-The repertoire of socio-sexual and sexual behaviors of cetaceans is relatively unknown. The purpose of the current study was to advance the existing knowledge of socio-sexual behavior of beluga whales through the development of a behavioral catalog that lists the full repertoire of sexual and socio-sexual behaviors. A behavioral catalog was developed initially from 800 hours of observations, collected across a 7-year period from 11 belugas ranging in age (birth to 30+ years), sex, and social groupings. Using this behavioral catalog, observations of eight additional belugas housed between two other facilities were coded for socio-sexual and sexual behaviors. Sociosexual and sexual behaviors of belugas were similar across all three facilities. Socio-sexual and sexual behaviors involved sequenced behaviors, had lateralized components, and were often subtle in nature. Some of these behaviors overlapped with potentially aggressive actions but showed distinct differences in their form, or topography. Complexity and duration of socio-sexual interactions varied depending on the age and sex of the participating belugas. The development of a complete behavioral catalog, or ethogram, of the socio-sexual and sexual behaviors has profound influences on understanding the mechanisms involved for successful reproduction, a problem that several groups of belugas in their natural habitat are currently facing.Keywords -Beluga, Socio-sexual behavior, Sexual behavior, Behavioral repertoire, Delphinapterus leucas Socio-sexual behavior has been studied in terms of reproductive success, copulation, and courtship. Reproductive success and copulation rates are relatively easy to identify if the definition includes documenting pregnancies, births, and intromission attempts between sexually-mature and receptive individuals. These behaviors, which are directly related to conception or involve direct stimulation of genitalia, can be defined with the term sexual (Campbell, 2007;Connor, Read, & Wrangham, 2000;Connor, Wells, Mann, & Read, 2000). In comparison, socio-sexual behavior includes behaviors that may not be directly involved in conception but may be used for other social purposes, such as developing and maintaining relationships between individuals or courtship (Campbell, 2007;Connor, Wells, et al., 2000). Courtship has traditionally been defined as the innate set of behaviors performed prior to copulation (Lorenz, 1958;Tinbergen, 1952). More recently, the definition of courtship has been expanded to include both elicited innate and emitted learned stereotyped behaviors that draw the attention of potential mates (reviewed by Freeberg, 2000). Hill et al. 106A review of general research on animal behavior indicated that sexual and socio-sexual interactions were the least studied area of research (27% of articles reviewed, Hill, Artz, & Lopez, 2014). Most studies of socio-sexual and sexual interactions have been conducted primarily with fish, amphibians, and invertebrates in laboratory settings. The sexual and socio-sexual behav...
Belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) in managed care have been reported to show seasonal variation in socio-sexual behaviour, hormone levels and respiration rates; however, little is known about the social interactions of wild belugas when they are not in summer, near-shore congregations. To better understand if belugas show seasonal variation in social interactions, this study recorded the behaviour of 10 belugas (five females, five males, ranging from birth to 10 years of age) housed in managed care. Social interactions typically peaked in the summer months but persisted at very low levels during the rest of the year. Seasonal variation was most dramatic for socio-sexual behaviour but was generally mirrored in pattern by agonistic and affiliative interactions. Subjects closer to maturity displayed more seasonal variation than younger subjects, and males displayed more seasonal variation compared to females. The peak in social interactions found in this study aligns rather closely with wild belugas’ summer, near-shore congregations, where belugas have increased opportunities for socializing. Although belugas in managed care do not experience a seasonal change in habitat, they do show seasonal changes in social behaviour, which are likely driven by seasonal fluctuations in hormone levels. It is therefore expected that wild beluga populations would show similar behavioural patterns if they were observed throughout the remainder of the year. This research has applications for belugas in managed care and may provide a framework for understanding the social behaviour of wild belugas.
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