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. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES RECENT STRANDING INCIDENCES OF MARINE MAMMALS IN WEST BENGAL, INDIA 6. PrasannaL.Yennawar1 'MarineAquariumandResearchCenter,ZoologicalSurveyofIndia, Digha721 428,WestBengal, India. Email: [email protected] One of the most fascinating features of Indian made from indirect evidences like interviewing locals and biodiversityisitsmarinemammals, whichinclude members fishermen. In addition tothis incidence, anotherdead whale of seven different families under two Orders. The families was recorded at the same place about a kilometre away on Delphinidae, Phocoenidae, Physeteridae, Ziphiidae, May 16,2006.Allthediagnosticfeaturesrecordedwereused BalaenopteridaeandBalaenidaebelongtoOrderCetacea,and to draw conclusion on species identification by using keys Dugongidae belongs to Order Sirenia. Records of marine given in Prater (1980), Jefferson etal. (1993), andAgrawal mammals in India, along with its location status, are well- andAlfred(1999).Thefollowingobservationscouldbemade documented by Sathasivam (2000).Thereis some literature fromtheavailablespecimeninthesetwostrandingincidences: whichgivestaxonomicfeatures,speciesabundanceandstatus The overall morphology ofthe specimen was largely 1. ofconservationofthemarinemammalsinIndia(Corbetand damaged, but some patches of intact skin appeared Hill 1992; Moluretal. 1998;Agrawal andAlfred 1999; Lai blackdorsally and grayish ventrally. Mohan 1999;Kumaran2002;Alfredsal. 2005;Alfredetal. 2. Thebodylengthofthefirstwhalewasabout 17 mand 2006). Literature review shows that there are a total of that of the second was 15 m of which the head was 408 mammal species recorded so far in India; this includes around 35%. 29speciesofmarine mammalsoutof 120recordedin world 3. Thejawbonescouldbeobservedclearlywithdamaged (Jefferson et al. 1993). According to the IUCN (2003) and baleenplates andbristles.Thebaleen platesweredark Alfredetal. (2006), the statusofmarinemammals in Indian withhorizontalgreybands. HeadwasV-shapedwitha waters was; 3 endangered, 3 vulnerable, 8 insufficiently prominentcentral ridge overit. knownand6underlowerrisk. However,theIndianWildlife 4. There were around 65-75 ventral furrows. Act (1972, amended in 1991) (as mentioned inAlfred etal. 5. Dorsal fin was distinct, but small and sharply angled 2005) lists only 4 species of cetaceans, i.e., Irrawaddy andplacedattheposterior l/3rdoftheback.Itmeasures Dolphin,GangesRiverDolphin, SpermWhale,andDugong around 0.4-0.5 m, which was approximately 2.5% of in Schedule I, and 15 species are included in Schedule II. body length. Pectoral flippers were sickle-shaped and Lack of adequate scientific information could not provide curvedtowardstheend.Tailflukehorizontallyflattened anystatusontheremainingspecies.Thepresentpapercovers andblade-shaped, which was not supported by bone. recent stranding evidences of marine mammals, especially whalesanddolphins,alongWestBengalcoast.Thisstranding recordwillhelpinfulfillingtheinformationgaponthisgroup (21)Natknown by providing first hand baseline information of their abundance. The finding will also help the various ongoing andfutureresearchstudiesonthistopic,aswell asmanagers forsuccessfully implementingconservationlawsinthearea. Comparison ofearlierrecords ofstranding on Indian coasts till2000showsthatmostoftheincidenceswererecordedon the east than west coast. However,West Bengal had meagre incidencesofoccurrencesofmarinemammals.Thestate-wise sighting records of stranding of marine mammals in Indian coasts till 2000is shown in Fig. 1 During the present study, the first incidence occurred in the first week of May 2006 at Jhelampur beach near Mandarmoni in East Midnapore district, West Bengal. The strandingsitewasimmediatelyvisitedtorecordobservations on overall morphology, dimensions, flipper size, part of Fig. 1: State-wise sighting recordsof skeleton, and skull of whale. Some observations were also marine mammals in India J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 106 (1), Jan-Apr 2009 95 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 6. Dorsalfin,flippersandflukeblack. Flippersandfluke 6. Blow hole was damaged. white below. 