Humpback dolphin
Chinese White Dolphin
Sousa is a genus of dolphins ( Delphinidae ). Because of their hump -like back, they are often also called humpback dolphins after the English name humpback dolphins called. These are four kinds, the Cameroon river dolphin ( Sousa teuszii ), the lead -colored dolphin ( Sousa plumbea ), the Chinese white dolphin ( Sousa chinensis) and a previously undescribed species, which may also around on the coast of northern Australia New Guinea occurs.
Features
Characteristic of the Sousa dolphins is the already mentioned hump, to have the full-grown animals, as well as the elongated dorsal fin. They reach a length of two to three meters. The species themselves differ mainly in the color and size of the fin. Thus, the Southeast Asian representatives have a white, sometimes pink skin and a larger dorsal fin than the African and the Indian representatives.
Dissemination
The animals of the genus Sousa live in shallow coastal regions, the Cameroon river dolphin off Africa's west coast and the Indo-Pacific forms can be found along the coasts of East Africa on the other hand, India, Southeast Asia and the coast of northern Australia.
System
The systematics of the genus Sousa is controversial and under debate. There were a total of five species of the genus described, besides those already mentioned, the types lentiginosa Sousa and Sousa borneensis. Until the 1990s, only two species have been worldwide with the Cameroon river dolphin and the Chinese white dolphin, however, recognized. After Mendez and colleagues (2013 ), there is for sure though four types, and can be split into three types of the Indo-Pacific form, inhabited by the Sousa plumbea the waters to the east coast of India and Sousa chinensis from there to Southeast Asia appears to southern China. As separation boundary of both types is about at the mouths of Krishna and Godavari. Another undescribed species lives on the coast of northern Australia and possibly also around New Guinea.