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Garrison EG, Morgan GS, McGrath K, Speller C, Cherkinsky A. Recent dating of extinct Atlantic gray whale fossils, (Eschrichtius robustus), Georgia Bight and Florida, western Atlantic Ocean. PeerJ 2019; 7:e6381. [PMID: 30746309 PMCID: PMC6368218 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.6381] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2018] [Accepted: 12/28/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The Atlantic gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) presents an interesting case study of climate related dispersal and extinction. While (limited) fossil records confirm its presence in the Atlantic up until the 18th Century, its abundance and distribution within the Eastern and Western basins are still not well understood. The discovery of presumed gray whale fossil remains from the Georgia Bight and the Atlantic coast of Florida, from the mid-1980s to late-2000s, provides a new opportunity to recover additional data regarding their chronology within the Western basin. Here, we apply accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon techniques to six fossil whale finds, identifying dates within marine isotope stage 3 (59-24 ka) and the late Holocene, ∼2,000 yr BP. We additionally confirm the taxonomic identification of two fossil bone samples as E. robustus using collagen peptide mass fingerprinting (ZooMS). The obtained dates, when combined with a larger corpus of previously published Atlantic gray whale fossil dates, support the hypothesis for the decline of the Atlantic gray whale in the late Pleistocene and the late Holocene. These new data augment the findings of the Eastern Atlantic Basin and better incorporate the Western Atlantic Basin into a pan-ocean understanding for the species.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Gary S Morgan
- New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science, Albuquerque, NM, USA
| | | | - Camilla Speller
- University of York, BioArch Centre, York, UK.,Department of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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Durkina VB, Chapman JW, Demchenko NL. Ampelisca eschrichtii Krøyer, 1842 ( Ampeliscidae) of the Sakhalin Shelf in the Okhotsk Sea starve in summer and feast in winter. PeerJ 2018; 6:e4841. [PMID: 29942674 PMCID: PMC6016533 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2017] [Accepted: 05/05/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Ampelisca eschrichtii Krøyer, 1842 of the Sakhalin Shelf of the Okhotsk Sea, Far Eastern Russia, comprise the highest known biomass concentration of any amphipod population in the world and are a critically important prey source for western gray whales. Growth and reproduction in this population has not been apparent in summer. However, they are not accessible for sampling in winter to test a previous default conclusion that they grow and reproduce in winter. Methods We tested the default winter growth and reproduction hypothesis by detailed comparisons of the brood and gonad development among 40 females and 14 males and brood sizes among females observed since 2002. Our test included six predictions of reproductive synchrony that would be apparent from gonad and brood morphology if active reproduction occurs in summer. Results We found high prevalences of undersized and damaged oocytes, undersized broods, a lack of females brooding fully formed juveniles, atrophied ovaries, and males with mature sperm but lacking fully developed secondary sex morphologies required for pelagic mating. All of these conditions are consistent with trophic stress and starvation. Discussion These A. eschrichtii populations therefore appear to starve in summer and to grow and reproduce in winter. The Offshore A. eschrichtii populations occur in summer below water strata bearing high phytoplankton biomasses. These populations are more likely to feed successfully in winter when storms mix phytoplankton to their depths.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentina B Durkina
- Laboratory of Physiology, National Scientific Center of Marine Biology FEB RAS, Vladivostok, Russia
| | - John W Chapman
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, Newport, OR, United States of America
| | - Natalia L Demchenko
- Laboratory of Marine Ecosystem Dynamics, National Scientific Center of Marine Biology FEB RAS, Vladivostok, Russia
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Moskalev AА, Kudryavtseva AV, Graphodatsky AS, Beklemisheva VR, Serdyukova NA, Krutovsky KV, Sharov VV, Kulakovskiy IV, Lando AS, Kasianov AS, Kuzmin DA, Putintseva YA, Feranchuk SI, Shaposhnikov MV, Fraifeld VE, Toren D, Snezhkina AV, Sitnik VV. De novo assembling and primary analysis of genome and transcriptome of gray whale Eschrichtius robustus. BMC Evol Biol 2017; 17:258. [PMID: 29297306 PMCID: PMC5751776 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-017-1103-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Gray whale, Eschrichtius robustus (E. robustus), is a single member of the family Eschrichtiidae, which is considered to be the most primitive in the class Cetacea. Gray whale is often described as a “living fossil”. It is adapted to extreme marine conditions and has a high life expectancy (77 years). The assembly of a gray whale genome and transcriptome will allow to carry out further studies of whale evolution, longevity, and resistance to extreme environment. Results In this work, we report the first de novo assembly and primary analysis of the E. robustus genome and transcriptome based on kidney and liver samples. The presented draft genome assembly is complete by 55% in terms of a total genome length, but only by 24% in terms of the BUSCO complete gene groups, although 10,895 genes were identified. Transcriptome annotation and comparison with other whale species revealed robust expression of DNA repair and hypoxia-response genes, which is expected for whales. Conclusions This preliminary study of the gray whale genome and transcriptome provides new data to better understand the whale evolution and the mechanisms of their adaptation to the hypoxic conditions. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi: 10.1186/s12862-017-1103-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexey А Moskalev
- Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation. .,Institute of Biology of Komi Science Center of Ural Branch of RAS, Syktyvkar, 167982, Russian Federation.
| | - Anna V Kudryavtseva
- Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation
| | - Alexander S Graphodatsky
- Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology SB RAS, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russian Federation.,Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russian Federation
| | | | - Natalya A Serdyukova
- Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology SB RAS, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russian Federation
| | - Konstantin V Krutovsky
- Department of Forest Genetics and Forest Tree Breeding, Georg-August University of Göttingen, Göttingen, 37077, Germany.,Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation.,Genome Research and Education Center, Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk, 660036, Russian Federation.,Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, Texas A&M University, College Station, 77843-2138, TX, USA
| | - Vadim V Sharov
- Genome Research and Education Center, Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk, 660036, Russian Federation.,Department of High Performance Computing, Institute of Space and Information Technologies, Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk, 660074, Russian Federation
| | - Ivan V Kulakovskiy
- Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation.,Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation.,Center for Data-Intensive Biomedicine and Biotechnology, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Moscow, 143026, Russia
| | - Andrey S Lando
- Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation
| | - Artem S Kasianov
- Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation.,Center for Data-Intensive Biomedicine and Biotechnology, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Moscow, 143026, Russia
| | - Dmitry A Kuzmin
- Genome Research and Education Center, Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk, 660036, Russian Federation.,Department of High Performance Computing, Institute of Space and Information Technologies, Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk, 660074, Russian Federation
| | - Yuliya A Putintseva
- Genome Research and Education Center, Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk, 660036, Russian Federation
| | - Sergey I Feranchuk
- Genome Research and Education Center, Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk, 660036, Russian Federation.,Irkutsk National Research Technical University, Irkutsk, 664074, Russian Federation.,Limnological Institute, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Irkutsk, 664033, Russian Federation
| | - Mikhail V Shaposhnikov
- Institute of Biology of Komi Science Center of Ural Branch of RAS, Syktyvkar, 167982, Russian Federation
| | - Vadim E Fraifeld
- The Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Genetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Center for Multidisciplinary Research on Aging, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, 8410501, Israel
| | - Dmitri Toren
- The Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Genetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Center for Multidisciplinary Research on Aging, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, 8410501, Israel
| | - Anastasia V Snezhkina
- Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation
| | - Vasily V Sitnik
- Center for Data-Intensive Biomedicine and Biotechnology, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Moscow, 143026, Russia
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