Pérez-Puig, H., Heckel, G., & Meltzer, L. (2019). First Leucistic Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Sighting Registered in the Gulf of California, Mexico. Aquatic
Mammals, 45(5), 507–512. https://doi.org/10.1578/AM.45.5.2019.507
Short summary: As with all mammals, coloration patterns of the skin, and of the eyes in cetaceans,
depends almost entirely on the quantity of melanin in the organism. Leucism can result when
the production of melanin is minimal but not completely absent; the deficiency of pigmentation of
the skin results in an abnormally white appearance, while the eyes maintain a normal color. Abnormal
pigmentation has been recorded in at least 25 cetacean species, including bottlenose dolphin Tursiops
truncatus. Few sightings of those cetaceans with abnormally white pigmentation
have been recorded in Mexico. The majority of bottlenose dolphin sightings with this abnormally
white pigmentation have been recorded on the Atlantic coasts from Texas to North Carolina. Therefore,
the sighting reported and described herein represents the second odontocete in Mexico and
the first confirmed sighting of a leucistic bottlenose dolphin in the Gulf of California. This atypical coloration has never been reported in other studies on this species in
the same or adjacent regions in the Gulf of California.
For more information, the article is now available to the public on The Aquatic Mammals Web site using the following link: