Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) scientists have identified a new species of humpback dolphins off the coast of Australia as part of a dispute to how many cetaceans species were actually in existence.

According to the Washington Post, the New York-based (WCS) used genetic testing and physical comparison while trying to settle an ongoing controversy surrounding the number of species in the water.

The new discovery will help conservation efforts for the marine mammal whose kind have seen a decline in population. WCS' updated data will help governments and conservationists create specific policies tailored to the various species.

The population of humpback dolphins is currently divided into two groups - one that resides in the Atlantic Ocean and another found elsewhere - consisting of four species in all. With the new discovery, the researchers said one of those groups should be divided into two, with the dolphins that occupy waters off the coast of West Africa, Northern Australia and parts of the Indian Ocean.

"Based on the findings of our combined morphological and genetic analyses, we can suggest that the humpback dolphin genus includes at least four member species," study lead author Dr. Martin Mendez, Assistant Director of WCS's Latin America and the Caribbean Program, said in a press release. "This discovery helps our understanding of the evolutionary history of this group and informs conservation policies to help safeguard each of the species."

Mendez said it is important to know of all the different species when trying to save them as a whole. The researchers said humpback dolphins are usually either "threatened" or vulnerable," depending on what part of the world they live.

"New information about distinct species across the entire range of humpback dolphins will increase the number of recognized species, and provides the needed scientific evidence for management decisions aimed at protecting their unique genetic diversity and associated important habitats," study senior author Dr. Howard Rosenbaum, Director of WCS's Ocean Giants Program, said in the release.

For their study, the researchers examined genetic testing tissue of 235 dolphins and the craniums of 180 different dolphins.