The southern boundary of the distributional range of the short-finned pilot whale, Globicephala macrorhynchus Gray, 1846, is extended up to Paposo (250 03' S), Chile. Craneal measurements given by Kasuya (1975) are compared with those found by the authors for G. melaena and G. macrorhynchus. G. macrorhynchus becomes the second Pilot Whale species from the genus Globicephala described for chilean waters

Correa, C.G.

Luna-Jorquera, G.

Portflitt Kandora, G.

Van Waerebeek, K.

Open Marine Archive

r Nota Cientifica> Estud. Oceanol. 6: 97 - 102 1987
THE SHORT - FINNED PILOT WHALE Globicephala macrorhynchus
GRAY, 1846, THE FIRST RECORD FOR CHILE.
PRIMER REGISTRO PARA CHILE DEL CALDERON DE ALETA CORTA
Globicephala macrorhynchus G RAY, 1846.
CARLOS GUERRA CORREA
Instituto de Investigaciones Oceanologicas - Universidad de Antofagasta - Casilla 1240
Antofagasta. CH I LE
KOEN VAN WAEREBEEK
laboratorium Morfologie en Systematiek, Museum voor Dierkunde Rijksuniversiteit Gent.
ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Gent - BELGIUM.
GEORGE PORTFLITT KANDORA
GUILLERMO LUNA JOROUERA
Grupo de Conservacion de la Vida Silvestre.
Instituto de Investigaciones Oceanologicas - Universidad de Antofagasta - Casilla 1240
Antofagasta, CHILE
ABSTRACT
The southern boundary of the distributional range of the short-finned pilot whale, Globice-
phala macrorhynchus Gray, 1846, is extended up to Paposo (250 03' S), Chile.
Craneal measurements given by KASUY A (1975) are compared with those found by the
authors for G. melaena and G. macrorhynchus.
G. macrorhynchus becomes the second Pilot Whale species from the genus Globicephala des-
cribed for chilean waters.
RESUMEN
Se amplia el I imite sur del rango de distribuci6n de la ballena pilato de aleta carta, Globice-
phaJa macrorhynchus, Gray, 1846, hasta la localidad de Paposo (250 03' S), Chile.
Se comparan algunas medidas craneales entregadas par KASUYA (1975) con las encontradas
par 105 autores para G. melaena y G. macrorhynchus.
G. macrorhynchus viene a ser la segunda especie del genera Globicephala descrita para aQuas
chilenas.
KEY WORDS: Globicephala macrorhynchus, globicephala, pilot whale.
Pilot whales Globicepho/a Lesson, 1828 occur
throughout all tropical to cool temperate wa-
ters in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans
(RICE, 1977), VAN BREE (1971) revising the
taxonomy of the genus recognizes only two valid
species: Globicephola melaena (Traill, 1809) and
Globicephola macrorhynchus Gray, 1846. This
concept has met general acceptance since (MIT-
CHELL, 1975; RICE, 1977; LEATHERWOOD
& REEVES, 1983).
Estud. Oceanol. 6 1987
The distribution of G. melaena or long-Fin-
ned Pilot Whale in the Atlantic Ocean extends
over both hemispheres, excluding tropical waters
(FRASER, 1950). The antitropical distribution
implies the existence of two completely isolated
populations which made DAVIES (1960) accord
them subspecific status: G. m. melaena in the
North Atlantic and G. m. ed~rdsi circumpolar
in cool temperate waters of the southern ocean.
G. mocrorhynchus or Short-Finned Pilot Wha-
le can be found in tropical and warm subtropical
waters of the Atlantic Ocean and of the Indo-Pa-
cific Ocean. I n the eastern Pacific it is known
from the northern coast of Guatemala to Alaska
(VAN BREE, 1971). ForthewesternPacificG.
mocrorhynchus is reported from the Japanese
coast by KASUYA (1975). KASUYA (1975) de-
monstrates also the presence of G. m. melaena in
Japan until at least the 10th. century A. D. and
discusses the possibility that a small population
of G. m. melaena might survive in northern Japa-
nese waters.
G. macrorhynchus had not yet been cited for
the southeast Pacific until 1985 when six pilot
whales were landed in Pucusana, Peru (120 12'
S), victims of an incidental catch, which were
examined and identified by VAN WAEREBEEK
& REYES (1986) as belonging to this species.