7. Thepectoralfinwaslikeflippers,whichhadcurvededges 7. Bodycolourwasdarkgreyaboveandwhiteunderneath. and rounded tips. Colourofheadwasnotuniformdorso-ventrally.Upper 8. Tail was narrow andcompressedhorizontally. jaw was grey with white fringes, however, lower lip 9. Dorsalfinwasverysmallandthetipportionwasdamaged. andpalate white incolour. Fromtheavailableevidencesitappearsthatthespecies 8. The undigested intestine or stomach mass largely was ofOrderCetacea, Family Delphinidae. It is commonly containedcrustaceans.Asthewhalediedinopenwater known as Irrawaddy Dolphin Orcaella brevirostris Gray. before stranding, most of the gut content was ThereareafewreportsonsightingandstrandingofIrrawaddy decomposed and beyond identification up to species dolphins from Indian waters (Sathasivam 2000; Kumaran level. 2002). Along the eastcoastofIndia, the sightings were also 9. Blow hole could not be noticed as a part of the head reported by James et al. (1989) in Bhitarkanika Sanctuary, portion wasdetached. Dandapani (1992) in Chilka lake, and Miller (1997) in From the recorded diagnostic features, it appears that Chennai Coast. thesetwospeciesbelongtoGenusBcilaenopteniunderFamily Thefourthincidenceofastrandeddeadmarinemammal Balaenopteridae. Close observations of the distinguishing was recorded at Digha-Mohanaon May 18, 2006. At first it features suggests that it was a Fin Whale Balaenoptera appearedlikesomefish,butcarefulobservationrevealedthat physalus (Linnaeus). The prominent distinguishing features theanimalwasamammal.Thelocalfishermeninformedthat ofFinwhalesobservedinthepresentcasewereasymmetrical this mammal was stranded for 3-4 days. The diagnostic coloration pattern, moderate sizeddorsalfin, V-shaped head features recordedfrom this specimen are as follows: with pointed tip, gray baleen plates with white streaks and 1. Colourofthe body was greyish-black with spots. black back. Fin whales are distributed worldwide. In the 2. Body length was 2.3 m. IndianOcean,thereisacontinuouspresenceofthesewhales. 3. Mouth and teeth were damaged, but a beak-like As far as the north-east coast is concerned, this is the first structure could be seen from the skull. incidence of Baleen whale occurrence. In 1967, one dead 4. The pectoral fin was flipper-shapedand falcate. whale species was recorded near Junput coastal area 5. Tail was compressed and fluke notched in the middle. (FisheriesDept.WestBengalpers.comm.);thisspecieswas, 6. Dorsal fin wasblack, backwardly pointed and located however, not identified. Sightings of Baleen whales were in the middle ofthe body. earlierreported offKolkata and Mumbai coasts by de Silva From the available evidence, it appeared to be a (1987)(asreportedinAgrawalandAlfred 1999).Sathasivam Pantropical Spotted Dolphin Stenella attenuata Gray 1846. (2000) and Kumaran (2002) recorded 12 specimens of Fin Sathasivam (2000) and Kumaran (2002) reported WhalefromIndianwaters, whichweremainlystrandingand 13 specimens from Indian waters, de Silva (1987) reported landings. Five vertebrae of one Baleen whale were also 4 specimens. reportedbydeSilva(1987),whichwasdisplayedinMedical It is noteworthy to mention that all these four cases College, Kolkata, butthe stranding site was notreported. occurredinthedurationofonemonthandwithinafewmetres. Along with these two whale stranging records, one These incidences draw attention to the need for collective small-sizeddeadseamammalwas alsorecordedatthe same long-term monitoring studies in this area to determine the locationabout 100mawayonthe morningofMay 16, 2006. reasonsandpatternsofstranding.Movementoflargevessels Theoverallmorphologywasnotmuchdamagedlikeinearlier in the nearby port Haldia, one ofthe busiest ports in India, incidences,exceptneckandabdomenportion.Thediagnostic offshore and land-based pollution, and high sediment load features ofthis mammal are as follows: through nearby estuaries are some ofthe existing threats in 1. Colour of body was blackish dorsally and greyish thisareaandshouldbeconsideredwhenformulatingfurther ventrally. studies. The movement oflarge animals in such areas often 2. Body length was about 2 m. cause accidents, which may prove fatal to the animals. 