A rare new species of deep-diving whale was discovered in remote tropical islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans by University of New South Wales researchers
University of New South Wales researchers identified the species among a group of seven similar whales stranded on the tropical islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The new species of deep-diving whale is part of the beaked whale family. They are found in deep ocean waters beyond the edge of the continental shelf throughout the world's oceans.
Researchers used a combination of DNA analysis and physical characteristics to identify the new species from seven specimens found stranded in Sri Lanka, the Gilbert Islands (now Kiribati), Palmyra Atoll in the Northern Line Islands near Hawai'i, the Maldives, and the Seychelles.
Unfortunately, they were able to attain good quality DNA from tissue samples from only one specimen. They drilled through the bones of the other whales to analyze short fragments of "ancient DNA". For the analysis, they used techniques commonly used to identify old sub-fossil material from extinct species.
The new species is known as the Mesoplodon hotaula. To confirm that it was indeed a new species, researchers compared its DNA to other known beaked whale species.
"A number of species in this group are known from only a handful of animals, and we are still finding new ones," Dr Merel Dalebout, a visiting research fellow at UNSW said in a statement. "For example, the ginkgo-toothed beaked whale, first described in 1963, is only known from about 30 stranding and has never been seen alive at sea with any certainty. It's always incredible to me to realize how little we really do know about life in the oceans. There's so much out there to discover. "
The Mesoplodon hotaula is the third beaked whale species to be found in this decade. In 2002, Mesoplodon perrini or Perrin's beaked whale was found in the eastern North Pacific, and in 2003, Mesoplodon traversii, the spade-toothed whale was discovered from the Southern Ocean.
The recent discovery brings the total number of beaked whale species to 22.
The study of the newest species, Mesoplodon hotaula, appears in the latest issue of the journal Marine Mammal Science.
