Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T18:01:01.155Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Sternum and appendicular skeleton: morphometric differences between the species of genus Sotalia (Cetacea: Delphinidae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 August 2012

D.C. Fettuccia*
Affiliation:
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), Laboratório de Mamíferos Aquáticos
V.M.F. da Silva
Affiliation:
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), Laboratório de Mamíferos Aquáticos
M.S. Rocha
Affiliation:
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), Coleção de Peixes
P.C. Simões-Lopes
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Departamento de Ecologia e Zoologia, CCB, Laboratório de Mamíferos Aquáticos
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: D.C. Fettuccia, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), Laboratório de Mamíferos Aquáticos email: [email protected]

Abstract

Two distinct species have been recently recognized for the genus Sotalia: S. fluviatilis, occurring in the Amazon River basin, and S. guianensis, from Honduras (15°58′N and 85°42W) to Santa Catarina State (Florianópolis, southern Brazil—27°35′S and 48°34′W). For the first time the sternum and the appendicular skeleton of the two species of the genus Sotalia are compared. A comparative osteological work was performed with marine samples (from the States of Ceará, north-eastern and Santa Catarina, southern regions of Brazil) and riverine samples (Amazonas State) in relation to metric characters (scapula, flipper and sternum). There was a clear distinction of two species in relation to postcranial skeleton in the morphometric analysis (canonical variate analysis) presented. The flipper and the glenoid cavity of the scapula were proportionally wider in the fluvial species. The sternum, however, was smaller in this species in relation to the maximum width of the manubrium. Nevertheless, this structure still needs to be further studied.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Ávila, F.J.C., Alves-Júnior, T.T., Parente, C.P., Vaz, L.A.L. and Monteiro-Neto, C. (2002) Osteologia do boto-cinza, Sotalia fluviatilis Gervais, 1853, da Costa do Estado do Ceará, Brasil. Arquivo de Ciências do Mar 35, 145155.Google Scholar
Arvy, L. and Pilleri, G. (1977) The sternum in Cetacea. Investigations on Cetacea 8, 123148.Google Scholar
Borobia, M. (1989) Distribution and morphometrics of South American dolphins of the genus Sotalia. Master's thesis. McDonald College of McGill University, Montreal, Canada.Google Scholar
Buchholtz, E.A. (2001) Vertebral osteology and swimming style in living and fossil whales (Order: Cetacea). Journal of Zoology of London 253, 175190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buchholtz, E.A. and Schur, S.A. (2004) Vertebral osteology in Delphinidae (Cetacea). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 140, 383401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caballero, S., Trujillo, F., Vianna, J.A., Barrios-Garrido, H., Montiel, M.G., Beltrán-Pedreros, S., Marmontel, M., Santos, M.C.O., Rossi-Santos, M., Santos, F.R. and Baker, C.S. (2007) Taxonomic status of the genus Sotalia: species level ranking for ‘tucuxi’ (Sotalia fluviatilis) and ‘costero' (Sotalia guianensis) dolphins. Marine Mammal Science 23, 358386.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carvalho, C.T. (1963) Sobre um boto comum no litoral do Brasil (Cetacea, Delphinidae). Revista Brasileira de Biologia 23, 266276.Google Scholar
Cunha, H.A., da Silva, V.M.F., Lailson-Brito, J. Jr, Santos, M.C.O., Flores, P.A.C., Martin, A.R., Azevedo, A.F., Fragoso, A.B.L., Zanelatto, R.C. and Solé-Cava, A.M. (2005) Riverine and marine ecotypes of Sotalia dolphins are different species. Marine Biology 148, 449457.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
da Silva, V.M.F. and Best, R.C. (1994) Tucuxi Sotalia fluviatilis (Gervais, 1853). In Ridgway, S.H. and Harrison, S.R. (eds) Handbook of marine mammals. London: Academic Press, pp. 4369.Google Scholar
