Dear MARMAM community, My co-outhors and I are pleased to announce you on our new publication titled, The first stranding record of Longman's beaked whale (*Indopacetus pacificus*) in Okinawa, Japan, which is published in the journal of Aquatic Mammals.
by Nozomi Kobayashi, Koji Tokutake, Hideyoshi Yoshida, Haruna Okabe, Kei Miyamoto, Haruka Ito, Naoto Higashi, Shingo Fukada, Kei Yamazaki, Suguru Higa, Isao Kawazu, Keiichi Ueda. Abstract Longman’s beaked whale (Indopacetus pacificus) is one of the least known cetaceans in the world. Since it was first described as its own species in 1968, they have been observed alive at sea only on a few occasions and stranding has been reported for less than twenty cases worldwide to date. Thus, the ecological information regarding this species is still very limited compared to other cetaceans. In this study, the external appearance, osteological characters, DNA analysis, and parasitic organisms of a Longman’s beaked whale that was stranded on Ukibaru Island in Okinawa, Japan, are reported. The external appearance and the osteological features of the specimen matched the features of the Longman’s beaked whale presented in previous studies. MtDNA control-region sequences obtained from the specimen also matched the reference sequences of the species deposited in GenBank. Based on these features, we concluded that the specimen was Longman’s beaked whale. The specimen was estimated as juvenile male because of its body length (4.78 m), no eruption of teeth on its lower jaw, and no fusion of the vertebral epiphyses of its vertebral bodies. Whale lice collected from the body surface of the specimen were identified as Isocyamus indopacetus, which are known to parasitize Longman’s beaked whale. This was the first record of a stranded Longman’s beaked whale in Okinawa, and it was also the first record of a juvenile male for this species confirmed in Japan. The whole skeleton was cataloged in the collection of the Okinawa Churashima Research Center, Okinawa Churashima Foundation. The article can be found at the following link https://doi.org/10.1578/AM.47.2.2021.153 Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments. Warmest regards, Nozomi Kobayashi ************************************************************* Nozomi Kobayashi, Ph. D. Zoological Laboratory Okinawa Churashima Research Center Okinawa Churashima Foundation https://churashima.okinawa/en/ocrc/marine_organisms E-mail：[email protected] *************************************************************
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