Lagenorhynchus Acutus Research Articles

Helminths of the Alimentary Tract from a Stranded Herd of the Atlantic White-Sided Dolphin, Lagenorhynchus acutus

Six species of helminths were collected from the gut of 37 Lagenorhynchus acutus. The following are new host–parasite records: Pholeter gastrophilus, Oschmarinella laevicaecum, Tetrabothrius forsteri, Anisakis sp., and Bolbosoma sp. Stenurus globicephalae was also found. Prevalence for O. laevicaecum was 49% and for T. forsteri 78%. Key words: Atlantic dolphins, digenea trematodes, cestodes, nematodes, acanthocephala, biological tags

The Smaller Cetacea of Eastern Canadian Waters

An account is given of the known records, distribution and migrations of the smaller Odontocete whales occurring in eastern Canadian waters, with measurements of specimens obtained of the rarer species. The distribution of the abundant pilot whale Globicephala melaena (Traill) has been studied in most detail. The species' summer range includes both the offshore waters of the Labrador Sea and the coastal waters around Newfoundland. The coastal population feeds only on the squid Illex illecebrosus (LeSueur) and its movements inshore in spring and offshore in autumn follow those of the squid over the southwest Grand Bank. In some years a failure of the squid to move shorewards results in a failure of the fisheries for both squid and pilot whales in Newfoundland. The species is known to winter in an oceanic area southeast of the Grand Bank.The white-sided dolphin Lagenorhynchus acutus Gray associates with the pilot whale and apparently inhabits the same climatic zone in these waters, while the white-beaked dolphin L. albirostris Gray is found in somewhat colder waters. The killer whale Grampus orca (L.) migrates northwards in spring along the Newfoundland and Labrador coasts, its migration coinciding with that of the rorquals.New records for the waters of eastern Canada, extending the known range of each, are given for Mesoplodon bidens, Tursiops truncatus, Lagenorhynchus albirostris and Lagenorhynchus acutus.

Lagenorhynchus acutus off Cape Cod

Lagenorhynchus acutus (Gray), often called the white-sided porpoise, is a reasonably well-known form reported from both sides of the northern North Atlantic. Its northern limit is generally given as about Lat. 64° N (Godthaab, West Greenland, and Trondhjem Fjord, Norway), although Ellerman and Morrison-Scott (Checklist of Palaearctic and Indian Mammals, 1951) cite with doubt the Murman Coast. On the European side it is regularly found as far south as, say, Lat. 55° N in the British Isles, while on the American side its southern limit appears to be near Lat. 41° N, off Cape Cod. Jonsgaard and Nordli (Norwegian Whaling Gazette, 41: 229–232, 1952) have recently summarized what is known of the biology of this species. However, since it has not often been reported from our waters, and since we have noted a few particulars not previously given, we offer some remarks on a small …