da Silva, V.M.F. and Best, R.C. (1996) Sotalia fluviatilis. Mammalian Species 527, 17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dawbin, W.H., Noble, B.A. and Fraser, F.C. (1970) Observations on the electra dolphin, Peponocephala electra. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) 20, 173201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fettuccia, D.C. (2006) Comparação osteológica nas espécies do gênero Sotalia (Gray, 1866) no Brasil. Master's thesis. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Brasil.Google Scholar
Fettuccia, D.C. and Simões-Lopes, P.C. (2004) Morfologia da coluna vertebral do boto-cinza, Sotalia guianensis (Cetacea, Delphinidae). Biotemas 17, 125148.Google Scholar
Fettuccia, D.C., da Silva, V.M.F. and Simões-Lopes, P.C. (2009) Non-metric characters in two species of Sotalia (Gray, 1866) (Cetacea, Delphinidae). Brazilian Journal of Biology 69, 907917.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Flores, P.A.C. (2002) Tucuxi—Sotalia fluviatilis. In Perrin, W.F., Würsig, B. and Thewissen, J.G.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of marine mammals. Amsterdam: Academic Press, pp. 12671269.Google Scholar
Garavello, J.C., Reis, S.F. and Strauss, R.E. (1991) Discrimination and body form variation in three species of Leporinus Spix from Rio Meta, Colombia (Ostariophysi: Anastomidae). Zoologischer Anzeiger 227, 9397.Google Scholar
Garavello, J.C., Reis, S.F. and Strauss, R.E. (1992) Geographic variation in Leporinus frederici (Bloch) (Pisces: Ostariophysi: Anastomidae) from the Paraná–Paraguay and Amazon River basins. Zoologica Scripta 21, 197200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ito, H. and Miyazaki, N. (1990) Skeletal development of the striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) in Japanese waters. Journal of the Mammalogical Society of Japan 14, 7996.Google Scholar
Klima, M.O., Oelschläger, H.A. and Wünsch, D. (1980) Morphology of the pectoral girdle in the Amazon dolphin Inia geoffrensis with special reference to the shoulder joint and the movements of the flippers. Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde 45, 288309.Google Scholar
Lockyer, C. and Goodall, A.R.G. (1988) Age and body length characteristics of Cephalorhynchus commersonii from incidentally-caught specimens off Tierra del Fuego. Reports of the International Whale Commission 9, 103118.Google Scholar
Menezes, M.E. (1998) Ontogenia da escápula e ossos do membro anterior da forma marinha de Sotalia fluviatilis (Gervais, 1853) (Cetacea, Delphinidae) do Sul do Brasil. Master's thesis. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brasil.Google Scholar
Menezes, M.E. and Simões-Lopes, P.C. (1996) Osteologia e morfologia da aleta peitoral da forma marinha de Sotalia fluviatilis (Cetacea–Delphinidae) no litoral do Brasil. Estudos de Biologia 4, 2331.Google Scholar
Monteiro-Filho, E.L.A., Monteiro, L.R. and Reis, S.F. (2002) Skull shape and divergence in dolphins of the genus Sotalia: a tridimensional morphometric analysis. Journal of Mammalogy 83, 125134.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perrin, W.F. (1975) Variation of spotted and spinner porpoises (genus Stenella) in the Eastern Pacific and Hawaii. Bulletin of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography 21, 1206.Google Scholar
Pretto, D.J., Oliveira, G., Graipel, M.E. and Simões-Lopes, P.C. (2009) Morfologia do aparato hioide de algumas espécies de odontocetos do sul do Brasil. Biotemas 22, 11120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reis, S.F., Pessôa, L.M and Strauss, R.E. (1990) Application of size-free canonical discriminant analysis to studies of geographic differentiation. Revista Brasileira de Genética 13, 509520.Google Scholar
Simões-Lopes, P.C. and Menezes, M.E. (2008) Morfologia Esqueletal. In Monteiro-Filho, E.L.A. and Monteiro, K.D.K.A. (eds) Biologia, ecologia e conservação do Boto-Cinza. São Paulo: Páginas e Letras Editora e Gráfica, pp. 1738.Google Scholar
William, S.H. (1928) A river dolphin from Kartabo, Bartica Discrict, British Guiana. Zoologica 7, 105128.Google Scholar