Western North Atlantic Coastal Morphotype Stocks STOCK DEFINITION AND GEOGRAPHIC RANGE Geographic Range and Coastal Morphotype Habitat

• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Kenney; Long Island; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.174.7196; http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/publications/tm/tm213/pdfs/bodocoastal.pdf

The coastal morphotype of bottlenose dolphin is continuously distributed along the Atlantic coast south of Long Island, New York around the Florida peninsula and along the Gulf of Mexico coast. Based on differences in mitochondrial DNA haplotype frequencies, nearshore animals in the northern Gulf of Mexico and the western North Atlantic represent separate stocks (Curry 1997; Duffield and Wells 2002). On the Atlantic coast, Scott et al. (1988) hypothesized a single coastal migratory stock ranging seasonally from as far north as Long Island, to as far south as central Florida, citing stranding patterns during a high mortality event in 1987-88 and observed density patterns. More recent studies demonstrate that the single coastal migratory stock hypothesis is incorrect, and there is instead a complex mosaic of stocks (NMFS 2001; McLellan et al. 2003). The coastal morphotype is morphologically and genetically distinct from the larger, more robust morphotype primarily occupying habitats further offshore (Hoelzel et al. 1998; Mead & Potter 1995). Aerial surveys conducted between 1978 and 1982 (CETAP 1982) north of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina identified two concentrations of bottlenose dolphins, one inshore of the 25 m isobath and the other offshore of the 50 m isobath. The lowest density of bottlenose dolphins was observed over the continental shelf, with higher densities along the coast and near the continental shelf edge. It was suggested, therefore, that north of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina the coastal morphotype is restricted to waters < 25 m deep (Kenney 1990). Similar patterns were observed during summer