3. Mouth was located ventrally with powerful jaws and Awarenessamonglocals, fishermen andmanagers alsoneed pointed snout. The teeth were flattened and around tobeaddressedforeffectiveimplementationofenvironmental 16 in the upperjaw, the lowerjaw was damaged. and conservation laws. The present observation within a 4. Eyes were small andbulging. month indicates presence of these previously unreported 5. Head was blunt without beak as in other dolphins and mammals in the area. The area can be converted into an with abulbousforeheadanddistinctneck. important eco-tourism site. This will be an added attraction 96 J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 106 (1), Jan-Apr 2009 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES forthetouristsinDigha,ShankarpurandMandarmonibeaches the study and Dr. J.R.B.Alfred, formerDirector, Zoological alreadyfamoustouristdestinationforNorth-eastern states. Survey of India, for his guidance. Thanks are due to Dr.T.K.Chatterjee,formerJoint-Director,forhishelpduring ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS thestudy.Iamalsothankfultovariousfishermenforassisting me during the field visit. I sincerely thank the anonymous I thank to Dr. Ramakrishna, Director, Zoological reviewer for critically reviewing the manuscript for its Survey ofIndia, Kolkata, forhis encouragement throughout improvement. REFERENCES Agrawal,V.C.&J.R.B.Alfred(1999):HandbookofWhales,Dolphins mammals and turtles at Gahirmata, Orissa from 1983 to 1987. andDugongs. PublishedbytheDirector,ZSI, Kolkata 150pp. 7. Mar. Biol. Ass. India31(1&2): 28-35. Alfred, J.R.B., A.K. Das & A.K. Sanyal (2006): Animals of India: Jefferson,T.A.,S.Leatherwood&M.A.Webber(1993):FAOSpecies Mammals. ENVIS-ZSI,PublishedbytheDirector,ZSI, Kolkata. Identification Guide, Marine Mammals ofthe World. Published 236pp. byFAO. 320pp. Alfred, J.R.B., Ramkrishna & M.S. Pradhan (2005): Validation of Kumaran, P.L. (2002): Marine mammals research in India. A review threatened mammals of India. Published by the Director, ZSI, andcritiquesofthemethods. CurrentScience83(10): 1210-1219. Kolkata. LalMohan, R.S. (1999): WhalesandDolphinsofIndia. Publishedby Corbet, G.B. & J.E. Hill(1992): The Mammalsofthe Indo-Malayan ConservationofNatureTrust, Nagarcoil, India. 91 pp. Region. OxfordUniversity Press,London.488pp. Miller, H. (1997): Of Dolphins and Deluges. Madras Musings, DeSilva, P.H.D.H. (1987): Cetaceans (whales,dolphins & porpoises) November 16-30, 1997: 5 pp. recorded off Sri Lanka, India, from the Arabian Sea and Gulf, Molur,S., P.O. Nameer&S.Walker(1998): Reportoftheworkshop GulfofAden and from the Red Sea. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. ‘Conservation assessment & management plan for mammals of 84(3): 505-525. India’ (BCPP-Endangered Species Project): Published by Zoo Dandapani, P. (1992): Status of Irrawaddy River Dolphin Orcaella Outreach Organisation, Conservation Breeding Specialist Group brevirostrisinChilkaLake.J. Mar. Biol. Ass. India34:90-93. India,Coimbatore, India: pp. 176. IUCN(2003):IUCNRedlistofThreatenedSpecies.Availableonhttp:/ Prater, S.H. (1980): The BookofIndian Mammals. Bombay Natural /www.iucnredlist.org. History Society,andOxfordUniversityPress, Mumbai. 324pp. James, P.S.B.R., M. Rajagopalan, S.S. Dan,A. Bastian Fernando & Sathasivam,K.(2000):AcatalogueofIndianMarineMammalsRecords. V. Selvaraj (1989): On the mortality and stranding of marine Blackbuck 169(2&3): 23-74. 7. SIGHTING OF LEUCISM IN SPOT-BILLED DUCK ANAS POECILORHYNCHA J.R. FORESTER, 1781 AND LITTLE GREBE TACHYBAPTUS RUFICOLLIS (PALLAS, 1754) IN DISTRICT DUNGARPUR, RAJASTHAN, INDIA Kamlesh Sharma',VirendraSingh Bedsa2 O.C. Chandel3and Satya Prakash Mehra4 , '151,PWDQuarters,NewColony,Dungarpur314001,Rajasthan, India. Email: [email protected] 23/l56, Shivaji Nagar, HousingBoard,Dungarpur314001,Rajasthan, India.Email: [email protected] 3DFO,DeptofForests,UdaipurRoad,Dungarpur314001,Rajasthan.India. Email: [email protected] 4WWF-IndiaBharatpurFieldOffice, KeoladeoNational Park,Bharatpur321 001, Rajasthan,India.Email: [email protected] Leucism is an abnormal plumage; though uncommon Press, Bombay). Normal individual ofSpotbilled Duck has it occurs occasionally in many species. While albinism scaly-patterned buffy grey and dark brown plumage. is a genetic mutation that prevents the formation of the pigment melanin, leucism occurs when this pigment is dilutedcausingpalerplumagethatisoftencreamorsometimes white. OnFebruary04,2009,asingleindividualofSpot-billed DuckwithwhiteplumagewassightedintheGamelapondof ChhotaBodigamavillage, Dungaipur, Rajasthan.Theentire body was white, except forthe head (Fig. 1). Spot-billed Duck Anaspoecilorhyncha J.R. Forester, 1781,isalarge-sizedwidespreadresidentduckfoundallover the Indian subcontinent (Ali and Ripley 2001, handbookof THE BIRDS OF INDIA AND PAKISTAN TOGETHER WITH THOSE OF Bangladesh,Nepal,Bhutanandsrilanka.OxfordUniversity Fig. 1: Spot-billed DuckAnaspoecilorhynchawith leucism J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 106 (1), Jan-Apr 2009 97