MEAD ET AL.: OBSERVATIONS ON MASS STRANDING OF SPINNER DOLPHIN 



Figure 2. — Adult Stenella longirostris stranded at Casey Key, Fla. Above adult male, 195 cm total length (504442); below, head of 



adult female, 186 cm total length (504454). 



enough that a larger sample would be needed to 

 demonstrate its validity. 



None of the other measurements show any ap- 

 preciable sexual differences when the differences 

 in total length and rostral length are taken into 

 account. 



Since the sample is lacking in intermediate-size 

 animals, there is relatively little that can be said 

 about growth patterns. It is apparent that the 

 snout is relatively shorter and the rest of the head 

 relatively larger in neonatal animals than in 

 adults. The girths appear to be relatively greater, 

 the flippers relatively larger, but the flukes and 

 dorsal fin about the same proportion in the neo- 



nates as in the adults. Although the sample of 

 neonates is too small to have any statistical sig- 

 nificance, the sexual differences in length of ros- 

 trum, position of genital slit, width of flukes, and 

 height of dorsal fin are the same in the neonates as 

 in the adults. 



Although comparable data for samples of S. lon- 

 girostris from other areas are sparse (Perrin 1975), 

 this sample appears to be similar to Hawaiian 

 spinners in total length, rostral length, and girths. 

 More meaningful comparison to other popula- 

 tions of S. longirostris will require increased 

 sample sizes and more sophisticated statistical 

 procedures. 



359 



