CRANIAL SEXUAL DIMORPHISM AND GEOGRAPHIC VARIATION IN ERASER'S DOLPHIN, LAGENODELPHIS HOSEI

Knowledge of geographic variation is important to questions of population assessment and management. Fraser's dolphins have been exploited in two regions in the western Pacific. Analysis of 137 skulls from the Philippines, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa, France, the U.S., St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and the eastern tropical Pacific revealed sexual dimorphism in 5 of 26 measurements (difference of 1.9%-5.8% between males and females), similar to levels of cranial dimorphism in other small pelagic delphinids. Males had a larger braincase and temporal fossae and smaller external nares than females. Sexually dimorphic characters were excluded, and male and females samples were pooled to examine geographic differences in the remaining characters. Multivariate analyses yielded significant differences between the Philippine and Japanese series within the North Pacific and between a pooled North Pacific series and a North Atlantic series. The Japanese skulls were on average broader and had a wider rostrum, larger orbit, larger internal nares, and longer braincase than the Philippine skulls. These differences suggest that Fraser's dolphins exploited in Japanese and Philippine waters in directed fisheries or as by catch belong to different populations and should be assessed and managed separately.