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27 December 2022 First Record of a White Humpback Whale, Megaptera novaeangliae, from the Eastern Tropical Pacific
José Manuel Mora, Lucía I. López, Luis A. Cruz, Gerardo Chaves
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Abstract

Abnormal white vertebrates are a result of chromatic anomalies that may be associated to several genetic and environmental factors. On October 2, 2022 a Humpback Whale mother Megaptera novaeangliae and a white calf were observed in northwestern Costa Rica. This is the first record of a white Humpback Whale in the Eastern Pacific. This species is found in Costa Rican waters, where the Central American wintering ground of the North Pacific Humpback Whale overlaps the winter range of the Southern Hemisphere Humpback Whale. The calf is hypopigmented, without a clear conclusion about the exact chromatic abnormality determining its white coloration.

Los vertebrados de coloración blanca anormal son el resultado de anomalías cromáticas que pueden estar asociadas a varios factores genéticos y ambientales. El 2 de octubre de 2022 se observaron una madre ballena jorobada Megaptera novaeangliae y una cría blanca en el noroeste de Costa Rica. Este es el primer registro de una ballena jorobada blanca en el Pacífico oriental. Esta especie se encuentra en aguas de Costa Rica, donde la zona de invernada de América Central de la ballena jorobada del Pacífico Norte se superpone con el área de distribución invernal de la ballena jorobada del hemisferio sur. El ballenato es hipopigmentado sin una conclusión clara sobre la anomalía cromática exacta que determina su coloración blanca.

© Copyright 2022 by the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez
José Manuel Mora, Lucía I. López, Luis A. Cruz, and Gerardo Chaves "First Record of a White Humpback Whale, Megaptera novaeangliae, from the Eastern Tropical Pacific," Caribbean Journal of Science 52(2), 389-396, (27 December 2022). https://doi.org/10.18475/cjos.v52i2.a17
Published: 27 December 2022
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