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Age and growth of franciscana dolphins, Pontoporia blainvillei (Cetacea: Pontoporiidae) incidentally caught off southern Brazil and northern Argentina

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2010

Silvina Botta ,
Eduardo R. Secchi ,
Mônica M.C. Muelbert ,
Daniel Danilewicz ,
Maria Fernanda Negri ,
Humberto Luis Cappozzo  and
Aleta A. Hohn
Silvina Botta*
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Mamíferos Marinhos, Instituto de Oceanografia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande-FURG, Cx.P. 474, Rio Grande, RS 96201-900, Brasil
Eduardo R. Secchi
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Mamíferos Marinhos, Instituto de Oceanografia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande-FURG, Cx.P. 474, Rio Grande, RS 96201-900, Brasil
Mônica M.C. Muelbert
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Mamíferos Marinhos, Instituto de Oceanografia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande-FURG, Cx.P. 474, Rio Grande, RS 96201-900, Brasil
Daniel Danilewicz
Affiliation:
Grupo de Estudos de Mamíferos Aquáticos de Rio Grande do Sul-GEMARS, R. Felipe Neri, 382 s. 203, Porto Alegre, RS 90440-150Brasil
Maria Fernanda Negri
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Ecología, Comportamiento y Mamíferos Marinos (MACN-CONICET) Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Avenida Angel Gallardo 470 C1405DJR Buenos Aires, Argentina
Humberto Luis Cappozzo
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Ecología, Comportamiento y Mamíferos Marinos (MACN-CONICET) Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Avenida Angel Gallardo 470 C1405DJR Buenos Aires, Argentina
Aleta A. Hohn
Affiliation:
National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Beaufort Laboratory, 101 Pivers Island Road, Beaufort, North Carolina 28516, US
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: S. Botta, Laboratório de Mamíferos Marinhos, Instituto de Oceanografia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG), Cx.P. 474, Rio Grande, RS 96201-900, Brasil email: silbotta@yahoo.com
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Abstract

Age and length data of 291 franciscana dolphins (Pontoporia blainvillei) incidentally captured on the coast of Rio Grande do Sul State (RS), southern Brazil, were used to fit growth curves using Gompertz and Von Bertalanffy growth models. A small sample of franciscanas (N = 35) from Buenos Aires Province (BA), Argentina, were used to see if there are apparent growth differences between the populations. Male and female franciscana samples from both areas were primarily (78–85%) <4 years of age. The Von Bertalanffy growth model with a data set that excluded animals <1 year of age provided the best fit to data. Based on this model, dolphins from the RS population reached asymptotic length at 136.0 cm and 158.4 cm, for males and females, respectively. No remarkable differences were observed in the growth trajectories of males and females between the RS and BA populations.

Keywords

franciscanaPontoporia blainvilleigrowthage estimationSouth AmericadolphinCetacea
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 90 , Special Issue 8: Marine Mammals , December 2010 , pp. 1493 - 1500
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2010

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