In order to identify an unknown whale vertebra’s species,genomic DNA is extracted from the bone powder by proteinase K and phenol/chloroform,and a partial Cyt b gene sequence as long as 565 bp is amplified by PCR(Polymerase Chain Reaction).The blasting result in GenBank shows that the vertebra sample has maximal similarity with Balaenoptera omurai,it is 99%.It indicates that the vertebra is Balaenoptera omurai.The phylogenetic tree based on UPGMA is consistent with the blasting result.Analysis of software MEGA shows that the Cyt b gene sequence of the vertebra sample has 1-2 nucleotides which are different from the homologous sequence of B.omurai(accession AB201257,AB201256),thus,the sequence is a new haplotype.This is the first record of B.omurai which distributes in the South China Sea.
Observations were made on one eye from a Longman’s beaked whale Indopacetus pacificus, which was probably one of the least known extant cetaceans. The whale died shortly after swimming aground on the coast in the Nishikata Beach, Sendai-shi, Kagoshima-ken Prefecture, Japan, on July 26, 2002. It was a mature female with body length 6.45 m. This paper documented the basic structural characteristics of her visual organ of the whale in order to better understand this animal.
