• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.73-78
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• 2013

The present study examined the histological characteristics of adult testis in the long-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus capensis) from Korean waters and the localization of DEAD-box polypeptide 4 (DDX4; a germ cell marker) and vimentin (a Sertoli cell marker) expression in the dolphin testis compared with that in terrestrial mammals, including dogs and rats. The seminiferous tubules of dolphin testis have very small or completely closed lumens, and spermatogenic cells and Sertoli cells within the tubules cannot be differentiated. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that, in the dolphin testis, DDX4- and vimentin-positive cells were scattered extensively within the tubule, whereas in the dog and rat testis, DDX4 immunoreactivity was localized in spermatogenic cells of the adluminal compartment, and vimentin immunoreactivity was localized in Sertoli cells of the basal compartment in the seminiferous epithelium. These results suggest that the histological characteristics of the seminiferous tubules in the dolphin testis differ from those of terrestrial species.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.151-154
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• 2016

The trematodes of Genus Nasitrema are the most common infection in the heads of small odontocetes. Five species of Nasitrema have been described in Asia. But those parasites has been not surveyed in the East Sea of Korean peninsula. There are no evidence of pathology associated with Nasitrema attenuate. To determine the infection ratio of N. attenuata in the dolphin, it was surveyed 9 long-beaked common dolphin, Delphinus capensis, caught incidentally from Samcheok to Pohang, East Sea, Korea. Five males and four females, estimated to be between 1 to 10 years old, were examined. The quantity of N. attenuata harvested by aspiration from pterygoid sinuses ranged from 10 to 100 with a 100% (9/9) infection with older dolphins exhibiting higher parasite counts. The body of trematoda was elongated with tegumental patches resembling the leaves of lilies and oral sucker located ventrally at the anterior terminal. Esophagus was absent and intestinal bifurcation arose immediately from the posterior of pharynx. The undulated intestinal caeca transversed the entire body and terminated at the posterior extremity of the worm. The genital pore opened anterior to the ventral sucker. This report confirms the prevalence and morphology of N. attenuata in the dolphins from the East Sea, Korea.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.35-43
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• 2011

Blubber plays different biological roles in cetaceans, including structural support, physiological demands (thermoregulation, streamlining, buoyancy, etc.), and energy storage. As such, biochemical composition, especially lipid, in the blubber may be vertically stratified in order to effectively assist with these functions. We analysed lipid content, class and fatty acid composition in the blubber of by-catch minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata; n = 11), long-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus capensis; n = 3) and Pacific white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obiquidens; n = 2) from Korean waters. Lipid content for all three species ranged from 55 to 96% of wet weight, with a dominance of triacylglycerols. Vertical stratification of blubber lipid content was different between species. For minke whale and longbeaked common dolphin, it increased from inner (near the muscle) to outer (near the skin) layer, whereas it decreased for Pacific white-sided dolphin. Thirty-one fatty acids were found in all blubber samples and vertical stratification of fatty acid composition was similar among all three species. Among grouped fatty acids, monounsaturates were the most abundant, gradually increasing from inner to outer blubber layer, whereas polyunsaturates and saturates decreased. Such vertical stratification of lipid content and composition suggests that the modification and accumulation of lipid occur in the blubber itself in order to help cetaceans with their specific physiological needs.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.486-492
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• 2012

In the late 1970s, the National Fisheries Research & Development Institute (NFRDI) started cetacean research to submit the Korean whale catch record to the International Whaling Commission. This continued until the moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986. The NFRDI resumed cetacean research with a pilot whale sighting survey in 1999. Subsequently, the NFRDI has conducted 53 cetacean sighting surveys within the Korean exclusive economic zone between 2000 and 2010. The surveys took a total of 760 days and cruising for 23,866 nautical miles. The finless porpoise Neophocaena asiaeorientalis was sighted most frequently (735 times), followed by the minke whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata (396 times), the long-beaked common dolphin Delphinus capensis (102 times), and the Pacific white-sided dolphin Lagenorhynchus obliquidens (27 times). Minke whales were distributed in the Yellow Sea and coastal area of the East Sea from spring to fall. Pacific white-sided dolphin sightings were restricted to the middle and upper coastal areas of the East Sea in summer. Common dolphins were sighted from east of the southern coast to the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula from spring to fall. Finless porpoise occurred in all Korean coastal areas, except the middle and upper eastern coast.