TITLE:
Developmental Changes in the Morphology of Western North Pacific Bryde’s Whales (Balaenoptera edeni)
AUTHORS:
Takeharu Bando, Gen Nakamura, Yoshihiro Fujise, Hidehiro Kato
KEYWORDS:
Bryde’s Whale, Body Proportion, Allometric Growth
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Animal Sciences,
Vol.7 No.3,
July
24,
2017
ABSTRACT: Developmental changes in the
body proportions of
western North Pacific Bryde’s whales (Balaenoptera
edeni) were investigated
by examining the proportion of each body part to the total body length. The
head and chest region increased to a certain body length; subsequently, the length
of head region stabilized, and
that of the chest region decreased. The length of the abdominal region remained constant to a certain body
length and subsequently showed
a marked increase, and that of
the tail region decreased consistently. The length of dorsal fin and flukes
decreased consistently, whereas
that of the
flippers remained constant to a certain body
length and subsequently decreased.
The relative growth pattern determined by an allometric analysis was positive for the head region but
negative for the lower body part, flippers, flukes, and dorsal fin. Both sexes demonstrated the same growth pattern,
but the coefficients differed. This is the first study to investigate
developmental changes in the
body proportions of Bryde’s whales using more than 700 specimens covering a
wide body length range. We believe that the results of this study will
contribute to various research fields, including taxonomy, phylogeny, and
feeding ecology of this species.