Paulo C. Simões-Lopes

Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina | UFSC · Departamento de Ecologia e Zoologia

Skull shape analysis provides useful information on wildlife ecology and potential local adaptations. Common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) often differentiate between coastal and offshore populations worldwide, and skull shape analyses can be particularly useful in this context. Here we quantify skull shape variation between coastal popu...

This note compiles recorded strandings of sperm whales on the Brazilian coast. A known total of 95 sperm whales (62 single and one mass stranding of 33 individuals) stranded along the Brazilian coast from 1967-2000. A higher incidence of single strandings was observed in northeastern Brazil ( ~ 05°-17°S). No strandings occurred in lower latitudes (...

Populations usually considered foraging generalists may include specialized individuals that feed on a restricted subset of the prey spectrum consumed by the population. By analyzing the time series of δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values in sequential growth layer groups within tooth dentin, we measured population- and individual-level variation in resource use o...

A história de Imo e Tafarel nos ajuda a discutir a presença de cultura em animais não humanos. Imo, um macaco, aprendendo a lavar suas batatas na Ilha de Koshima e Tafarel, um boto, aprendendo com sua família a pescar com os pescadores em Laguna. A cultura é um fenômeno exclusivamente humano? É essa questão que buscamos desconstruir nesse texto.

The Franciscana Dolphin: On the Edge of Survival provides the most updated and comprehensive knowledge on the most endangered marine mammal in the Western South Atlantic Ocean. It synthesizes all available information on this dolphin species, also referred to as La Plata dolphin, ranging from taxonomy, evolution, diet, parasites and diseases, repro...

To predict the potential breeding hotspots of southern right whales in southern Brazil, we used a Maxent model with a “presence-only” dataset. The dataset was obtained from a systematic aerial survey and public records of the Programa de Monitoramento de Cetáceos da Bacia de Santos and Sistema de Apoio ao Monitoramento de Mamíferos Marinhos. Becaus...

Trophic ecology information about cetaceans is essential to understand their role in ecosystem dynamics. Stable isotope analysis is a valuable complementary approach to conventional methods usually applied to the study of the foraging behavior of cetaceans because it provides dietary information over different time scales and can potentially use ti...

This chapter presents the taxonomy, evolutionary history, and a morphological and comparative description of the skeleton of Pontoporia blainvillei (Gervais and d’Orbigny, 1844), including ontogenic aspects and intraspecific variation. We also discuss several important cartilages and joints and the fenestrae and main foramina. Additionally, we pres...

Whales contribute to marine ecosystem functioning, and they may play a role in mitigating climate change and supporting the Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) population, a keystone prey species that sustains the entire Southern Ocean (SO) ecosystem. By analyzing a five-decade (1971–2017) data series of individual southern right whales (SRWs; Euba...

• The small population paradigm assumes that populations with low numbers of individuals intrinsically have a high probability of extinction. The small population of Lahille’s bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus gephyreus that specializes in foraging with artisanal fishers in Laguna, southern Brazil, faces human pressures including bycatch in fi...

Acoustic monitoring in cetacean studies is an effective but expensive approach. This is partly because of the high sampling rate required by acoustic devices when recording high-frequency echolocation clicks. However, the proportion of echolocation clicks recorded at different frequencies is unknown for many species, including bottlenose dolphins....

Santa Catarina State, in southern Brazil, is an important breeding ground for the southern right whale and it is possible to record mother‐calf pairs and unaccompanied adults that migrate to this coast to either give birth, mate, or socialize. From the geographical position of the sightings, spatial segregation was evaluated between mother‐calf pai...

Two subspecies of bottlenose dolphins are observed, not simultaneously, in a narrow coastal area of the western South Atlantic Ocean. However, their trophic interaction is unknown. Such information can be explored using stable isotope composition in teeth, warranting time series data. We analyzed carbon and nitrogen isotopic values (δ13C and δ15N)...

The minke whale is the smallest of the living rorquals and is widely distributed in the tropical, temperate and polar waters of both hemispheres. In the western Southwest Atlantic Ocean there are two currently recognised species, the dwarf form of the common minke whale, Balaenoptera acutorostrata unnamed subsp. and the Antarctic minke whale B. bon...