New data suggest that G. macrorhynchus
might even be the predominant pilot whale spe-
cies, at least seasonally off the Central Peruvian
coast (VAN WAEREBEEK & REYES, unpubli-
shed data).
For the Chilean cetofauna only G. melaena
has been registrated (Y Ai'IIEZ, 1948; DONOSO -
BARROS, 1975; AGUAYO, 1975; TORRES
et al. 1979; SIELFELD, 1983). DONOSO - BA-
RROS (1975) indicates that this species is widely
TABLE Crania! measurements of there pilot whales skulls of Northern Chile (in mm)
NO MEASUREMENTS AMM-16 AMM.15 AMM-18
675
345
265
240
197
176
148
432
467
465
330
171
176
100
109
75
33
134
184
(11 )
(11)
680
320
310
305
285
282
223
497
518
530
240
219
200
186
168
126
350
385
380
284
151
2
3
4
5
6
8
9
10
11 ...
215
285
126
104
76
49
149
165
(8)
181
96
99
42
14
Condylobasal length
Length rostrum from base
Width rostrum at base
Width rostrum at 1/4 length
Width rostrum at 1/2 length
Width premaxillae at 1/2 length
Width rostrum at 3/4 length
Preorbital width
Postorbital width
Skull width at zygomatic
Skull width at parietals
Max. width premaxillae prox.
Max. width premaxillae distally
Width external nares
Orbital length
Length antorbital process
Heigth crest
Width internal nares
Length upper tooth row
No alveoli upper left
No alveoli upper rigth
18
19
20
155
(8)
(8)
Guerra, C. et al. Primer registro de Globicephala malTorhynchus para Chile. 99
distributed on the Chilean coast from Coquimbo
(290 50' S) to Punta Arenas (530 OS'S) .
AGUAYO (1975) however mention its presence
from Arica (1S0 2S' S) to as far south as 600 S.
Since 19S0 numerous excursions have been
made along the coast of the II Region, e.g. from
RIo loa (210 25' S) to 260 10' S. Several
trips formed part of the "Proyecto larus" (fi-
nancial support: DIEXAT - Universidad de An-
tofagasta), while others were organized by the
"Grupo de Conservacion de la Vida Silvestre"
with the objective of studying marine mammals
in the II Region.
In March 1984 two pilot whale calvaria were
collected from the beach Pta. Paso Malo (21058'
5). The calvaria were entered into the collection
of the I nstituto de Investigaciones Oceanol6gicas
of the Universidad de Antofagasta under num-
bers AMM - 015 and AMM - 016.
In July 1986 another calvarium was recovered
from a beach in Paposo (250 03' 5) and registe-
red under number AMM - 018.
Cranial measurements of all three calvaria are
listed in Table I. Figure 1 shows the very distinc-
tive cranial morphology between specimens
AMM - 015 and AMM - 016. The most striking
Fig. 1. Dorsal (A) and ventral (B) aspect of calvaria AMM-16, Globicephala melaena
edwardi, at left and AMM-15, Globicephala macrorhynchus at rigth from northern Chile
Estud. Oceanol, 6 1987
the blaze behind the eye is often muted (LEA-
THERWOOD & REEVES, 1983) or absent
(VAN WAEREBEEK & REYES, unpublished
data). In general the ventral, anchor-shaped,
marking is less vivid and extensive in G. macror-
hynchus than in G. melaena. SERGEANT
(1962) did not mention any difference in the
shape and position of the dorsal fin.
As pointed out by KASUY A (1975) the occu-
rrence of Short-Finned Pilot Whales (G. macror-
hynchus ) as correlated with fisheries showed
seasonal fluctuations in Japanese waters. This
author inferred that these fluctuations are explai-
ned by seasonal changes in the oceanographic
conditions, mainly water temperature. Peruvian
and northern Chilean waters are known to be
subjected to wide thermal fluctuations due to the
EI Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenome-
non (see WOOSTER, 1983; ROMERO & GA-
RRIDO, 1985). It is possible to hypothesize that
the distribution of G. macrorhynchus in the stu-
dy area would be related to regional ENSO warm
water event wich not necessarily should reach the
intensity of a typical EI Nino. The same could
be argued for the occurrence of G. macrorhyn-
chus off the Peruvian coast (V AN WAE RE-
BEEK & REYES, unpublished data). Therefore
