Data from: Genetic variation in blue whales in the eastern Pacific: implication for taxonomy and use of common wintering grounds

Many aspects of blue whale biology are poorly understood. Some of the gaps in our knowledge, such as those regarding their basic taxonomy and seasonal movements, directly affect our ability to monitor and manage blue whale populations. As a step towards filling in some of these gaps, microsatellite and mtDNA sequence analyses were conducted on blue whale samples from the Southern Hemisphere, the eastern tropical Pacific (ETP), and the northeast Pacific. The results indicate that the ETP is differentially used by blue whales from the northern and southern eastern Pacific, with the former showing stronger affinity to the region off Central America known as the Costa Rican Dome, and the latter favoring the waters of Peru and Ecuador. Although the pattern of genetic variation throughout the Southern Hemisphere is compatible with the recently proposed subspecies status of Chilean blue whales, some discrepancies remain between catch lengths and lengths from aerial photography, and not all blue whales in Chilean waters can be assumed to be of this type. Also, the range of the proposed Chilean subspecies, which extends to the Galapagos region of the ETP, at least seasonally, perhaps should include the Costa Rican Dome and the eastern North Pacific as well.蓝鲸生物学的诸多领域仍未得到充分研究。当前学界在基础分类学、季节性洄游模式等方面存在的认知空白，直接制约了蓝鲸种群监测与管理工作的开展。为填补部分此类认知缺口，研究团队针对采自南半球、东热带太平洋（ETP）以及东北太平洋的蓝鲸样本，开展了微卫星（microsatellite）与线粒体DNA（mtDNA）序列分析。分析结果显示，东热带太平洋的蓝鲸种群来源存在分化：来自北太平洋东部的蓝鲸对中美洲外海的哥斯达黎加穹顶海域展现出更强的栖息偏好，而来自南太平洋东部的蓝鲸则更青睐秘鲁与厄瓜多尔周边水域。尽管南半球全域的遗传变异模式与近期提出的智利蓝鲸亚种分类假说相符，但捕捞体长数据与航空摄影测量的体长数据仍存在部分差异，且无法推定智利海域内的所有蓝鲸均隶属于该亚种。此外，该假说所提议的智利亚种分布范围（至少在季节性活动范围内可延伸至东热带太平洋的加拉帕戈斯海域），或许也应涵盖哥斯达黎加穹顶与北太平洋东部海域。