Castellini M A, Trumble S J, Mau T L, Yochem P K, Stewart B S, Koski M A
Institute of Marine Science, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775, USA.
Physiol Biochem Zool. 2009 Mar-Apr;82(2):113-20. doi: 10.1086/591948.
Morphometrics and blubber depths from all four high Antarctic seals (Weddell, Ross, crabeater, and leopard) were obtained during a midsummer research cruise in the Ross Sea as the physiological ecology component of the U.S. Antarctic Pack Ice Seals project. These data are the only in vivo measurements of all four species from the same location and time of year and focused on variances in morphometrics and blubber depth related to species, sex, and age. By controlling for location and season, this cross-species design provided the means to differentiate how blubber mass might be influenced in these groups. We measured both absolute blubber depth and ratio of blubber depth to body core diameter. We found that adult and younger animals showed differences in blubber depth, but male versus female seals did not show differences within any given species. However, when compared across species, the ratio of blubber ring depth to body core diameter suggests that adult Weddell seals differ in their use of blubber compared with the other three species. We propose that this difference in blubber pattern is most likely related to Weddell nutritional requirements during the breeding season having a greater influence on blubber depth than thermal requirements when compared with the other three species.
作为美国南极浮冰海豹项目生理生态学部分的内容，在罗斯海盛夏科考航行期间，获取了所有四种南极高等海豹（威德尔海豹、罗斯海豹、南极毛皮海狮和豹海豹）的形态测量数据和鲸脂厚度数据。这些数据是同一地点、同一时间对所有四种海豹唯一的活体测量数据，重点关注与物种、性别和年龄相关的形态测量和鲸脂厚度差异。通过控制地点和季节，这种跨物种设计提供了一种方法，来区分这些群体中鲸脂量可能受到的影响。我们测量了绝对鲸脂厚度以及鲸脂厚度与体核直径的比值。我们发现成年海豹和幼年海豹在鲸脂厚度上存在差异，但在任何给定物种中，雄性海豹和雌性海豹之间没有差异。然而，跨物种比较时，鲸脂环深度与体核直径的比值表明，成年威德尔海豹与其他三种海豹相比，在鲸脂利用方面存在差异。我们认为，与其他三种海豹相比，这种鲸脂模式的差异最有可能与威德尔海豹繁殖季节的营养需求有关，该需求对鲸脂厚度的影响大于热需求对其的影响。
