Anomalous Coloration of Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins off Southern China
2023
Wenzhi Lin | Shenglan Chen | Ruiqiang Zheng | Agathe Serres | Binshuai Liu | Mingli Lin | Mingming Liu | Songhai Li
The Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin is characterized by a particular ontogenic change in body color from dark gray at birth to pure white (or with a few dark-gray spots) after reaching adulthood. Here, we report a spectrum of anomalous body color patterns observed on Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins off southern China. The occurrence of hypopigmentation and hyperpigmentation was described and compared among six putative dolphin populations. Low rates of anomalies in body color patterns were observed (<1%), except for hypopigmentation, which was prevalent in dolphins residing in the mid-Pearl-River-Delta region (3.3%).
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