Baleen hormones: a novel tool for retrospective assessment of stress and reproduction in bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus)

Hunt, Kathleen E.; Stimmelmayr, Raphaela; George, Craig; Hanns, Cyd; Suydam, Robert; Brower, Harry; Rolland, Rosalind M.

doi:10.1093/conphys/cou030

Cited by 95 publications

(122 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Results of this study and prior studies (Hunt et al, 2014b(Hunt et al, , 2016 suggest that steroids remain detectable in baleen for at least two decades, in agreement with findings that steroid hormones show good longevity in mammalian hair (thought to be homologous to baleen filaments) for decades or even centuries (Bechshøft et al, 2012(Bechshøft et al, , 2013Webb et al, 2014). Thus, archived baleen samples may contain historic information on stress physiology that has heretofore been extremely difficult to obtain for large whales.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…Another adrenal hormone, aldosterone, has also recently been reported to be elevated in feces from pregnant female NARW (Burgess et al, in revision). In bowhead whales, single samples of fresh baleen from four pregnant females had higher mean immunoreactive cortisol compared to six nonpregnant females; this difference was not statistically significant, but sample size was very low in that pilot study (Hunt et al, 2014b). Elevated GC concentrations in pregnancy have also been reported across a wide variety of other mammals, with varied sample types including plasma, saliva, feces and hair (Bentley, 1998;Carnegie et al, 2011;D'Anna-Hernandez et al, 2011;Dettmer et al, 2015;Fanson et al, 2012;Grant et al, 2014;Meyer and Novak, 2012;Pukazhenthi and Wildt, 2004;Scarlata et al, 2012;Van Meter et al, 2009).…”

Section: Baleen Gcs Are Elevated During Pregnanciesmentioning

confidence: 70%

“…Immunoreactive cortisol was quantified with a commercial enzyme immunoassay (EIA) kit, selected based on previous successful use with bowhead whale baleen (catalog #K003-H1, Arbor Assays, Ann Arbor, MI; Hunt et al, 2014b). The cortisol EIA has six standards spanning 100-3200 pg/mL.…”

Section: Hormone Assaysmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The cortisol EIA has six standards spanning 100-3200 pg/mL. The manufacturer's reported sensitivity limit is 17.3 pg/mL, average intra-assay precision is 8.8%, average inter-assay precision is 8.1%, and cross-reactivity to corticosterone is 1.2%; for other cross-reactivities and further details see Hunt et al (2014b). The manufacturer's protocol was followed except that the cortisol standards were brought up in the same buffer previously used to prepare the extracts (buffer #X065, Arbor Assays, Ann Arbor, MI, USA), based on technical advice from the assay manufacturer.…”

Section: Hormone Assaysmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Baleen of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) has recently been found to contain progesterone and cortisol, with concentrations of both hormones at the base of the plate (most recently grown baleen) corresponding to sex and reproductive condition of the whales at the time of death (Hunt et al, 2014b). In a recent study of two adult female North Atlantic right whales (NARW, Eubalaena glacialis) that had been killed by vessel strike, baleen progesterone was found to be dramatically elevated in regions of baleen grown during known pregnancies (Hunt et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Multi-year longitudinal profiles of cortisol and corticosterone recovered from baleen of North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis)

Hunt

Lysiak

Moore

et al. 2017

General and Comparative Endocrinology

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Research into stress physiology of mysticete whales has been hampered by difficulty in obtaining repeated physiological samples from individuals over time. We investigated whether multi-year longitudinal records of glucocorticoids can be reconstructed from serial sampling along full-length baleen plates (representing ~10 years of baleen growth), using baleen recovered from two female North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) of known reproductive history. Cortisol and corticosterone were quantified with immunoassay of subsamples taken every 4 cm (representing ~60 d time intervals) along a full-length baleen plate from each female.In both whales, corticosterone was significantly elevated during known pregnancies (inferred from calf sightings and necropsy data) as compared to intercalving intervals; cortisol was significantly elevated during pregnancies in one female but not the other. Within intercalving intervals, corticosterone was significantly elevated during the first year (lactation year) and/or the second year (post-lactation year) as compared to later years of the intercalving interval, while cortisol showed more variable patterns. Cortisol occasionally showed brief high elevations ("spikes") not paralleled by corticosterone, suggesting that the two glucocorticoids might be differentially responsive to certain stressors. Generally, immunoreactive corticosterone was present in higher concentration in baleen than immunoreactive cortisol; corticosterone:cortisol ratio was usually >4 and was highly variable in both individuals. Further investigation of baleen cortisol and corticosterone profiles could prove fruitful for elucidating long-term, multi-year patterns in stress physiology of large whales, determined retrospectively from stranded or archived specimens. Hunt et al. -Baleen Hormones 3 HIGHLIGHTS• Immunoreactive cortisol and corticosterone are detectable in whale baleen• Single baleen plates contain multi-year longitudinal time series of glucocorticoids• Glucocorticoids tend to be elevated in baleen growth coincident with pregnancy• Corticosterone was present in baleen at much greater concentration than cortisol

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Baleen Gcs Are Elevated During Pregnanciesmentioning

confidence: 70%

Section: Hormone Assaysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Hormone Assaysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Multi-year longitudinal profiles of cortisol and corticosterone recovered from baleen of North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis)

Hunt

Lysiak

Moore

et al. 2017

General and Comparative Endocrinology

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Conservation implications of a lack of relationship between baseline glucocorticoids and fitness in a wild passerine

Madliger

Love

2016

Ecological Applications

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The application of physiological measures to conservation monitoring has been gaining momentum and, while a suite of physiological traits are available to ascertain disturbance and condition in wildlife populations, glucocorticoids (i.e., GCs; cortisol and corticosterone) are the most heavily employed. The interpretation of GC levels as sensitive indicators of population change necessitates that GCs and metrics of population persistence are linked. However, the relationship between GCs and fitness may be highly context-dependent, changing direction, or significance, depending on the GC measure, fitness metric, life history stage, or other intrinsic and extrinsic contexts considered. We examined the relationship between baseline plasma corticosterone (CORT) levels measured at two periods of the breeding season and three metrics of fitness (offspring quality, reproductive output, and adult survival) in female Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor). Specifically, we investigated whether (1) a relationship between baseline CORT metrics and fitness exists in our population, (2) whether the inclusion of energetic contexts, such as food availability, reproductive investment, or body mass, could alter or improve the strength of the relationship between CORT and fitness, and (3) whether energetic contexts could better predict fitness compared to CORT metrics. Importantly, we investigated these relationships in both natural conditions and under an experimental manipulation of foraging profitability (feather clipping) to determine the influence of an environmental constraint on GC-fitness relationships. We found a lack of relationship between baseline CORT and both short- and long-term metrics of fitness in control and clipped birds. In contrast, loss in body mass over reproduction positively predicted reproductive output (number of chicks leaving the nest) in control birds; however, the relationship was characterized by a low R (5%), limiting the predictive capacity, and therefore the application potential, of such a measure in a conservation setting. Our results stress the importance of ground-truthing GC-fitness relationships and indicate that baseline GCs will likely not be easily employed as conservation biomarkers across some species and life history stages. Given the accumulating evidence of temporally dynamic, inconsistent, and context-dependent GC-fitness relationships, placing effort towards directly measuring fitness traits, rather than plasma GC levels, will likely be more worthwhile for many conservation endeavours.

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Baleen wear reveals intraoral water flow patterns of mysticete filter feeding

Werth

Straley

Shadwick

2016

Journal of Morphology

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A survey of macroscopic and microscopic wear patterns in the baleen of eight whale species (Cetacea: Mysticeti) discloses structural, functional, and life history properties of this neomorphic keratinous tissue, including evidence of intraoral water flow patterns involved in filter feeding. All baleen demonstrates wear, particularly on its medial and ventral edges, as flat outer layers of cortical keratin erode to reveal horn tubes, also of keratin, which emerge as hair-like fringes. This study quantified five additional categories of specific wear: pitting of plates, scratching of plates, scuffing of fringes, shortening of fringes, and reorientation of fringes (including fringes directed between plates to the exterior of the mouth). Blue whale baleen showed the most pitting and sei whale baleen the most scratching; gray whale baleen had the most fringe wear. The location of worn baleen within the mouth suggests that direct contact with the tongue is not responsible for most wear, and that flowing water as well as abrasive prey or sediment carried by the flowing water likely causes pitting and scratching of plates as well as fringe fraying, scuffing, shortening, and reorientation. Baleen also has elevated vertical and horizontal ridges that are unrelated to wear; these are probably related to growth and may allow for age determination.

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Baleen hormones: a novel tool for retrospective assessment of stress and reproduction in bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus)

Cited by 95 publications

References 48 publications

Multi-year longitudinal profiles of cortisol and corticosterone recovered from baleen of North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis)

Multi-year longitudinal profiles of cortisol and corticosterone recovered from baleen of North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis)

Conservation implications of a lack of relationship between baseline glucocorticoids and fitness in a wild passerine

Baleen wear reveals intraoral water flow patterns of mysticete filter feeding

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