Age, Growth, and Maturity of Bottlenosed Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) from Northeast Florida

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Abstract
It is confirmed that one growth layer consisting of one opaque and one translucent zone is laid down annually in the dentine of the teeth of bottlenosed dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), allowing absolute age determination, although the seasonal sequence of dentine deposition is not yet clear. On this basis females from northeast Florida were found to mature at about 12 years and males at 13 years, both sexes living to about 25 years of age. Females accumulated up to 14 corpora albicantia in the ovaries, indicating an accumulation rate of about one per annum. Birth occurred at 100-cm length. Males and females matured at about 245- and 235-cm length, respectively, and attained asymptotic lengths of about 270 and 250 cm.

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