it is suggested that among the ENSO monitoring
activities programmed by national and internatio-
nal agencies, such as CPPS (Comision Permanente
del Pacifico Sur), special attention should be
paid to the registration and identification of lan-
ded and stranded pilot whales in order to test
this hypothesis.
difference in dorsal aspect is the much larger ex-
pansion of the praemaxillae in the distal half of
the rostrum in AMM - 015 compared to the near-
ly gradually decreasing width of the praemaxillae
from proximal to distal in AMM - 016. In addi-
tion the expansion of the praemaxillae in AMM-
015 completely covers the maxillae distally. To
the contrary in AMM - 016 the anterolateral
borders of the praemaxillae leave the maxillae
exposed over the whole length. These characte-
ristics together with the differences encountered
in the number of alveoli (Table I) conform with
those presented by VAN BREE (1971) to distin-
guish between G. mocrorhynchus and G. melaena.
As such calvaria AMM - 015 and AMM - 016
would correspond to the former and the latter
species respectively. The smaller-sized calvarium
AMM - 018 though several of its cranial bones
are not yet ankylosed demonstrates the same
characteristics as AMM - 015 and is identified as
a juvenile specimen of Globicephola mocrorhyn-
drus.
When comparing several cranial measurements
(Table II) expressed as percentages of the condy-
lobasal length with those presented by KASUY A
(1975) it is possible to confirm in a quantitative
way what is shown graphically in Figure 1.
To help the identification of both species in
the field we are offering here some features
which have proved to be distinctive. Stranded
specimens should be checked primarily for the
number and size of their teeth and the relative
length of the flippers. G. melaena normally has
9 - 12 teeth in each toothrow whereas G. mo-
crorhynchus has only 7 - 9 teeth (VAN BREE,
1971) but of considerably greater size (SER-
GEANT, 1958). As indicates its English com-
mon name G. melaena has long flippers, i.e. 18
- 27 % of the total length of the animal, while
the flippers of G. mocrorhynchus reach only 14
- 19 ok of the total body length (VAN BREE,
1971). A commonly used rule of thumb says
one-fifth of body length or more for the former
and one sixth or less for the latter species.
At sea it is hard if not impossible to discrimi-
nate between both pilot whale species. I n many
Long-Finned Pilot Whales (G. melaena) seen in
the southern hemisphere the blaze behind each
eye and the saddle behind the dorsal fin are whi-
te (LEATHERWOOD & REEVES, 1983). In
the Short-Finned Pilot Whale(G. mocrorhynchus)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors wish to thank Mr: Jaime Alvarado,
advisor of Public Relations of the "Grupo de
Conservacion de la Vida Silvestre", for his parti-
cipation in the surveys to collect osteological spe-
cimens.
The study-trip of Koen Van Waerebeek to the
Universidad de Antofagasta was financed by the
I UCN/UNEP Burmeister's Porpoise Project, in
contract with project leader Prof. Dr. D. E. Gas-
kin (University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada). Se-
veral incidental costs of K. V. Waerebeek were
covered by a 1985 grant of the .. Leopold III -
fonds voor Natuuronderzoek en Natuurbehoud",
Belgium.
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Aceptado para su publicaci6n el 6 de Julio de 1987


The short-finned pilot whale <i>Globicephala macrorhynchus</i> Gray, 1846, the first record for Chile = Primer registro para Chile del calderon de aleta corta <i>Globicephala macrorhynchus</i> Gray, 1846

The short-finned pilot whale <i>Globicephala macrorhynchus</i> Gray, 1846, the first record for Chile = Primer registro para Chile del calderon de aleta corta <i>Globicephala macrorhynchus</i> Gray, 1846

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