Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

First evaluation of the cookie-cutter sharks (Isistius sp.) predation pattern on different cetacean species in Martinique

  • Published:
Environmental Biology of Fishes Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Cookie-cutter sharks (Isistius sp.) are small squaloid sharks that live in tropical and sub-tropical oceans. Their name comes from their unique tactic of feeding, which enables them to parasitize marine mega-fauna, like cetaceans. Due to their morphological and anatomical characteristics, they are responsible of crater-like wounds on the skin of marine mammals. Little is known on Isistius sp. around the globe especially in Martinique, which represents a potential habitat. The main goal of this study was to assess the impact of cookie-cutter sharks on cetaceans by determining (1) seasonal changes in the occurrence of bites, (2) intra- and interspecific differences in frequencies and locations of bites among the different species of cetaceans, and (3) link behavior patterns of both cookie-cutter sharks and cetaceans. Data were collected from a 3-year photo-identification database of Cetaceans in Caribbean coast of Martinique. 431 wounds of various stages on 396 individuals from nine species of marine mammals were recorded. Results did not show any significant variation in the occurrence of wounds between seasons. Intermediate state was more important, most injuries were observed on the SCF (Superior Central Flank) (62.40%) and in a lesser extent on young individuals (3.25%). The predation of cookie-cutter sharks on different cetacean species has been confirmed consistently in Martinique. Further studies are required with both scientists and fishermen to better understand their specific role in this marine ecosystem.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adam S (2010) Head of a beached Dwarf Sperm Whale, Australian Museum, available on: http://australianmuseum.net.au/image/dwarf-sperm-whale-ashore-near-palm-beach

  • Baird RW, Borsani JF, Hanson MB, Tyack PL (2002) Diving and night-time behavior of long-finned pilot whales in the Ligurian Sea. Mar Ecol Progr Ser 237:301–305. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps237301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bertulli C (2015) An assessment of the natural marking patterns used for photo-identification of common minke whales and white-beaked dophins in Icelandic waters. J Mar Biol 41:343–350

    Google Scholar 

  • Best PB, Photopoulou T (2016) Identifying the “demon whale-biter”: patterns of scarring on large whales attributed to a cookie-cutter shark Isistius sp. PLoS One 11(4):e0152643. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0152643

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Carrier JC, Musick JA, Heithaus MR (2012) Biology of sharks and their relatives. CRC Press, Boca Raton. https://doi.org/10.1201/b11867

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • CEPF (2011) Caribbean Islands biodiversity hotspot. Ecosystem Profile Summary, Critical Ecosystem

    Google Scholar 

  • Claes J, Nilsson D, Straube N (2014) Iso-luminance counterillumination drove biolumescent shark radiation. Sci Rep 10:4328

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke MR (1978) Structure and proportions of the spermaceti organ in the sperm whale. JMBA 58:1–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Compagno LJ (1984) FAO species catalogue. Vol. 4, Sharks of the World. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date (Part 1, Hexanchiformes to Lamniformes). FAO Fisheries Synopsis, 125, 4 (1). FAO, Rome

  • Culik B (2010) UNEP/CMS secretariat, Bonn, Germany. Available on: http://www.cms.int/reports/small_ cetaceans/poster_download.htm

  • Durban J, Ellifrit D, Dahlheim M, Waite J (2010) Photographic mark-recapture analysis of clustered mammal-eating killer whales around the Aleutian Islands and gulf of Alaska. Mar Biol 157(7):1591–1164. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-010-1432-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dwyer SL, Visser IN (2011) Cookie cutter shark (Isistius sp.) bites on cetaceans, with particular reference to killer whales (orca)(Orcinus orca). Aquat Mamm 37(2):111–138. https://doi.org/10.1578/AM.37.2.2011.111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ebert DA, Fowler S, Compagno LJV (2013) Sharks of the world: a fully illustrated guide to the sharks of the world. Wild Nature Press, Devon

