Marine Mammal and Marine Bioacoustics Laboratory, Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Science, Sanya, China.
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Integr Zool. 2021 Jul;16(4):586-593. doi: 10.1111/1749-4877.12537. Epub 2021 Apr 7.
Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis) inhabit shallow coastal waters of the Indo-Pacific region including southeast China, with at least 6 putative populations identified to date in Chinese waters. However, the connectivity among these populations has not yet been fully investigated. In the present study, we compared and cross-matched photographic catalogs of individual dolphins collected to date in the Pearl River Delta region, Leizhou Bay, Sanniang Bay, and waters southwest of Hainan Island, a total of 3158 individuals, and found no re-sighting of individual dolphins among the 4 study areas. Furthermore, there was a notable difference in the pigmentation pattern displayed by individuals from these 4 regions. We suggest that this may be a phenotypical expression of fine-scale regional differentiation among humpback dolphin groups, possibly distinct populations. Given the considerable conservation management implications it may carry (e.g. definition of management units), further research is much needed.
印度-太平洋驼背豚（Sousa chinensis）栖息于印度-太平洋地区的浅海沿海水域，包括中国东南部，目前在中国水域已确定至少有 6 个假定的种群。然而，这些种群之间的连通性尚未得到充分调查。在本研究中，我们比较和交叉匹配了迄今为止在珠江三角洲地区、雷州湾、三娘湾和海南岛西南部水域收集的个体海豚的照片目录，共有 3158 只个体，在这 4 个研究区域之间没有发现个体海豚的再发现。此外，这 4 个地区的个体海豚的色素模式存在显著差异。我们认为，这可能是驼背豚群体之间精细尺度区域分化的表型表达，可能是不同的种群。鉴于它可能具有相当大的保护管理意义（例如管理单位的定义），因此需要进一步研究。