The Neotropical otter, Lontra longicaudis, is a semiaquatic mustelid that preys upon fish, amphibians, and crustaceans, in variable proportions according to habitat and/or season. Due to the difficulty of observing this species in the wild, information on its ecology is typically obtained through vestiges, such as feces, which usually do not provid...

Sympatric species are expected to differ in ecological requirements to minimize niche overlap and avoid competition. Here we assess the trophic interactions among three coexisting dolphin species from southern Brazil: the franciscana dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei), the Guiana dolphin (Sotalia guianensis), and the Lahille's bottlenose dolphin (Tur...

Background: Human-animal interactions with mutual benefits in the wild are rare. Such positive interactions seem to require an intricate knowledge from the human side on the animals' behavior and their habitat. In southern Brazil, dolphins and human net-casting fishers have specialized in a cooperative foraging, in which fishers report being able...

A subset of the bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus gephyreus population in Laguna, southern Brazil, specialize in foraging cooperatively with fishermen. In this study, we describe reproductive parameters for these dolphins and investigate whether this specialized tactic generates reproductive advantages for females that frequently engage in this...

Coastal and offshore ecotypes of common bottlenose dolphins have been recognized in the western South Atlantic, and it is possible that trophic niche divergence associated with social interactions is leading them to genetic and phenotypic differentiation. The significant morphological differentiation observed between these ecotypes suggests they re...

Aquatic Biology - AB prepress abstract - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00712 Bottlenose dolphin ecotypes of the western South Atlantic: the puzzle of dorsal fin shapes, colors and habitats Paulo C. Simões-Lopes*, Fábio G. Daura-Jorge, Liliane Lodi, Carolina Bezamat, Ana P. B. Costa, Leonardo L. Wedekin *Email: simoes_lopes@hotmail.com ABSTRAC...

A small population of coastal bottlenose dolphins ( Tursiops truncatus gephyreus ) inhabits the inland waters of Laguna, southern Brazil. A subset of this population interacts with artisanal fishermen. This specialized foraging tactic structures dolphin society into ‘cooperatives' (participants of the interaction) and ‘non‐cooperatives' (non‐partic...

The Neotropical otter, Lontra longicaudis, is an opportunistic species usually found in freshwater habitats; however, it has also been recorded in environments with marine influence (e.g., islands and estuaries). Thus, we hypothesized that the isotopic niche of the Neotropical otter is wider in a coastal island (Santa Catarina Island—SC) and in a r...

Individuals often associate socially with those who behave the sameway. This principle, homophily, could structure populations into distinct social groups. We tested this hypothesis in a bottlenose dolphin population that appeared to be clustered around a specialized foraging tactic involving cooperation with net-casting fishermen, but in which oth...

Incorporating the perception and attitudes of key stakeholders into conservation management can contribute to biodiversity conservation and has the potential to resolve human-wildlife conflicts. To this end, there is scope to enhance conservation outcomes by improving the capture and analysis of stakeholders perceptions and trans- lating these into...

Adverse effects of exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) threaten the maintenance of odontocete populations. In southern Brazil, coastal bottlenose dolphins from the Laguna Estuarine System (LES) and Patos Lagoon Estuary (PLE) were sampled using remote biopsies during the winter and summer months. Levels of bioaccumulated POPs were measu...

Recent years have seen an increasing interest in individual behavioral variation. However, the implications of such variation for population dynamics are often unknown. We studied the dynamics of a bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus gephyreus) population from southern Brazil, where some individuals forage cooperatively with artisanal fishermen....

The poxviruses identified in cetaceans are associated with characteristic tattoo or ring skin lesions. However, little is known regarding the prevalence and progression of these lesions and the molecular characterization of cetacean poxviruses in the Southern Hemisphere. This manuscript describes the progression of poxvirus-like skin lesions in 5 f...

Poxviruses are emerging pathogens in cetaceans, temporarily named 'Cetaceanpoxvirus' (CePV, family Poxviridae), classified into two main lineages: CePV-1 in odontocetes and CePV-2 in mysticetes. Only a few studies performed the molecular detection of CePVs, based on DNA-polymerase gene and/or DNA-topoisomerase I gene amplification. Herein we descri...

