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Pseudostalked barnacles Xenobalanus globicipitis attached to killer whales Orcinus orca in South African waters

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Abstract

Several records describe pseudostalked barnacles Xenobalanus globicipitis attached to killer whales Orcinus orca, yet little is known of this association in South African waters. Here we describe Xenobalanus prevalence on killer whales in South African waters and assemble previous records. Killer whales were photographed opportunistically between July and September 2013. Sex and age class were determined, and if Xenobalanus were present, attachment site and colony size were noted. A prevalence of 50 % was recorded, with barnacles most commonly observed on the dorsal fin and tail flukes. The high prevalence of Xenobalanus on killer whales in South African waters and lack thereof on killer whales at Marion Island implies that these are separate populations, and thus we suggest Xenobalanus prevalence as an additional means to distinguish between these populations.

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Notes

  1. Simon’s Town Boat Company, Town Pier, Simon’s Town 7995, South Africa

  2. Raggy Charters, PO Box 15317, Emerald Hill 6011, South Africa

  3. Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield 0028, South Africa

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Lloyd Edwards of Raggy Charters and David Hurwitz of Simon’s Town Boat Company for providing additional killer whale observations, as well as the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. Funding for killer whale work at Marion Island was provided by the National Research Foundation (NRF) Thuthuka programme, the South African Department of Science and Technology through the NRF, the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund (project number: 10251290) and the International Whaling Commission’s Southern Ocean Research Partnership. The Department of Environmental Affairs supplied logistic support within the South African National Antarctic Programme.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare they have no conflicting interests.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch, Cape Town, 7701, South Africa

    Thomas Otto Whitehead & Dominic Paul Rollinson

  2. Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield, Pretoria, 0028, South Africa

    Ryan Rudolf Reisinger

Authors
  1. Thomas Otto Whitehead
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  2. Dominic Paul Rollinson
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  3. Ryan Rudolf Reisinger
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thomas Otto Whitehead.

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Fig. S1

Photographs of Xenobalanus globicipitis attached to the dorsal fin of a killer whale Orcinus orca in False Bay, South Africa (photo credits: D Hurwitz). (JPEG 2136 kb)

Fig. S2

Photograph of Xenobalanus globicipitis attached to the tail flukes of a killer whale Orcinus orca off the coast of Port Elizabeth, South Africa (photo credit: L Edwards). (JPEG 1399 kb)

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Whitehead, T.O., Rollinson, D.P. & Reisinger, R.R. Pseudostalked barnacles Xenobalanus globicipitis attached to killer whales Orcinus orca in South African waters. Mar Biodiv 45, 873–876 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-014-0296-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-014-0296-2

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