ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Evolutionary Biology, Biogeography and Species Diversity
A Whale Apart: Genetic Isolation of Arabian Sea Humpbacks Signals Subspecies Distinction
Ana Rita Amaral 1
Stephen Gaughran 2
Melina Giakoumis 3
Robert L Brownell Jr 4
Andrew John Willson 5
Gianna Minton 6
Robert Baldwin 7
Maia Willson 8
Suaad Al Harthi 8
Ainda Al Jabri 9
Tim Collins 10
Koen Van Waerebeek 11
Howard Rosenbaum 10
1. Wildlife Conservation Society (United States), New York, United States
2. University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, United States
3. American Museum of Natural History, New York, United States
4. NOAA Fisheries Southwest Fisheries Science Center, La Jolla, United States
5. Future Seas Global, Muscat, Oman
6. Megaptera marine Conservation, Wassennae, Netherlands
7. One Ocean, Muscat, Oman
8. Environment Society of Oman, Muscat, Oman
9. Oman Environment Authority, Muscat, Oman
10. Wildlife Conservation Society, New York, United States
11. Peruvian Centre for Cetacean Research, Lima, Peru
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Abstract
Recent genetic studieswork haves differentiated at least three subspecies of humpback whales: Megaptera novaeangliae kuzira in the North Pacific, M. n. novaeangliae in the North Atlantic, and M. n. australis in the Southern Hemisphere (SH), but analyses did not include samples from the Arabian Sea humpback whale population (ASHW). This study aimed to investigate evidence of genetic uniqueness of the ASHW population. Historic data suggest that the Arabian Sea hosts a discrete, isolated and resident population of humpback whales. Bone sample from the M. indica holotype from Iraq (Persian/Arabian Gulf) was collected for comparison with modern-day ASHW genetic data collected from the coastal waters of Oman. Both were also compared with genetic data from Northern and Southern Hemisphere humpback whale populations. Strong levels of genetic differentiation for the ASHW were found, supporting its designation as a subspecies (Fst values 0.1213-0.2441 and φST values 0.0831-0.6470). The recognition of ASHW as a subspecies has biodiversity conservation implications. Population abundance is low with no evidence of increasing over two decades of study. Anthropogenic threats to ASHWs and their habitat are severe and escalating and there is a risk of local extirpation. Population abundance is low with no evidence of increasing over two decades of study. The subspeciation of ASHW may have been driven by a range of interdependent biogeographical and ecological factors coupled with behavioural adaptations over a period of ~43,000-113,000 years. Regionally coordinated conservation action is urgently needed to preserve this population's unique genetic diversity.
Summary
Keywords
Arabian Sea, conservation, Genetic isolation, Humpback Whale, Subspecies
Received
29 October 2025
Accepted
27 January 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Amaral, Gaughran, Giakoumis, Brownell Jr, Willson, Minton, Baldwin, Willson, Al Harthi, Al Jabri, Collins, Van Waerebeek and Rosenbaum. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Ana Rita Amaral
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