This study aimed to study the habitat preferences and daylight behaviour of the Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) and the Indo-Pacific finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides) off the west coast of Penang Island, Malaysia. Between February 2019 and April 202!! 87 boat-based surveys were undertaken using predetermined survey routes. Species occurrence, behaviour, and habitat use were recorded. Irrawaddy dolphins (n = 52 sightings) were recorded with a mean group size of 3.6 (SE = 0.4) and finless porpoises (n = 35 sightings) with a mean group size of 2.5 (SE = 0.2). Both species were found between 0.4 km and 7.9 km from the shore. Encounter rate for Irrawaddy dolphins was 0.19 sightings per effort hour and 1.4 sightings per 100 km while for finless porpoises it was 0.13 sightings per effort hour and 0.9 sightings per 100 km. A higher coefficient of area use (AU> 1.5%) for Irrawaddy dolphins occurred at the estuarine areas off Sungai [=River] Pinang and Sungai Burung while higher coefficient of area use for finless porpoises was seen near Teluk [=Bay] Kampi and Sungai Pinang. In terms of activity budget, milling behaviour was the most recorded behaviour for both Irrawaddy dolphin and finless porpoise at 36.4% and 51.6% respectively. Resting behaviour for both the Irrawaddy dolphin and the finless porpoise was recorded for the first time off west Penang. The information obtained for habitat use and behaviour would contribute towards better management of Penang marine areas and conservation strategies for the Irrawaddy dolphin and the finless porpoise.

The Irrawaddy dolphins in Guimaras Strait compose the second population to be reported in the Philippines. Their very small population size, isolation, and high vulnerability to human-induced threats in the coastal areas have earned them a local conservation status of critically endangered. Appropriate conservation and management of this species will need a better understanding of their relationship with their known habitat and interactions with human activities. Regular boat-based surveys were conducted in a defined study area in the coastal waters of Bago and Pulupandan, Negros Occidental, Philippines, to document behaviour and gather photo ID data from 2010 to 2016. Behaviour and habitat use were quantified using area use and activity indices, while site fidelity was analysed using photo catalogues. Of the nineteen catalogued individuals, at least eight dolphins were present throughout the study, indicating high site fidelity. The dolphins used a relatively small nearshore area spanning a commercial port and northward towards the mouth of Bago River. The Minimum Convex Polygon area is estimated at 12.68 km2 and is one of the smallest core areas known to have been recorded for this species. The dolphins showed a preference for areas with a steep increase in water depth and were often observed foraging, highlighting the importance of these areas as feeding grounds. Several threats to the dolphins were identified, most of which are related to human activities. Identifying the behavioural aspects of the Irrawaddy dolphins’ local ecology helps put the scope and limitations of managing their population into perspective and provides the critical information needed to delineate special management or conservation areas in their habitat.

Investigation of blood parasites from eleven Corythaeola cristata (Vieillot, 1816) imported from Tanzania to the Jurong Bird Park, Singapore reveals a high prevalence of Haematozoa (81.8%) and the presence of a polyparasitism by microfilaria, Plasmodium and a distinctive new species of haemoproteid: Haemoproteus (Parahaemoproteus) minchini new species. The present study provides a description of the parasite based on the morphology and morphometric measurements of its blood stages that highlights a sexual dimorphism as well as its larger size when compared to the other haemoproteid reported from the Musophagiformes (i.e, Haemoproteus montezi Travassos Santos Dias, 1953). The study also provides a molecular characterisation of Haemoproteus (Parahaemoproteus) minchini new species by four different gene fragments (cytochrome b, cytochrome c oxidase 1, caseinolytic protease C and elongation factor Tu) spread across the organellar genomes of the parasite. Phylogenetic analyses were performed for each gene to assess the genetic relationship of this new parasite species with the other available sequences of identified avian haemoproteids, and it is referable to the subgenus Parahaemoproteus. This study also proposes for the first time a sequence of the elongation factor Tu gene for a haemoproteid parasite. The geographic origin and the possible pathogeny and pathology of Haemoproteus (Parahaemoproteus) minchini new species are discussed, as is the importance of using these data in conjunction with morphological and the molecular methods to study avian Haemosporidia.