by: Dagmar Fertl
The common name was given to avoid confusion with the Atlantic spotted dolphin.
Born spotless, they spot in varying degrees as they age. This is a slender, streamlined animal, like other stenellid dolphins. The lower sides and belly of adults are gray; the dorsal fin is narrow and falcate. The long thin beak has lips and a beak tip that tend to be a bright white.
Adults range in size from 1.6 to 2.6 m long and may weigh as much as 120 kg.
This dolphin can be found on almost the entire coastline of Africa, except Morocco and the countries lying on the Mediterranean and Red Seas (range is between about 40 degrees North and 40 degrees South).
Pan-tropical spotted dolphins are frequently associated with yellowfin tuna, spinner dolphins, and other pelagic predators. This species is the primary species involved in interactions with tuna and purse seine fisheries in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Offshore groups of this species range as much as thousands of individuals, and are often quite acrobatic and frequently bowride. Pan-tropical spotted dolphins mainly feed on epipelagic fish and squid.
Taken incidentally in many fisheries around the world; information is not available for African waters. Levels of seven organochlorine pollutants have been reported for some South African specimens.
Insufficiently known.
Perrin, W.F. and A.A. Hohn. 1994. Pantropical spotted dolphin Stenella attenuata. In: Handbook of Marine Mammals, vol. 5: the first book of dolphins (S.H. Ridgway and R. Harrison, eds). Academic Press, London. Pp. 71-98.
Jefferson, T.A., Curry, B.E., Leatherwood, S. and J.A. Powell. 1997. Dolphins and porpoises of West Africa: A review of records (Cetacea: Delphinidae, Phocoenidae). Mammalia, v61 i1 pp 87-108 (22).
Jefferson, T.A. Leatherwood, S. and M.A. Webber. 1994. FAO Species Identification Guide, Marine Mammals of the World. FAO of the United Nations, Rome.
Leatherwood, S. and R.R. Reeves. 1987. The Sierra Club Handbook of Whales and Dolphins. Sierra Club Books, San Fransisco.
URL for this page: http://csiwhalesalive.org/csipan-tropical.html