Stephane P. G. de Moura, Camila Domit, Mauricio Cantor
{"title":"Applying the Ecological Trap Concept to Cetaceans","authors":"Stephane P. G. de Moura, Camila Domit, Mauricio Cantor","doi":"10.1111/mms.70150","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.70150","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Wild animals may select poor-quality habitats due to mismatches between perceived and actual habitat quality, creating ecological traps. Although well explored in terrestrial systems, this concept remains underutilized for marine species. However, human-induced alterations in marine habitats may similarly expose marine fauna, including cetaceans, to ecological traps. We conducted a systematic review to (i) synthesize how the ecological trap concept has been applied to cetaceans, (ii) assess whether existing studies met the concept's defining criteria, and (iii) propose a roadmap for further research. Searches across three academic databases identified 301 peer-reviewed articles, but only 11 explicitly used the ecological trap framework for cetaceans. These studies applied criteria developed in terrestrial research, using direct and indirect proxies of habitat preference and fitness. Most relied on direct proxy fitness assessments, providing stronger evidence of ecological traps. Our findings highlight the concept's limited use in cetacean research and emphasize the need for targeted field studies. Because ecological traps can lead to population declines, understanding their presence and effects is essential for conservation. We outline methods—including the adaptation of terrestrial approaches and emerging technologies—to improve detection and mitigation of ecological traps in marine systems, supporting more comprehensive analyses and effective biodiversity protection.</p>","PeriodicalId":18725,"journal":{"name":"Marine Mammal Science","volume":"42 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/mms.70150","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147300031","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alec Burslem, Saana Isojunno, Rui Prieto, Mónica A. Silva, Patrick J. O. Miller
{"title":"Predicting Individual Body Length, Volume, and Mass From Dominant Stroke Cycle Frequency in Sperm Whales: Empirical Cross-Validation and Prediction Functions","authors":"Alec Burslem, Saana Isojunno, Rui Prieto, Mónica A. Silva, Patrick J. O. Miller","doi":"10.1111/mms.70144","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.70144","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":18725,"journal":{"name":"Marine Mammal Science","volume":"42 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147300041","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alec Burslem, Saana Isojunno, Rui Prieto, Mónica A. Silva, Patrick J. O. Miller
{"title":"Predicting Individual Body Length, Volume, and Mass From Dominant Stroke Cycle Frequency in Sperm Whales: Empirical Cross-Validation and Prediction Functions","authors":"Alec Burslem, Saana Isojunno, Rui Prieto, Mónica A. Silva, Patrick J. O. Miller","doi":"10.1111/mms.70144","DOIUrl":"10.1111/mms.70144","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":18725,"journal":{"name":"Marine Mammal Science","volume":"42 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147299966","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Luca A. Schick, Kit M. Kovacs, Christian Lydersen, Simon Rohner, Ellen Prenger-Berninghoff, Carsten Heydel, Christa Ewers, Alexander Postel, Nele Gremmel, Paul Becher, Christina Strube, Ursula Siebert
{"title":"Sharing Is Caring?—Pathogens and Pathogen-Specific Antibodies in Arctic Endemic Seal Species and the Newly Sympatric Harbor Seals in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard","authors":"Luca A. Schick, Kit M. Kovacs, Christian Lydersen, Simon Rohner, Ellen Prenger-Berninghoff, Carsten Heydel, Christa Ewers, Alexander Postel, Nele Gremmel, Paul Becher, Christina Strube, Ursula Siebert","doi":"10.1111/mms.70143","DOIUrl":"10.1111/mms.70143","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Climate change associated transformations of Arctic marine ecosystems are having detrimental impacts on Arctic endemic marine mammals. However, warming conditions are providing new habitats for temperate marine mammals, some of which are expanding into Arctic regions, posing a threat of novel pathogen introduction and disease transmission. We analyzed swab samples for Influenza A, morbilli- (Phocine distemper virus, PDV), and herpesvirus nucleic acid and performed microbiological screenings and serological analyses for antibodies for the same viral pathogens, the bacterial agents <i>Brucella</i> spp. and <i>Leptospira</i> spp. and the protozoan parasite <i>Toxoplasma</i> (<i>T</i>.) <i>gondii</i> from ringed (<i>Pusa hispida</i>), bearded (<i>Erignathus barbatus</i>), and the newly established harbor seals (<i>Phoca vitulina</i>) in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard. Antibodies against Phocine Herpesvirus-1 or antigenetically related phocine herpesviruses (PhHV) were detected in all species. Antibodies against Influenza A were only found in one ringed seal and antibodies against PDV were found in two harbor seals. Twelve harbor seals and two ringed seals tested positive for Herpesvirus DNA by PCR. <i>Brucella</i> spp. and <i>Leptospira</i> spp. antibodies were detected in multiple harbor seals and a single bearded seal. Three harbor, two ringed, and one bearded seal had antibodies against <i>T. gondii</i>. Our results indicate an overlap and possible transmission of pathogens between all investigated seal species. The introduction of new pathogens to the Arctic through temperate species' range expansions could have fatal consequences for immunologically naive Arctic seal populations and should be further investigated.</p>","PeriodicalId":18725,"journal":{"name":"Marine Mammal Science","volume":"42 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/mms.70143","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147299923","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Luca A. Schick, Kit M. Kovacs, Christian Lydersen, Simon Rohner, Ellen Prenger-Berninghoff, Carsten Heydel, Christa Ewers, Alexander Postel, Nele Gremmel, Paul Becher, Christina Strube, Ursula Siebert
