Stenella

Blue-White Dolphin

The spotted dolphins (Stenella ) are a globally widespread in warm seas genus of dolphins.

Features

The spotted dolphins are small to medium-sized, slender insects with 1.5 to 3.5 meters in body length, the males are usually slightly larger. The muzzle is long and narrow and separated from the head by a furrow. The body coloration is highly variable with mostly dark gray and cream white gray bottom come to the different depending on the nature strip or spot patterns within the genus and even within species. The side of the jaw sit 28-65 small, sharp teeth. The number of vertebrae is 68 to 81

Way of life

Spotted dolphins are deep sea animals colonize the clear, deep, sea -coast areas. Partial larger, in the area of ​​continental shelf residing and smaller, the open ocean preferable embodiments have been described within the species. They are usually in small groups and only very rarely encountered individually, but when Slim dolphin schools were also observed with several thousand animals. Like other dolphins they communicate with each other by whistling and clicking sounds. Spotted dolphins are very happy and jumping show again and again the habit perpendicular to jump out of the water and to rotate about the longitudinal axis to then plunge forward again with the tail. The food are almost exclusively small fish, beside sometimes squid.

System

The systematics of the genus has long been controversial and there have been a total described over a dozen different species. Today, five species are recognized:

• Spinner dolphin ( Stenella longirostris )
• Clymene dolphin ( Stenella Clymene )
• Blue striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba )
• Slim dolphin ( Stenella attenuata )
• Reins dolphin ( Stenella frontalis)

Threat and protection

Mostly fished directly, the species of the genus are particularly threatened as by-catch in the tuna fishery, as they often pull together with tuna fish. All species are listed on Appendix II of the CITES Convention.