According to theory, individuals forage in ways that maximize net energy intake. Distinct foraging strategies may emerge within a population in response to heterogeneous resources, competition and learning, among other drivers. We assessed individual variation in, and ecological consequences of, an unusual, specialized foraging tactic between anima...

This chapter will introduce readers to the mastozoology history of the marine and freshwater mammals of Latin America. Its inconspicuous beginning in the nineteenth century, its emergence in the mid-twentieth century and the retrospective of the last 32 years based on an evaluation of 16 bi-annual congresses of experts in aquatic mammals of Latin A...

Sympatric species may exploit the same resources, potentially acting as competitors when resources are limited. For cetaceans, ecological separation between sympatric species is based on differences in diet and habitat use. The fransiscana dolphin Pontoporia blainvillei (Pontoporiidae) and the Guiana dolphin Sotalia guianesis (Delphinidae) live in...

Recent extinctions of coastal dolphin species indicate that marine mammal populations are susceptible to rapid decline. Yet, effective conservation efforts depend on population-level ecological data. To obtain principal baseline data that will inform management efforts, we characterized the habitat and recorded the behaviour of a Guiana dolphin (So...

Acoustic communication is a taxonomically widespread phenomenon, crucial for social animals. We evaluate social sounds from bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) of Laguna, southern Brazil, whose social structure is organized around a cooperative for- aging tactic with artisanal fishermen. This tactic involves stereotyped and coordinated behavio...

Due to their worldwide distribution and occupancy of different types of environments, bottlenose dolphins display considerable morphological variation. Despite limited understanding about the taxonomic identity of such forms and connectivity among them at global scale, coastal (or inshore) and offshore (or oceanic) ecotypes have been widely recogni...

This study proposes a simple standardized method for the production of analog X-ray images of dolphin teeth, and to explore its potential use as a complementary technique in the evaluation of dental pathology in small cetaceans. We investigated exposure times that produced the best results, and whether radiographs helped in the diagnosis of macrosc...

Humpback whales were hunted almost to extinction in the 20th century, providing an opportunity to measure their post-exploitation population growth rates. Variation in growth rates may be related to many factors, and little work has been done to understand the differences among populations. First, we provided an estimate of the growth rate for the...

Franciscana dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei) whistles were documented for the first time during 2003–2013 in Babitonga Bay estuary, South Brazil, together with burst pulses. Recordings were made from small boats under good sea conditions, and recording equipment that allowed analysis of sounds up to 96 kHz. The recordings were made in the presence...

In this study we describe how franciscana and Guiana dolphin habitat use is influenced by tidal cycles and seasonality in Babitonga Bay. The franciscanas use a greater area in winter and a smaller area in summer, but the extent of the area used did not vary with the tide. Guiana dolphins did not change the extent of the area used within seasons or...

This paper describes cases of morphological variation and bone anomalies in the axial skeleton of the bottlenose dolphin, with emphasis on the vertebral column and considering the physical maturity of those specimens.

Cetacean populations in coastal habitats are increasingly threatened by multiple anthropogenic impacts. Monitoring these populations to obtain robust estimates of abundance and detect trends over time is critical to achieve conservation goals. Here, we conducted a pilot study to evaluate the effectiveness of two commonly used abundance estimation m...

Clues of cultural transmission in cooperative foraging between artisanal fishermen and bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus (Cetacea: Delphinidae) In summary, we identified the following evidence in favor of the cultural transmission of the cooperative foraging tactic among dolphins: stereotyped and synchronized behav-iors, which are shared amon...

The number and strength of social relationships are generally the products of group living trade-offs. However, they can be at least partially influenced by asocial factors such as the spatiotemporal opportunities for individuals to interact. We explored the social patterns of the largest population of Guiana dolphins—from dyadic interactions to th...

Cattani et al.: Fish assemblage in coastal bay 295 Fish assemblages in a coastal bay adjacent to a network of marine protected areas in southern Brazil Baía Norte (North Bay) in Santa Catarina State is considered a typical coastal bay and is surrounded by a network of Marine Protected Areas. The objectives of this study were to describe the composi...

Background: Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are cosmopolitan and highly migratory animals that rarely feed in low latitude waters during their breeding seasons. The western South Atlantic humpback whale population breeds off the Brazilian coast, from Natal (4°S) to Cabo Frio (23°S) and migration to their feeding grounds is known to be unde...

