Species: Delphinus delphis

Short-beaked Common Dolphin
Species

    Articles:

    Common dolphins in the Salish Sea

    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.

    Two dolphins leaping out of the ocean water. Their streamlined grey and white bodies are clearly visible as they break through the blue, wave-patterned surface.
    Kingdom
    Animalia
    Phylum
    Craniata
    Class

    Mammalia

    Order

    Cetacea

    Family

    Delphinidae

    Genus

    Delphinus

    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.
    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
    NatureServe Global Status Rank
    G5
    Global Status Last Reviewed
    1996-11-15
    Global Status Last Changed
    1996-11-15
    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)
    ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.105591