Mammals of the WorldPantropical Spotted Dolphin
Stenella attenuata
- Order
- Artiodactyla
- Family
- Delphinidae
- Genus
- Stenella
- IUCN status
- LC
- Distribution
- American Samoa|Angola|Argentina|Aruba|Australia|Bahamas|Bangladesh|Belize|Bonaire|Sint Eustatius|Saba|Brazil|Cape Verde|Cambodia|Cayman Islands|China|Colombia|Comoros|Cook Islands|Costa Rica|Cuba|Curaçao|Cote d'Ivoire|Djibouti|Dominica|Dominican Republic|Ecuador|Egypt|El Salvador|Equatorial Guinea|Eritrea|Fiji|French Polynesia|Gabon|Ghana|Grenada|Guadeloupe|Guam|Guatemala|Guinea|Haiti|Honduras|India|Indonesia|Jamaica|Japan|Kenya|Kiribati|Madagascar|Malaysia|Maldives|Marshall Islands|Martinique|Mauritius|Mayotte|Mexico|Micronesia|Montserrat|Mozambique|Nigeria|Northern Marianas|Oman|Pakistan|Panama|Papua New Guinea|Peru|Philippines|Puerto Rico|Réunion|Saint Helena|Saint Lucia|Sint Maarten|Saint Vincent and the Grenadines|Saudi Arabia|Senegal|Seychelles|Singapore|Solomon Islands|Somalia|South Africa|Sri Lanka|Sudan|Suriname|Taiwan|Tanzania|Thailand|East Timor|Togo|Tonga|Trinidad and Tobago|Turks and Caicos Islands|Tuvalu|United Arab Emirates|United States|Uruguay|Vanuatu|Venezuela|Vietnam|Yemen|French Guiana|Palau|São Tomé and Príncipe|Anguilla?|Antigua and Barbuda?|Bahrain?|Barbados?|Benin?|Bermuda?|Brunei?|Cameroon?|Cocos Islands?|Republic of the Congo?|Democratic Republic of the Congo?|Gambia?|Guinea-Bissau?|Guyana?|Iran?|Iraq?|Israel?|Jordan?|North Korea?|South Korea?|Kuwait?|Liberia?|Mauritania?|Nauru?|Niue?|Pitcairn?|Saint Kitts and Nevis?|Samoa?|Sierra Leone?|Tokelau?|British Virgin Islands?|United States Virgin Islands?|Wallis and Futuna?
- Realm
- Marine
Other names: Bridled Dolphin|Narrow-snouted Dolphin|Slender-beaked Dolphin|Spotted Porpoise|White-spotted Dolphin|Offshore Pantropical Spotted Dolphin|Coastal Pantropical Spotted Dolphin|Graffman's Dolphin
About this species
The species was beginning to come under threat due to the killing of millions of individuals in tuna purse seines. In the 1980s, the rise of "dolphin-friendly" tuna capture methods saved millions of the species in the eastern Pacific Ocean and it is now one of the most abundant dolphin species in the world. The species received its first scientific description by John Gray in 1846. Gray's initial analysis included the Atlantic spotted dolphin in this species. (Wikipedia, general species account).
Pantropical Spotted Dolphin belongs to dolphin found in all the world's temperate and tropical oceans. The pantropical spotted dolphin varies significantly in size and coloration throughout its range. In the eastern Pacific, the dolphin is often found swimming with yellowfin tuna (hence the problem with dolphin deaths caused by tuna fishing). However, they do not feed on that fish. In other areas, the species may also feed on squid and crustaceans. (Wikipedia, general species account).
Description: Wildlife of sulawesi guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)