    Google Scholar 

  • Ebert DA, Pien C, Kamikawa DJ (2015) Confirmation of the cookiecutter shark, Isistius brasiliensis, from the eastern North Pacific Ocean (Squaliformes: Dalatiidae). Mar Biodiv Rec 8. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755267215000962

  • Evans K, Morrice M, Hindell M, Thiele D (2002) Three mass strandings of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) in southern Australian waters. Mar Mam Sci 18(3):622–643. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2002.tb01063.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flechet A (2015) Caractérisation des populations de grands dauphins (Tursiops truncatus) et de globicéphales tropicaux (Globicephala macrorhynchus) en Martinique. University of St-Étienne, Master thesis

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallo-Reynoso JP, Figueroa-Carranza AL (1992) A cookiecutter shark wound on a Guadalupe fur seal male. Mar Mam Sci 8(4):428–430. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.1992.tb00060.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garrick JAF, Springer S (1964) Isistius plutodus, a new Squaloid shark from the Gulf of Mexico. Copeia 1964(4):678–682. https://doi.org/10.2307/1441443

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayashi T, Higo E, Orito H, Ago K, Ogata M (2015) Postmortem wounds caused by cookie-cutter sharks (Isistius species): an autopsy case of a drowning victim. Forensic Sci Med Pathol 11(1):119–121. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-014-9597-9

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Heithaus MR (2001) Predator–prey and competitive interactions between sharks (order Selachii) and dolphins (suborder Odontoceti): a review. J Zool 253(1):53–68. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0952836901000061

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoezel AR (2009) Marine mammal biology: an evolutionary approach. Wiley, Chichester

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoyos-Padilla M, Papastamatiou YP, O'Sullivan J, Lowe CG (2013) Observation of an attack by a cookiecutter shark (Isistius brasiliensis) on a white shark (Carcharodon carcharias). Pac Sci 67(1):129–134. https://doi.org/10.2984/67.1.10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jahn AE, Haedrich RL (1988) Notes on the pelagic Squaloid shark Isistius brasiliensis. Biol Oceanogr 5:297–309

    Google Scholar 

  • Jefferson TA, Curry BE (2003) Stenella clymene. Mamm Species 726:1–5. https://doi.org/10.1644/726

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones EC (1971) Isistius brasiliensis, a squaloid shark, probable cause of crater wounds on fishes and cetaceans. Fish Bull 69:791–798

    Google Scholar 

  • King JE, Ikehara II (1956) Some unusual fishes from the Central Pacific. Pac Sci 10:17–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Le Bœuf BJ, McCosker JE, Hewitt J (1987) Crater wounds on northern elephant seals: the Cookiecutter shark strikes again. Fish Bull 85:387–392

    Google Scholar 

  • Litchfield C, Greenberg AJ (1974) Comparative lipid patterns in the melon fats of dolphins, porpoises and toothed whales. Comp Biochem Physiol B 47(2):401–407. https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-0491(74)90069-8

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Luksenburg JA (2014) Prevalence of external injuries in small cetaceans in Aruban waters, southern Caribbean. PLoS One 9(2):e88988. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0088988

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Mayol P, de Montgolfier B, Bordes R, Costales L, Iatropoulos D, Ortole C, Belhadjer A (2016) Caractérisation des activités d’observation commerciale à l’échelle du sanctuaire Agoa. Dissertation, Agoa

    Google Scholar 

  • McSweeney DJ, Baird RW, Mahaffy SD (2007) Site fidelity, associations, and movements of Cuvier's (Ziphius cavirostris) and Blainville's (Mesoplodon densirostris) beaked whales off the island of Hawai ‘i. Mar Mam Sci 23(3):666–687. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2007.00135.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Motta PJ, Wilga CD (2001) Advances in the study of feeding behaviors, mechanisms, and mechanics of sharks. In: Tricas TC, Gruber SH (eds) The behaviour and sensory biology of elasmobranch fishes: an anthology in memory of Donald Richard Nelson. Environ Biol Fish 60:131–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakano H, Tabuchi, M (1990) Occurrence of the Cookiecutter shark. Isistius brasiliensis in surface water of the North Pacific Ocean Japanese Journal of Ichthyology 37:60–63

