412 



Fishery Bulletin 89(3), 1991 



Figure 1 



Typical appearance of adult males of the pantropical spinner dolphin Stenella longirostris longirostris (top), 

 the eastern spinner dolphin S. I. orientalis (bottom), and a hybrid/intergrade "whitebelly spinner" (center). 



gain a better understanding of the morphological gra- 

 dients and other geographical patterning involved in 

 the relationships among the Central American, eastern, 

 and pantropical subspecies and to contribute to the 

 development of approaches to conservation and man- 

 agement of the several populations. 



Materials and methods 



Source of the data 



We examined variation in the ventral field and cape 

 components of the color pattern (terminology of Per- 

 rin 1972), the shape of the dorsal fin, and body length. 



