Three cetologists on a Sea Shepard Conservation Society expedition off the west coast of Mexico have spotted something amazing. We know of 23 species of the reclusive, deep-diving cetaceans called the beaked whales. The "23" is still approximate with such hard-to-study animals - some species might eventually be collapsed together, or new ones named. The biggest event in life sciences, though, is finding something new in the wild, and these folks may have done it.
Here are Markus Bühler's terrific illustrations of the new whale (above) and a comparison species, Mesoplodon perrini. Copyright 2020: reproduced by permission on this blog, no commercial re-use.
The actual photography (not shown here for copyright reasons, so see the link) and video is superb. Some experts are cautioning that it might be a known species, Mesoplodon perrini, but the scientists involved are sure it isn't. The placement of the two prominent teeth on the adult male (in almost all species) is a key differentiator between species, and the teeth on these were observed and noted to be in the wrong place for M. perrini.
It's taken scientists decades to untangle the beaked whales, and the job may not be done. The last new beaked whale (reported at sea by Japanese fishermen but never identified) washed ashore in Alaska only in 2016 and was formally described in 2019 as Berardius minimus. The people who found the newest whale were looking for a different whale whose unidentifiable "voice" had been picked up on hydrophones. This new species does not match that, so who knows what's down there?
“For
marine life, the age of discovery is not over.” –Jesse Ausubel, founding chair
of the Encyclopedia of Life
Free Bonus Sponge!
Until the 1990s, no one knew there were carnivorous sponges that didn't just sit there but used tendrils to snag food. Now we know there's one that glows. A submersible from the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Research Institute (MBARI) plucked the sample from the Pacific seafloor 4,000 meters down in 2017, but the description has just been published. Presumably it uses the light to draw in food. That's sometimes a low-percentage business on the seafloor, where a light can also signal, "Here I am, come eat me," but a sponge has to make a living, right?
NOTE Text was updated after the comments below from Markus.
4 comments:
That last beaked whale you mentioned from AK I believe was identified as a previously undescribed form of Berardius. That form is believed to be a separate species or subspecies for being smaller and darker.
There is a decent change that this recent observation was of the extremely rare M. ginkgodens or the equally rare M. carlhubbsi. Could still be found to be the second sighting of M. perrini in the wild.
The illustration of M. perrini is mine and was part of the original formal description of that species. I gifted the original to Bill Perrin. You have my permission to use it in this context. It is not in the public domain. You have my permission to use it in this editorial context.
I thank you VERY much for permission to use your illustration. There were no credits I could find. I'll have to take a look at the two other species, although I'll admit I could pick maybe half a dozen beaked whales out of a lineup of them. Yes, Berardius minimus is the one I was referring to in AK.
The key to narrowing this down is to look at the known range (based on strandings) of the probable suspects. That's why M. hubbsi and M. ginkgodens are at the top of the list. The genetics on this should be known within a month. If there's no fanfare it will be because either 1) it's not a new species, or 2) they are keeping it quiet before formal publication so no one can steal priority and naming rights.
I thought ginkgodens teeth were unmistakable.
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