Review of strandings and catches of Tursiops truncatus (Mammalia: Cetacea, Odontoceti) in the Netherlands between 1754 and 2000

This article presents an annotated list of all known strandings and catches of bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus (MONTAGU, 1821) from the Dutch coast and Dutch coastal waters. Between 1754 and 2000, 184 well documented reports and 179 insufficiently documented reports of a dead animal, six well documented catches and one well documented live stranding of bottlenose dolphins have become known. All well documented cases are either documented by skeletons and/or skulls or other remains kept in natural history museums, or by photographs or drawings of the stranded animal on the beach. The insufficiently documented cases are only known from verbal or written description by the finder. All skeletal material, specimens preserved in spirit, drawings, autopsy reports and photographs were examined by the author. The first case of a dicephalic monstrum in this species is described.