Journal Article
MITOCHONDRIAL DNA VARIATION AND MATERNAL GENE FLOW AMONG HUMPBACK WHALES OF THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE
C. S. Baker; L. Flórez‐González; B. Abernethy; H. C. Rosenbaum; R. W. Slade; J. Capella; J. L. Bannister
Marine Mammal Science · Vol. 14, Issue 4 · pp. 721-737 · 1998
Abstract
A bstract Samples of skin tissue were collected by biopsy darting from humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) in six seasonal habitats representing three stocks and four regions: Groups IV (western Australia), V western component (eastern Australia), V eastern component (New Zealand and Tonga) and VI (the Antarctic Peninsula and Gorgona Island, Colombia, South America) of the Southern Hemisphere. A variable section of the mitochondrial DNA control region was amplified and sequenced from 84 of these individuals, distinguishing a total of 48 unique sequences ( i. e. , mtDNA nucleotypes). Phylogenetic reconstructions suggested that these nucleotypes form three clades, corresponding to those previously described in a world‐wide survey of humpback whale mtDNA variation, although bootstrap support for two of the clades was relatively low (