  • Papastamatiou YP, Wetherbee BM, O’Sullivan J, Goodmanlowe GD, Lowe CG (2010) Foraging ecology of cookiecutter sharks (Isistius brasiliensis) on pelagic fishes in Hawaii, inferred from prey bite wounds. Env Biol Fish 88(4):361–368. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-010-9649-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pérez-Zayas JJ, Mignucci-Giannoni AA, Toyos-González GM, Rosario-Delestre RJ, Williams EH (2002) Incidental predation by a largetooth cookiecutter shark on a Cuvier's beaked whale in Puerto Rico. Aquat Mamm 28:308–311

    Google Scholar 

  • Petean FDF (2014) Taxonomic review and comparative morphology of the species of the genus Isistius gill, 1864 (Chondrichthyes, Squaliformes: Dalatiidae) doctoral dissertation Universidade de São Paulo

  • Petit J, Prudent G (2010) Climate change and biodiversity in the European Union overseas entities. IUCN, Gland

    Google Scholar 

  • Quoy JRC, Gaimard P (1824) Zoologie, vol 3. Imprimerie royale 10:198

    Google Scholar 

  • Shirai H, (2007) Guide des mammifères marins du monde: toutes les espèces décrites et illustrées. Delachaux et Niestlé

  • Souto LRA, Oliveira JGA, da Costa JDAC, Maia-Nogueira R, Sampaio CL (2007) Análise das mordidas de tubarões-charuto, Isistius spp.(Squaliformes: Dalatiidae) em cetáceos (Mammalia: Cetacea) no litoral da Bahia, Nordeste do Brasil. Biotemas 20:19–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevens TS (2013) Guide d’identification baleines et dauphins Canada atlantique et Nord-Est des Etats-Unis. Broquet, Canada

    Google Scholar 

  • Strasburg DW (1963) The diet and dentition of Isistius brasiliensis, with remarks on tooth replacement in other sharks. Copeia 1963(1):33–40. https://doi.org/10.2307/1441272

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Struntz DJ, McLellan WA, Dillaman RM, Blum JE, Kucklick JR, Pabst DA (2004) Blubber development in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). J Morphol 259(1):7–20. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.10154

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wenzel FW, Suárez PL (2012) What is known about cookiecutter shark (Isistius spp.) interactions with cetaceans in Cape Verde seas? Zoologia Caboverdiana 3:57–66

    Google Scholar 

  • Zidowitz H, Fock HO, Pusch C, Von Westernhagen H (2004) A first record of Isistius Plutodus in the north-eastern Atlantic. J Fish Biol 64(5):1430–1434. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-1112.2004.00382.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We gratefully thank our partners Aliotis plongée and Dauphins passion, who have enable us to realize sea excursion and cetaceans observation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aquasearch, ZAC Les coteaux, 97228, Sainte-Luce, France

    A. Feunteun, C. de Schrevel, M. Verhaegen & B. de Montgolfier

  2. Département Écologie, Physiologie et Éthologie (DEPE), Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (IPHC), UMR 7178 CNRS et Université de Strasbourg, 23 rue Becquerel, F-67087, Strasbourg Cedex 2, France

    D. Chevallier

  3. DM Conseil, 7 allée du bois rond, 69360, Serezin du Rhône, France

    M. Duchemin

  4. Groupe phocéen d’étude des requins (GPER), 118 rue du Rouet, 13008, Marseille, France

    N. Ziani

Authors
  1. A. Feunteun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. C. de Schrevel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. M. Verhaegen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. D. Chevallier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. M. Duchemin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. N. Ziani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. B. de Montgolfier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to B. de Montgolfier.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Feunteun, A., de Schrevel, C., Verhaegen, M. et al. First evaluation of the cookie-cutter sharks (Isistius sp.) predation pattern on different cetacean species in Martinique. Environ Biol Fish 101, 749–759 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-018-0735-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-018-0735-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation