Dear Interested Colleagues, I would like to bring to your attention the following paper that was published in the Journal of Morphology: Eric W. Montie, Scott R. Garvin, Patricia A. Fair, Gregory D. Bossart, Greg B. Mitchum, Wayne E. McFee, Todd Speakman, Victoria R. Starczak, and Mark E. Hahn. Blubber Morphology in Wild Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from the Southeastern United States: Influence of Geographic Location, Age Class, and Reproductive State. Journal of Morphology. DOI: 10.1002/jmor.10602. Abstract This study investigated blubber morphology and correlations of histological measurements with ontogeny, geography, and reproductive state in live, wild bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from the southeastern United States. Surgical skin-blubber biopsies (N = 74) were collected from dolphins during capture-release studies conducted in two geographic locations: Charleston, SC (N = 38) and Indian River Lagoon, FL (N = 36). Histological analysis of blubber revealed stratification into superficial, middle, and deep layers. Adipocytes of the middle blubber were 1.6× larger in Charleston subadults than in Indian River Lagoon subadults (4,590 ± 340 compared to 2,833 ± 335 m2 per cell). Charleston subadult dolphins contained higher levels of total blubber lipids than Charleston adult animals (49.3% ± 1.9% compared to 34.2% ± 1.7%), and this difference was manifested in more adipocytes in the middle blubber layer (19.2 ± 0.9 compared to 14.9 ± 0.5 cells per field). However, dolphins from Indian River Lagoon did not exhibit this pattern, and the adipocyte cell counts of subadults were approximately equal to those of the adults (16.0 ± 1.4 compared to 13.4 ± 0.8 cells per field). The colder year-round water temperatures in Charleston compared to Indian River Lagoon may explain these differences. Adipocytes in the deep blubber layer were significantly smaller in lactating and simultaneously pregnant and lactating animals compared to pregnant dolphins (840 ± 179, 627 ± 333, and 2,776 ± 586 m2 per cell, respectively). Total blubber lipid content and adipocyte size in the deep blubber of mothers with calves decreased linearly with calf length. Lactating females may utilize lipids from the deep blubber during periods of increased energetic demands associated with offspring care. This study demonstrates that ontogeny, geography, and reproductive state may influence morphological parameters such as structural fiber densities and adipocyte numbers and sizes, measured in bottlenose dolphin blubber. J. Morphol., 2008. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. If you would like a reprint of this paper, please feel free to contact me. Sincerely, Eric Montie -- Eric W. Montie Postdoctoral Fellow: College of Marine Science University of South Florida (USF) 140 Seventh Avenue, South; Room 2121 St. Petersburg, FL 33701-5016 Office Phone: (727) 553-1237 Fax: (727) 553-1189 E-mail: emontie@marine.usf.edu Guest Investigator: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Department of Biology; MS#32 Woods Hole, MA 02543 E-mail: emontie@whoi.edu