Clymene dolphin

Clymene dolphin ( Stenella Clymene )

The Clymene dolphin ( Stenella Clymene ) is a dolphin from the kind of spotted dolphins (Stenella ), which is endemic in the Atlantic Ocean.

Features

The Clymene dolphin looks very similar and the Ostpazifischem dolphin at sea, where the two species mix in large groups, they are indistinguishable. From close up, it is possible to observe that the snout of the Clymene dolphin is slightly shorter than its relatives. The dorsal fin is also less erect and triangular.

The base color is "Wal -Neapolitan " - it comes in three shaded layers, the bottom has a white-pink color. Next is a light gray stripe running just above the muzzle, around each side of the eye, then back to the tail end, where the band thickens. The upper layer of the forehead, back to the dorsal fin and the bottom to the top of the tail end is a dark gray. The muzzle, the lips and the Flossenarm are also a dark gray.

Clymene dolphins are up to two meters long and 75-80 kg in weight. There are no figures for the size of newborns. Pregnancy, Säugungs, development and longevity periods are unknown. But you should hardly differ from those of other species of the genus Stenella very.

They are fairly active dolphins and rotate lengthwise when they jump out of the water, but not with such regularity and complexity as the East Pacific dolphin. The food are probably small fish and squid. Group sizes vary from just a few individual animals to the big schools that count up to 500 individuals.

Dissemination

The Clymene dolphin is found only in the tropical and subtropical Atlantic Ocean. Its distribution is still difficult to understand, especially at its southern end. The species undoubtedly preferred temperate and tropical waters. The north end of the distribution boundary runs approximately from New Jersey east-south -east to southern Morocco. The southern boundary runs from somewhere around Angola to Rio de Janeiro. They seem to prefer deep water. Many sightings have been made in the Gulf of Mexico. The species has not been sighted in the Mediterranean.

The total population is unknown. The existing population estimate is 5,500 individuals for the northern part of the Gulf of Mexico. The type, in comparison with others in the genus " Stenella " of course, be rare.

People and Clymene dolphins

The type interacts with the little people. Some individuals were killed by direct fishing in the Caribbean and in other networks from West Africa.

Taxonomy

From its discovery by John Gray in 1850 until his redefinition in 1981, the Clymene dolphin as a subspecies of the spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris ) was held. Perrin et al. told him in 1981 to a separate article published in a January 2014 study comes to the conclusion that the Clymene dolphin by hybridization of the East Pacific Rise with the blue-white dolphin ( S. coeruleoalba ) was born.