................................................................................. 15 3. JUSTIFICATION ............................................................................................ 18 4. HYPOTHESIS................................................................................................ 18 5. OBJECTIVE .................................................................................................. 19 5.1. Specific objectives ................................................................................... 19 6. MATERIALS AND METHODS ...................................................................... 20 6.1. Samples collection ................................................................................... 20 6.2. Whale identification ................................................................................. 22 6.3. Samples preparation ................................................................................ 22 6.4. Hormone analysis .................................................................................... 23 6.4.1. Extraction ........................................................................................... 23 6.4.2. Quantification ..................................................................................... 23 6.4.3. Validation ............................................................................................ 24 6.5. Lipid analysis ........................................................................................... 25 6.5.1. Extraction ........................................................................................... 25 6.5.2. Separation .......................................................................................... 25 6.5.3. Fatty acids .......................................................................................... 26 ii 6.6. Statistical analysis ................................................................................... 27 7. RESULTS ...................................................................................................... 29 7.1. Whale identification ................................................................................. 29 7.2. Blubber variability .................................................................................... 29 7.3. Hormones ................................................................................................. 30 7.3.1. Validation of hormones ..................................................................... 30 7.3.2. Concentrations of sex hormones in the blubber ............................ 32 7.3.3. Seasonality ......................................................................................... 35 7.4. Lipids ............................................................................................................ 38 7.4.1. Lipid variation related to sex and reproductive categories ........... 38 7.4.2. Seasonality ......................................................................................... 40 7.4.3. Fatty acids .......................................................................................... 41 8. DISCUSSION ................................................................................................ 45 8.1. Variability in blubber ................................................................................ 45 8.2. Sex hormones .......................................................................................... 47 8.2.1. Females .............................................................................................. 48 8.2.2. Males ................................................................................................... 50 8.3. Stress hormones ...................................................................................... 52 8.4. Seasonality ............................................................................................ 55 8.5. Metabolic aspects of reproduction ......................................................... 58 9. SUMMARY .................................................................................................... 62 10. CONCLUSIONS ......................................................................................... 63 11. RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................................................. 63 12. REFERENCES ........................................................................................... 64 13. APPENDICES ............................................................................................ 89 Appendix I ........................................................................................................ 89 Appendix II ....................................................................................................... 90 Appendix III ...................................................................................................... 90 Appendix IV ..................................................................................................... 93 iii DEDICATION Al mio piccolo Enea Tui, che ha reso la fine di questo percorso così speciale. Con la speranza che da grande tu possa continuare a vedere questi bellissimi giganti buoni. Al mio compagno di vita Fabio, che in questi quattro anni di montagne russe emotive mi è stato sempre accanto facendomi continuare a credere nella bellezza della scienza. Στα βάθη των ωκεανών ακούω τον ήχο των σεισμών κι από την γη που άνοιξε περνάω
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