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Resource ID
10572
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Full Title
Genetic and non-genetic evidences suggest a low plausibility for western North Pacific common minke whale stock structure Hypothesis E
Author
Mioko Taguchi, Mutsuo Goto and Luis A. Pastene
Abstract
This paper shows the results of comprehensive analyses performed using genetic and non-genetic data to assist
discussions about the plausibility for western North Pacific common minke whales stock structure Hypotheses
A (two differentiated stocks, i.e., ‘O’ and ‘J’ stock) and E (three differentiated stocks i.e., ‘purple’, ‘green’ and
‘orange’ groups). The results of HWE tests with FIS suggested that the ‘purple’ group consisted of whales from
multiple breeding stocks, but this signal disappeared when the samples were analyzed dividing the ‘purple’
group into ‘J’ and ‘O’ stocks. These findings suggested that it was unlikely that an independent stock
represented by the ‘purple’ group exists in the Pacific side of Japan including the coastal areas in the southern
Okhotsk Sea. This inference is also favored by the results of genetic differentiations. In addition to this, the
analyses for parent-offspring (P-O) pairs showed some disagreements in the GENELAND assignment groups
between parents and offspring. This result cannot be reconciled with the perspective of an independent coastal
stock represented by the ‘purple’ group in the Hypothesis E. Furthermore, the body length distribution analyses
and the geographical distribution of genetic samples showed that the ‘purple’ group significantly lacked mature
individuals, which is inconsistent with the postulation of this group as a resident stock. Main conception date of
the ‘purple’ and ‘orange’ (O stock) overlapped, which is again not compatible with a postulation that the ‘purple’
group is an independent coastal stock. In addition, analyses for two types of coloration patterns implying a
possible mixture of samples from the ‘J’ and ‘O’ stocks in the ‘purple’ groups. In conclusion, results of all
comprehensive analyses performed in the present paper provided a high plausibility to the Hypothesis A but an
extremely low to the Hypothesis E.