The taxonomy of Tursiops truncatus in the western South Atlantic is not resolved. Two different hypotheses have been proposed: (1) offshore and coastal ecotypes with a parapatric distribution, and (2) two species, T. truncatus and T. gephyreus, living in sympatry. To test these hypotheses, we examined a total of 100 physically mature skulls and 35...

ABSTRACT: Cetacean lacaziosis-like disease or lobomycosis-like disease (LLD) is a chronic skin condition caused by a non-cultivable yeast of the order Onygenales, which also includes Lacazia loboi, as well as Paracoccidioides brasiliensis and P. lutzii, respectively responsible for lacaziosis and paracoccidioidomycosis in humans. Complete identific...

In this work we compiled the available information about humans and bottlenose dolphin interactions in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean (SWAO), including issues as historical direct takes, incidental captures in fisheries, positive interactions with fisheries, interactions of dolphins with tourism and boat traffic, habitat modification or degradation,...

This report compiles the current information on morphology, genetics, stable isotopes, acoustics and parasites of bottlenose dolphins along the Southwest Atlantic Ocean (SWAO), which includes waters of Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. The authors also briefly review the proposed taxonomy for the genus along the Atlantic coast of South America.

Studies have documented the importance of understanding the traditional knowledge of artisanal fishermen regarding fishery-cetacean interactions. In this paper, we identified the effects of artisanal fisheries on bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in southern Brazil (~30 S e 32 S) and searched for alternatives to decrease the possible negativ...

Marine mammal strandings provide valuable insights into local biodiversity. Strandings can be caused by both natural and anthropogenic factors. In the state of Santa Catarina, Southern Brazil, organized marine mammal collections started in the 1980s through opportunistic and non-systematic collection efforts, representing a record of over 30 years...

We report on the epidemiology of lobomycosis-like disease (LLD), a cutaneous disorder evoking lobomycosis, in 658 common bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus from South America and 94 Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins T. aduncus from southern Africa. Photographs and stranding records of 387 inshore residents, 60 inshore non-residents and 305 speci...

The genetic structure of bottlenose dolphin communities found along the southern Brazilian coast is reported in this study. Genetic structure analysis using biopsy samples from free ranging dolphins and tissue samples from stranded dolphins revealed a fine-scale population structure among three distinct groups. The first genetically distinct group...

We report on the epidemiology of lobomycosis-like disease (LLD), a cutaneous disorder evoking lobomycosis, in 658 common bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus from South America and 94 Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins T. aduncus from southern Africa. Photographs and stranding records of 387 inshore residents, 60 inshore non-residents and 305 speci...

Ship strikes are one of the major threats to large whales worldwide. The potential impact from increasing vessel traffic therefore is a concern for the future of the Brazilian humpback whale ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) population. In order to evaluate the risk of collision between large vessels and humpback whales along coastal shipping routes in th...

Knowledge about the ecology of bottlenose dolphins in the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean is scarce. Increased by-catch rates over the last decade in coastal waters of southern Brazil have raised concerns about the decline in abundance of local dolphin communities. Lack of relevant data, including information on population structure and connectivity, h...

Pinnipeds rely upon diving to perform essential activities, including foraging. As pulmonated animals, oxygen privation experienced during submergence represents a considerable challenge both physiologically and biochemically. Routine exposure to hypoxia and the rapid transitions between ischemia/reperfusion of tissues leads to extremely high react...

Group composition, intergroup conflicts and use of space in Callithrix penicillata (Geoffroy, 1812) introduced in an urban patch. The use of space by the Callithix genus can be related to different factors. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influences of different factors on the use of space in C. penicillata introduced in an urban pa...

From the early 17th century to the 1970s southern right whales, Eubalaena australis, were subject to intense exploitation along the Atlantic coast of South America. Catches along this coast recorded by whalers originally formed a continuum from Brazil to Tierra del Fuego. Nevertheless, the recovery of the population has apparently occurred fragment...

Oceanic waters are difficult to assess, and there are many gaps in knowledge regarding cetacean occurrence. To fill some of these gaps, this article provides important cetacean records obtained in the winter of 2010 during a dedicated expedition to collect visual and acoustic information in the Vitória-Trindade seamounts. We observed 19 groups of c...