Pantropical bottlenose dolphins inhabit tropical and subtropical waters around the world. There are very few cases of this species being successfully bred in captivity. On March 31st, 2017, the world’s first successful captive birth of a pantropical bottlenose dolphin took place at the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium. The successful reproduction revealed that gestation took 352 days, and that levels of the female hormone progesterone changed during pregnancy. The captive birth revealed that labor took nine and a half hours, and it took four hours for the newborn to take its first suckle of milk. The results from this research will hopefully contribute to future breeding programs of pantropical bottlenose dolphins.

Authors

Shunya Ikeshima, Suguru Higa, Yuuta Mitani, Mariko Omata, Nozomi Kobayashi, Keiichi Ueda, Isao Kawazu

Title

First Observation of Pregnancy and Parturition in a Captive Pantropical Spotted Dolphin (Stenella attenuata)

Journal

Mammal Study