Pantropical Spotted Dolphins

Scientific Name		Stenella attenuata
English Common Name		Pantropical Spotted Dolphins
Taxonomy		Class: Mammalia Order: Cetacea Sub-order: Odontoceti Family: Delphinidae Genus: Stenella Species: attenuata
Behaviour		Fast swimmers and very active at the surface. Can be sighted from long distances due to the “white-water” caused by their frequent leaping. The coastal form is usually in groups of less than 100 whilst the off-shore form can be found in super-pods of several thousand individuals.
World Distribution		As their name suggests, Pantropical spotted dolphins are found in all tropical or warm waters around the world. They are found in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans and although their distribution is probably not continuous throughout their range, they are abundant is many areas and often seen around islands. There is distributional overlap between Pantropical spotted dolphins and Atlantic spotted dolphins and confusion can sometimes arise however as a general rule of thumb, Pantropical spotted dolphins tend to be darker in colour and have less spots..
Morphology		There are two different forms of Pantropical spotted dolphin; coastal and offshore. The coastal dolphins are larger with thicker beaks and more spots. Contrary to their name, not all Pantropical spotted dolphins have spots, e.g. – populations off the Gulf of Mexico and Hawaii. They have a dark grey cape on the top of their body, then a lighter grey area along the middle of the body, extending down to the tail stock and a pale grey underside. Light spots are present on their dark skin and dark spots present on their light skin. Their beaks are long and thin with a dark patch on top which goes back in a stripe around the eye. They also have a dark stripe going from under their mouth to their flippers which are relatively small, dark and pointed, as are their dorsal fins. They have 70-96 teeth in their upper jaw and 68-94 in their lower jaw. Adult Pantropical spotted Dolphins are between 1.7 and 2.4 metres long and weigh between 90 and 115 kg. They are about 80 - 90cm (32-35in) at birth. Their diet includes fish, squid and sometimes crustaceans.
Threats		The primary threat facing this species is incidental entanglement in fishing nets; some populations in the eastern tropical Pacific are known to have declined by more than 65 %.
Status		No abundance estimate is available for this species however it is thought to be one of the most common cetaceans in its range.
Conservation Activities		CMS Appendix II IUCN - Eastern Pacific offshore and coastal and Hawaiian sub-species are Not Evaluated whilst the Species remains classified as Lower Risk (conservation dependant) – awaiting re-evaluation