title: True's beaked whale (Mesoplodon mirus) in Macaronesia.
abstract: The True's beaked whale (Mesoplodon mirus, True 1913) is a poorly known member of the Ziphiidae family. Its distribution in the northern hemisphere is thought to be restricted to the temperate or warm temperate waters of the North Atlantic, while a few stranding records from the southern hemisphere suggest a wider and antitropical distribution, extending to waters from the Atlantic coast of Brazil to South Africa, Mozambique, Australia and the Tasman Sea coast of New Zealand. This paper (i) reports the first molecular confirmation of the occurrence of the True's beaked whale at the southern limit of its distribution recorded in the northeast Atlantic: the Azores and Canary Islands (macaronesian ecoregion); (ii) describes a new colouration for this species using evidence from a whale with molecular species confirmation; and (iii) contributes to the sparse worldwide database of live sightings, including the first underwater video recording of this species and close images of a calf. Species identification was confirmed in two cases using mitochondrial DNA control region and cytochromebgene markers: a subadult male True's beaked whale that stranded in El Hierro, Canary Islands, in November 2012, and a subadult male found floating dead near Faial, the Azores, in July 2004. The whale that stranded in the Canary Islands had a clearly delimited white area on its head, extending posteriorly from the tip of the beak to cover the blowhole dorsally and the gular grooves ventrally. This colouration contrasts with previous descriptions for the species and it may be rare, but it exemplifies the variability of the colouration of True's beaked whales in the North Atlantic, further confirmed here by live sightings data. The recording of several observations of this species in deep but relatively coastal waters off the Azores and the Canary Islands suggests that these archipelagos may be unique locations to study the behaviour of the enigmatic True's beaked whale.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling (CREEM), University of St. Andrews, St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom; BIOECOMAC. Department of Animal Biology, Edaphology and Geology, University of La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain; Grupo de Investigación en Conservación (GIC), Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.
authors.forename: Natacha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Aguilar de Soto
authors.affiliation: Society for the Study of Cetaceans in the Canary Islands Archipelago (SECAC) , Lanzarote , Canary Islands , Spain.
authors.forename: Vidal
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Martín
authors.affiliation: Institute of Marine Research (IMAR), University of the Azores, Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre (MARE), Faial, Azores, Portugal; Department of Biology, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, MA, United States.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Zoo Duisburg , Duisburg , Germany.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Edler
authors.affiliation: BIOECOMAC. Department of Animal Biology, Edaphology and Geology, University of La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain; Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU), University of St. Andrews, St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Cristel
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Reyes
authors.affiliation: Canarias Conservacion , Tenerife , Canary Islands , Spain.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carrillo
authors.affiliation: BIOECOMAC. Department of Animal Biology, Edaphology and Geology, University of La Laguna , Tenerife , Canary Islands , Spain.
authors.forename: Agustina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schiavi
authors.affiliation: BIOECOMAC. Department of Animal Biology, Edaphology and Geology, University of La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain; Grupo de Investigación en Conservación (GIC), Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.
authors.forename: Talia
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Morales
authors.affiliation: BIOECOMAC. Department of Animal Biology, Edaphology and Geology, University of La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain; Grupo de Investigación en Conservación (GIC), Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.
authors.forename: Belen
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: García-Ovide
authors.affiliation: BIOECOMAC. Department of Animal Biology, Edaphology and Geology, University of La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain; Grupo de Investigación en Conservación (GIC), Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sanchez-Mora
authors.affiliation: BIOECOMAC. Department of Animal Biology, Edaphology and Geology, University of La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain; Grupo de Investigación en Conservación (GIC), Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.
authors.forename: Nerea
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Garcia-Tavero
authors.affiliation: Whale Watch Azores , Faial , Azores , Portugal.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Steiner
authors.affiliation: M.E.E.R. La Gomera , Berlin , Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Scheer
authors.affiliation: M.E.E.R. La Gomera , Berlin , Germany.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gockel
authors.affiliation: World Cetacean Alliance , Brighton , England , United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Dylan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.affiliation: Cetacean Watching (CW Azores) , Pico , Azores , Portugal.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Villa
authors.affiliation: Cetacean Watching (CW Azores) , Pico , Azores , Portugal.
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Szlama
authors.affiliation: Futurismo , Ponta Delgada , Azores , Portugal.
authors.forename: Ida K
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Eriksson
authors.affiliation: Society for the Study of Cetaceans in the Canary Islands Archipelago (SECAC) , Lanzarote , Canary Islands , Spain.
authors.forename: Marisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tejedor
authors.affiliation: Society for the Study of Cetaceans in the Canary Islands Archipelago (SECAC), Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain; CEAMAR, Cetaceans and Marine Research Institute of the Canary Islands, Lanzarote, Spain.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Perez-Gil
authors.affiliation: Espaço Talassa , Lajes do Pico , Azores , Portugal.
authors.forename: João
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Quaresma
authors.affiliation: Legionowo , Poland.
authors.forename: Wojtek
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Bachara
authors.affiliation: Scottish Ocean Institute, University of St. Andrews , St Andrews , Scotland , United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Carroll
keywords: Azores; Canary Islands; Cetacean distribution; Colouration patterns; Cytochrome b; Genetics; North Atlantic; Phenotype; Ziphiidae; mtDNA