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Descriptive parameters of pulsed calls for the spinner dolphin, Stenella longirostris, in the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, Brazil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2008

Marcos R. Rossi-Santos ,
José Martins da Silva Jr ,
Flavio Lima Silva  and
Emygdio L.A. Monteiro-Filho
Marcos R. Rossi-Santos*
Affiliation:
Instituto Baleia Jubarte, Avenida do Farol, P Box 92, Praia do Forte, 48280-000, Bahia, Brazil Pós Graduação em Zoologia/Universidade Federal do Paraná, PO Box 19020, Centro Politécnico, Curitiba, Paraná, 81531-970, Brazil
José Martins da Silva Jr
Affiliation:
Centro Golfinho Rotador/PO Box 49, Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco, 53990-000, Brazil
Flavio Lima Silva
Affiliation:
Centro Golfinho Rotador/PO Box 49, Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco, 53990-000, Brazil Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte, 59600-970, Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
Emygdio L.A. Monteiro-Filho
Affiliation:
Pós Graduação em Zoologia/Universidade Federal do Paraná, PO Box 19020, Centro Politécnico, Curitiba, Paraná, 81531-970, Brazil Instituto de Pesquisas Cananéia—Rua Tristão Lobo da Cunha, 38, Cananéia, São Paulo, Brazil
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Marcos R. Rossi-Santos, Instituto Baleia Jubarte, Avenida do Farol, P Box 92, Praia do Forte, 48280-000 Bahia, Brazil email: marcos.rossi@baleiajubarte.com.br
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Abstract

The aim of this work is to describe the repertoire of calls utilized by the spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) in the southern Atlantic Ocean. We measured four acoustic parameters of the fundamental frequency of each call: (i) duration; (ii) frequency amplitude; (iii) minimum frequency; and (iv) maximum frequency. We also classified calls by their shape contour by visual inspection of the spectrograms. The obtained values for call duration were 0.046 to 2.08 seconds (mean 0.433, standard deviation (SD) 0.433), amplitude of 0.13 to 2.01 kHz (mean of 0.36, SD 0.29), minimum frequency of 0.22 to 1.80 (mean 0.55, SD 0.29), maximum frequency of 0.46 to 7.50 (mean 1.00, SD 0.89). We classified 73 calls by spectral contour, identifying six basic types of discernible calls, showing heterogeneity among the call types, with C1, C2 and C3 calls presenting higher frequencies, 21, 30 and 23%, respectively. We found that the calls of S. longirostris in the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago are more diverse and complex than previously recognized for spinner dolphins and further studies worldwide can reinforce the broad use of this sound for the species repertoire.

Keywords

pulsed callsspinner dolphinStenella longirostrisBrazil
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 88 , Special Issue 6: Marine Mammals , September 2008 , pp. 1093 - 1097
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2008

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