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Genetic and family structure in a group of 165 common bottlenose dolphins caught off the Japanese coast

  1. Yuki F. Kita1,
  2. Kazuyoshi Hosomichi1,
  3. Shingo Suzuki1,
  4. Hidetoshi Inoko1,
  5. Takashi Shiina1,*,
  6. Mai Watanabe2,
  7. Ayumi Tanaka2,
  8. Taku Horie2,
  9. Hiroshi Ohizumi2,
  10. Sho Tanaka2,
  11. Toshihide Iwasaki3,
  12. Masao Ota4,
  13. Jerzy K. Kulski5

Article first published online: 2 JUL 2012

DOI: 10.1111/j.1748-7692.2012.00581.x

Additional Information

How to Cite

Kita, Y. F., Hosomichi, K., Suzuki, S., Inoko, H., Shiina, T., Watanabe, M., Tanaka, A., Horie, T., Ohizumi, H., Tanaka, S., Iwasaki, T., Ota, M. and Kulski, J. K. (2012), Genetic and family structure in a group of 165 common bottlenose dolphins caught off the Japanese coast. Marine Mammal Science. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-7692.2012.00581.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Molecular Life Science, Division of Basic Medical Science and Molecular Medicine, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Kanagawa 259–1143, Japan

  2. 2

    Department of Marine Biology, School of Marine Science and Technology, Tokai University, Shimizu, Shizuoka 424–8610, Japan

  3. 3

    Cetacean Resources Group, National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries, Fisheries Research Agency, Yokohama, Kanagawa 236–8648, Japan

  4. 4

    Department of Legal Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Nagano 390–8621, Japan

  5. 5

    Centre for Forensic Science, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia, 6008 Australia

* (e-mail: tshiina@is.icc.u-tokai.ac.jp).

Publication History

  1. Article first published online: 2 JUL 2012
  2. Received: 9 September 2010, Accepted: 10 April 2012

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Keywords:

  • bottlenose dolphin;
  • Tursiops truncatus;
  • genetic diversity;
  • biological structure;
  • phylogeography;
  • familial relationship;
  • sex-biased dispersal

Abstract

The biological and genetic structure of common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) that migrate seasonally near Japan remains largely unknown. We investigated the genetic and family structure in a group of 165 common bottlenose dolphins caught off the coast of Japan using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and 20 microsatellite DNA markers. Phylogenetic analysis of the mtDNA control region sequences suggested that the dolphins were related more closely to oceanic types from Chinese waters than other geographic regions. The information on sex, sexual maturation and age together with the genetic markers revealed a strong likelihood for 37 familial relationships related mostly to maternity and an under-representation of juvenile female offspring. The maternal dolphins had a similar offspring-birth interval as the coastal types from North Atlantic Ocean, but a slightly younger first-progeny age. The sex bias in the captured group was particularly marked towards an over-representation of males among the young and immature dolphins, whereas the mature adults had an equal number of males and females. These results should be useful for future comparative biological, genetic and evolutionary investigations of bottlenose dolphins from the North Pacific Ocean with those from other regions.

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