Although two species of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops spp.) in Chinese waters have been recognized, their pattern of genetic variation is unclear at present. In the present study, 424-bp of the mitochondrial control region from 30 bottlenose dolphins collected in Chinese waters were sequenced. Fortyseven variable sites were identified from these sequences, and 9 and 11 haplotypes were defined respectively for truncatus-and aduncus-type, two morphotypes previously recognized for bottlenose dolphins in Chinese waters. These haplotypes were combined with published mitochondrial control region sequences of other bottlenose dolphins from Chinese, Indonesian, Australian, and Atlantic waters etc. Sequence variability comparison and phylogenetic reconstruction using neighbor joining (NJ) and maximum likelihood (ML) algorithms exclusively supported the separation of haplotypes into two monophyletic clades, each of which corresponds to truncatus-and aduncus-type. This provided strong support to separate the two morphotypes into respective species, T. truncatus and T. aduncus. No shared haplotype was found between Tursiops species, and four fixed diagnostic site differences between them were identified. All samples from the northern part of Chinese waters, i. e. the Yellow Sea and the northern East China Sea, were genetically identified as T. truncatus exclusively, whereas most samples from the southern part of Chinese Waters, i.e. the southern part of the East China Sea, the Taiwan Straits, the South Chinese Sea, and the Gulf of Beibuwan, were identified as T. aduncus, but with both species overlapping in the Taiwan Strait. This genetic pattern was congruent with the distribution pattern of Tursiops as previously revealed by morphological and ecological evidences. Although the distribution of the two species overlapped in the Taiwan Strait (and maybe adjacent waters), there was no evidence of genetic interchange between them, indicating reproductive isolation. The present study strongly argues for treating the two bottlenose dolphin morphotypes/species as separate management units in making up conservation measures, but further study on the intraspecific structure using multiple molecular marker is also urgent for effective conservation.