2008, Natoli et al. 2008, Möller et al. 2011). Divergence between coastal and oceanic forms has previously been noted in several other delphinids including

pantropical spotted dolphin (Stenella attenuata), Atlantic spotted dolphin (S. frontalis) and bottlenose dolphin (e.g., Douglas et al. 1984, Dowling Ipatasertib molecular weight and Brown 1993, Lux et al. 1997, Hoelzel 1998, Hayano et al. 2004, Adams and Rosel 2006). Such divergence has frequently been considered the result of resource heterogeneity (Dowling and Brown 1993, Heyning and Perrin 1994, Hoelzel 1998). Resource heterogeneity is well documented in both terrestrial and aquatic taxa (Smith and Skulason 1996), and relies on individuals of a species specializing in habitat

or prey choice. Differential use of habitat has been described for common dolphins occurring off Mauritania, Gefitinib manufacturer with short- and long-beaked morphotypes exploring different areas (Pinela et al. 2011) and occurring in the Bay of Biscay, Northeast Atlantic, with short-beaked common dolphins occupying oceanic and neritic waters (Pusineri et al. 2007). The analysis of a higher number of samples from each putative population would assist in assessing sex-biased dispersal and improve our understanding of the fine population structure in this region. The Bayesian phylogenetic analysis of the cytochrome b data set identified well-supported clusters, some

of which included New Zealand haplotypes. However, none of the clusters appear to reflect geographic origins or morphotyope. Furthermore, New Zealand common dolphin haplotypes clustered with different clades, including both short- and long-beaked common dolphin haplotypes, leaving the question open as Ribose-5-phosphate isomerase to whether within New Zealand waters, the two forms may coexist. It has been previously suggested that the long-beaked morphotype could have evolved independently in the different ocean basins (Natoli et al. 2006, Amaral et al. 2012). In the Atlantic Ocean, where populations are more recently evolved, the genetic differentiation between short- and long-beaked morphotypes is still relatively low (Amaral et al. 2012). This is clearly observed in the Cytb tree, where both morphotypes cluster together in several clades (Fig. 5). If the long-beaked morphotype is present in New Zealand waters, it may be that these individuals are not yet genetically distinct and are still in the process of differentiation. In addition, niche partitioning can also cause morphological differentiation, as has been recently shown for common dolphins occurring off Mauritania (Pinela et al. 2011). This may additionally offer an explanation for the patterns of population genetic differentiation observed for New Zealand common dolphins.