{"title":"Sharing Is Caring?—Pathogens and Pathogen-Specific Antibodies in Arctic Endemic Seal Species and the Newly Sympatric Harbor Seals in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard","authors":"Luca A. Schick, Kit M. Kovacs, Christian Lydersen, Simon Rohner, Ellen Prenger-Berninghoff, Carsten Heydel, Christa Ewers, Alexander Postel, Nele Gremmel, Paul Becher, Christina Strube, Ursula Siebert","doi":"10.1111/mms.70143","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.70143","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Climate change associated transformations of Arctic marine ecosystems are having detrimental impacts on Arctic endemic marine mammals. However, warming conditions are providing new habitats for temperate marine mammals, some of which are expanding into Arctic regions, posing a threat of novel pathogen introduction and disease transmission. We analyzed swab samples for Influenza A, morbilli- (Phocine distemper virus, PDV), and herpesvirus nucleic acid and performed microbiological screenings and serological analyses for antibodies for the same viral pathogens, the bacterial agents <i>Brucella</i> spp. and <i>Leptospira</i> spp. and the protozoan parasite <i>Toxoplasma</i> (<i>T</i>.) <i>gondii</i> from ringed (<i>Pusa hispida</i>), bearded (<i>Erignathus barbatus</i>), and the newly established harbor seals (<i>Phoca vitulina</i>) in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard. Antibodies against Phocine Herpesvirus-1 or antigenetically related phocine herpesviruses (PhHV) were detected in all species. Antibodies against Influenza A were only found in one ringed seal and antibodies against PDV were found in two harbor seals. Twelve harbor seals and two ringed seals tested positive for Herpesvirus DNA by PCR. <i>Brucella</i> spp. and <i>Leptospira</i> spp. antibodies were detected in multiple harbor seals and a single bearded seal. Three harbor, two ringed, and one bearded seal had antibodies against <i>T. gondii</i>. Our results indicate an overlap and possible transmission of pathogens between all investigated seal species. The introduction of new pathogens to the Arctic through temperate species' range expansions could have fatal consequences for immunologically naive Arctic seal populations and should be further investigated.</p>","PeriodicalId":18725,"journal":{"name":"Marine Mammal Science","volume":"42 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/mms.70143","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147299998","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kim W. Urian, Susan G. Barco, Karen L. Clark, Alex M. Costidis, Paul Doshkov, Marina Piscitelli-Doshkov, Alexandra L. Epple, Tiffany F. Keenan, William A. McLellan, Wayne E. McFee, D. Ann Pabst, Keith A. Rittmaster, Todd R. Speakman, Victoria G. Thayer, Andrew J. Read
{"title":"Stock Identity of Stranded Tamanend's Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops erebennus) With Evidence of Fisheries Interaction in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, 1996–2019","authors":"Kim W. Urian, Susan G. Barco, Karen L. Clark, Alex M. Costidis, Paul Doshkov, Marina Piscitelli-Doshkov, Alexandra L. Epple, Tiffany F. Keenan, William A. McLellan, Wayne E. McFee, D. Ann Pabst, Keith A. Rittmaster, Todd R. Speakman, Victoria G. Thayer, Andrew J. Read","doi":"10.1111/mms.70147","DOIUrl":"10.1111/mms.70147","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The complex population structure of Tamanend's bottlenose dolphins (<i>Tursiops erebennus</i>) along the U.S. Mid-Atlantic coast complicates assessment of their bycatch. To improve our understanding of the stock identity of individual dolphins taken as bycatch in this region, we compared images of the dorsal fins of bottlenose dolphins that stranded with evidence of fishery interactions (FI+) to the Mid-Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin Catalog (MABDC). We obtained stranding data from NOAA Fisheries for 715 FI+ bottlenose dolphins from Virginia (VA), North Carolina (NC), and South Carolina (SC) from 1996 to 2019; approximately two thirds of these records included dorsal fin images. For records for which images were available, we applied restrictive criteria for image quality and dorsal fin distinctiveness and compared the remaining 145 distinctive FI+ individuals to the MABDC. We matched 18 dolphins to regional catalogs and assigned stock identity to 13 of the matches; two were from migratory coastal stocks and 11 were from small estuarine stocks in NC and SC. Our analysis demonstrates how the risk of bycatch varies across bottlenose dolphin stocks along the Mid-Atlantic coast, provides an important feedback information loop to stranding responders and researchers studying dolphins in the field, and informs conservation efforts to address bycatch of bottlenose dolphins in this region.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":18725,"journal":{"name":"Marine Mammal Science","volume":"42 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147299918","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}