Species: Delphinus delphis
Short-beaked Common Dolphin
Species
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Articles:
The appropriately named common dolphin is probably the most abundant cetacean on the planet. Common dolphins occur in most of the world’s tropical and temperate waters. Historically, they have not been common in inshore waters in Puget Sound and the Salish Sea but they are becoming more frequent as water temperatures warm.

Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Mammalia
Order
Cetacea
Family
Delphinidae
Genus
Delphinus
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
Delfín Común, Bufeo - Short-beaked Saddleback Dolphin - dauphin commun - dauphin commun à bec court
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Mammals - Whales and Dolphins
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Mammalia - Cetacea - Delphinidae - Delphinus - ) as distinct species.
Ecology and Life History
Habitat Type Description
Marine
Migration
false - false - false
Non-migrant
false
Locally Migrant
false
Food Comments
Feeds opportunistically on pelagic schooling fishes (e.g., smelt, herring, mackerel, mullet, lantern fish) and squid.
Reproduction Comments
Reproductive parameters vary significantly among different populations. Gestation lasts 10-11 months. Lactation lasts up to 19 months, though in at least some areas young may be weaned in 6 months or less. Sexually mature in 5-7 years or more (but apparently 2-4 years in Black Sea). Calving interval averages probably somewhat over 2 years.
Ecology Comments
Travels in groups of a few to several thousand; commonly in groups of several hundred in the Pacific.
Length
2600
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-11-15
Global Status Last Changed
1996-11-15
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
<img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?US.FL=SNR&US.MD=__&US.MA=S4&US.NY=S4&US.NC=__" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
Global Range
H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - Worldwide in subtropical and warm temperate oceans, including the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea. In the Pacific Ocean, ranges from British Columbia south to Chile and out to 135 degrees west longitude; there are few records from the Gulf of California; documented from New Caledonia, New Zealand, and Japanese waters in the western Pacific, and there are records from north of Hawaii; range may extend entirely across the tropical and temperate North Pacific; records from the western Atlantic range from at least Florida to Newfoundland and in the eastern Atlantic from northern Europe to the west coast of Africa (Heyning and Perrin 1994). Abundant in waters of eastern North America, ranging north in large numbers to near Nova Scotia and Newfoundland in summer; otherwise, generally ranges from Gulf of Maine to Chesapeake Bay area (Gaskin 1992). Penetrates tropical zone where relatively cool waters keep surface temperature between about 15 to 26 C (Mead and Brownell, in Wilson and Reeder 1993, Gaskin 1992).
Global Range Code
H
Global Range Description
>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)