Dear MARMAM readers,
We are glad to announce a short publication on summer molt in the Okhotsk Sea bowhead whales in
Doklady (Reports) of Russian Academy of Sciences, which will be followed by a full-size article some time soon:
Summer Molting of Bowhead Whales Balaena mysticetus Linnaeus, 1758, of the Okhotsk Sea Population
O. F. Chernova, O. V. Shpak, A. B. Kiladze, V. S. Azarova, and Corresponding Member of the RAS V. V. Rozhnov
ISSN 0012-4966, Doklady Biological Sciences, 2016, Vol. 471, pp. 261–265. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2016.
Original Russian Text © O.F. Chernova, O.V. Shpak, A.B. Kiladze, V.S. Azarova, V.V. Rozhnov, 2016, published in Doklady Akademii Nauk, 2016, Vol. 471, No. 2, pp. 245–249
DOI: 10.1134/S0012496616060028
Abstract:
In bowhead whales summering in Ulbanskiy Bay of the Okhotsk Sea, molting of epidermis has been found and histologically confirmed. The outer layer of the molting whale epidermis is longitudinallystratified and rejected in the form of relatively large plates up to several millimeters thick, each representing alamellar formation consisting of longitudinal rows of parakeratocytes with degenerated nuclei, numerous pigment granules, and lipid inclusions. Molting intensity is correlated with the level of proliferation and regeneration of all epidermal layers, which helps to maintain the optimal skin thickness
If you would like to see a full-text pdf with illustrations, please send your request to Olga Shpak, ovshpak@gmail.com
With best regards,
Olga Shpak