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Records of bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops spp., in New Caledonian waters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

Philippe Borsa ,
Serge Andréfouët  and
Matthieu Juncker
Philippe Borsa*
Affiliation:
Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, UR 227 ‘Biocomplexité des Ecosystèmes Récifaux’, Centre IRD de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
Serge Andréfouët
Affiliation:
Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, UR 227 ‘Biocomplexité des Ecosystèmes Récifaux’, Centre IRD de Nouméa, Nouméa, New Caledonia
Matthieu Juncker
Affiliation:
Observatoire de l'Environnement en Nouvelle-Calédonie, Nouméa, New Caledonia
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: P. Borsa, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, UR 227 ‘Biocomplexité des Ecosystèmes Récifaux’, Centre IRD de Montpellier-PS2, 911 avenue Agropolis, 34032 Montpellier cxFrance email: philippe.borsa@ird.fr
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Abstract

Observations of bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops spp. were made opportunistically between 1993 and 2009 in New Caledonian waters (eastern Coral Sea, south-western Pacific). Two morphotypes, defined from pigmentation patterns, were observed: morphotype-B individuals possessed a distinctive, extensive pale-grey blaze that indents the darker-grey dorsal cape towards the basis of the dorsal fin while morphotype-A individuals lacked it. Morphotype-A bottlenose dolphins occurred in pods of 2–10 individuals whereas pods of morphotype-B bottlenose dolphins comprised up to ~30 individuals. All morphotype-A bottlenose dolphin sightings were made in inshore waters, and all morphotype-B bottlenose dolphin sightings were made offshore. Wounds inflicted by large sharks, including the tiger shark, were documented for morphotype-A bottlenose dolphins. Leisure-boat traffic is likely to be the cause of additional injuries to bottlenose dolphins in the New Caledonian lagoon. Pigmentation patterns and correlated habitat preferences of morphotype-A and -B bottlenose dolphins were consistent with those of, respectively, T. aduncus and T. truncatus in the western Coral Sea and elsewhere in the Pacific Ocean.

Keywords

Coral SeaNew CaledoniaIndo-Pacificpigmentation patternshabitat segregationTursiops aduncusTursiops truncatus
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 5 , August 2012 , e53
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2012

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