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Early sightings of the pygmy killer whale (Feresa attenuata) off the Brazilian coast: a correction to Rossi-Santos et al. (2006)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 February 2009

Salvatore Siciliano ,
Ignacio B. Moreno  and
Érico Demari e Silva
Salvatore Siciliano*
Affiliation:
Grupo de Estudos de Mamíferos Marinhos da Região dos Lagos (GEMM-Lagos), Departamento de Endemias, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública/FIOCRUZ, Rua Leopoldo Bulhões n. 1480-térreo, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21041-210, Brazil
Ignacio B. Moreno
Affiliation:
Grupo de Estudos de Mamíferos Aquáticos do Rio Grande do Sul (GEMARS), Rua Felipe Neri 382 conj. 203, Porto Alegre, RS 90440-140 and Centro de Estudos Costeiros, Limnológicos e Marinhos (CECLIMAR/UFRGS), Av.Tramandaí n. 976, Imbé, RS 95625-000, Brazil
Érico Demari e Silva
Affiliation:
Rua Leticiano Jesus Costa n. 481, Tupã, SP 17605-100, Brazil
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Salvatore Siciliano, Grupo de Estudos de Mamíferos Marinhos da Região dos Lagos (GEMM-Lagos), Departamento de Endemias, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública/FIOCRUZ, Rua Leopoldo Bulhões n. 1480-térreo, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21041-210, Brazil email: sal@ensp.fiocruz.br
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Abstract

The pygmy killer whale, Feresa attenuata Gray, 1874 can be found worldwide in deep tropical and warm temperate waters remaining one of the least known species of small cetacean. In the tropical and temperate Atlantic, F. attenuata has been recorded from south-east United States, Veracruz, Mexico, the Bay of Biscay, Sénégal, the British Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela. A stranding record for Argentina may be considered a vagrant. In Brazil, only two confirmed stranding records are published and sightings are rare. We here report on two early confirmed sightings of pygmy killer whales, Feresa attenuata off the Brazilian coast previous to the report of Rossi-Santos et al. (2006). Pygmy killer whales could use the edge of the continental shelf occasionally for resting or feeding, such as several other pelagic species do frequently. In conclusion, F. attenuata is known to occur off the Brazilian coast, in deep tropical waters, and may visit the continental slope occasionally for feeding and resting.

Keywords

pygmy killer whaleFeresa attenuatadistributionsouth-western Atlanticsightings records
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 1 , January 2008 , e78
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2007

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