Thread by @DrCraigMc

1/ How common is albinism in the ocean?

2/ First we need some working definitions. Albinism is the lack of pigmentation in skin, hair, feathers, scales, shells, or eyes (Hiler 1983).

3/ True or complete albinism is the total absence of pigment in the integument, any outer covering of an animal, and retinal, eye, pigmentation (Sandoval-Castillo et al. 2006).

4/ Partial albinism occurs when pigment is reduced or absent only from the integument (Berdeen and Otis 2011).

5/ Leucism is the partial albinism characterized by retention of color in the eyes, bill, and legs but the skin or plumage contains no color pigment (Forrest and Naveen 2000).

6/ Albinism is caused by disruption in any one of several different genes that control melanin production, the pigment that gives color to most mammals (Summers 2009). In mice, a total of 100 genes are known to affect albinism.

7/ Albinism is rare because the genetic alleles are recessive, and thus must be inherited from both parents (in sexual reproduction).

8/ Outside of genetic mutations, it has also been suggested that Albinism may arise from diet, living conditions, age, disease, or injury.

9/ Despite the rarity of albinism, McCardle (2010) found that among vertebrates albinism was recorded in 572 species in 51 Orders and of the 620 total animals documented, 358 were albino, 210 partial albino, and 48 leucistic.

Some particulary interesting cases include: radioactive contamination in the Chernobyl region of Ukraine caused a significant increase in partial albinistic barn swallows (Hirundo rustica). onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.111…

11/ Populations of the blind cave forms of the Mexian tetra also display albinism en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_t…

12/ In the oceans there are also mutiple cases of albinism.

13/ At the @ShellMuseum there is a display of albinism among marine snails including the Florida Fighting Conch, Lightning Welk, Apple Murex, Florida Horse Conch, Lace Murex, and Common Nutmeg. As well as the bivalves Prickly Cockle and Zebra Ark

@ShellMuseum 14/ Several case of albinism are known in blue crabs.

Images from grandpacliff.com/Animals/Albino…

@ShellMuseum 15/ Lets not forget about albino lobsters which is also quite common.

@ShellMuseum 16/n for sharks we have this albino white shark

earthtouchnews.com/oceans/sharks/…

@ShellMuseum 17/ An Albino hammerhead

@ShellMuseum 18/n Also this albinio school shark and albino cat shark

@ShellMuseum 19/n The is also this super eerie albino rattail fish.

eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2…

@ShellMuseum 20/ and next up is this albino monk fish

underwatertimes.com/news.php?artic…

@ShellMuseum 21/ ablinism is also found in stingrays, here is an albino smooth short-tail stingray, Dasyatis brevicaudata

reefbuilders.com/2018/08/01/alb…

@ShellMuseum 22/n As a side tangent, as I continue to document albinism in the ocean, here is a whole threat on albinos in mainly freshwater fish monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads…

@ShellMuseum 23/n here is a little something for @echinoblog albinims in the sea urchin, Echinus esculentus.

oceaneyephoto.com/photo_866304.h…

@ShellMuseum @echinoblog 24/n Scientist looking for a new developmental model knocked out using CRISPR the genes for pigment production and produced this albino Temnopleurus reevesii.

eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2…

@ShellMuseum @echinoblog 25/n The inspiration of this thread was Pinky, an albino bottlenose dolphin found in Calcasieu Lake, Louisiana

@ShellMuseum @echinoblog 26/n "Pinky was first spotted in June 2007 by a boat captain, Erik Rue. In 2015, Rue was able to capture photo evidence of Pinky mating, proving she is female...Pinky's behavior is similar to the rest of the dolphins in her pod, although she tends to spend more time underwater."

@ShellMuseum @echinoblog 27/n An albino Risso's dolphin was spotted making its way through Monterey Bay waters

ktvu.com/news/rare-albi…

@ShellMuseum @echinoblog 28/n According to NOAA ablinims has been observed in 20 species of whales, dolphins and porpoises. But NOAA has recorded just 14 previous sightings of albino bottlenose dolphins since the agency started counting such individuals in 1962.

@ShellMuseum @echinoblog 29/n one of those is an albino bottlenose dolphin, spotted off the east coast of Florida.

livescience.com/49346-albino-b…

@ShellMuseum @echinoblog 30/n "Migaloo" the white humpback may have fathered two albino calves.

earthtouchnews.com/oceans/whales-…

@ShellMuseum @echinoblog 31/n I love the names given to albino whales including ‘Frosty,’ the white killer whale in Monterey Bay.

montereyherald.com/2020/05/17/fro…

@ShellMuseum @echinoblog 32/ Or Iceberg, the albino orca from the western North Pacific

newscientist.com/article/210525…

@ShellMuseum @echinoblog 33/ But back to the invertebrates! Here is an albino sea cucumber

@ShellMuseum @echinoblog 34/ and the last case, although not marine, but very intersting, is albinism example in gastropods. I save this for last because in snails albinism can be exhibited in either the shell or the soft parts.

@ShellMuseum @echinoblog 35/n In this albino Powelliphanta snail form New Zealand you can see how ethereal the snail looks when only the foot lacks pigmentation.

treehugger.com/rare-albino-sn…

@ShellMuseum @echinoblog 36/n Of course scientists consider albinism a major disadvantage to animals in the wild for a
number of reasons.

@ShellMuseum @echinoblog 37/n The most obvious disadvantage would the inability to blend into the background and become more conspicous to predators.

@ShellMuseum @echinoblog 38/n "Albino animals are also at a disadvantage because of poor eyesight. A lack of pigment in the eyes affects vision, making it harder for animals to find food oravoid danger (Miller 2005)."

@ShellMuseum @echinoblog 39/n Albino indiviudals may also not be accepted by thier groups. "Roberts (1978) observed both storm petrels (Hydrobates pelagicus) and
oystercatchers (Haematohus ostralegus) chasing an albino from their groups."