by: Dagmar Fertl
This animal gets its name from the Greek words "lisso" for smooth and "delphis" for dolphin. Peronii is derived from F. Peron, a French naturalist who observed the whales off Tasmania. The common name comes from the right whale which also lacks a dorsal fin.
The most slender of all the cetaceans, the southern right whale dolphin, has a very striking appearance with black and white coloration. The white covers the head and extends onto the sides including the flippers and the tail stock. It also has a small, but distinct beak.
This species of dolphin reaches lengths of at least 3 m and weights of 116 kg.
They are found in offshore waters off of South Africa (records are from summer).
Little is known about the natural history of this species. It is found in large schools and are frequently associtated with dusky dolphins and pilot whales. Energetic, active swimmers, they often display aerial behaviors. They feed primarily on myctophids (lanternfish) and squid.
Southern right whale dolphins were occasionally taken by whalers for meat, but now may be vulnerable to capture in pelagic gillnet fisheries.
Insufficiently known.
Jefferson, T.A., M.W. Newcomer, S. Leatherwood, and K. Van Waerebeek. 1994. Right whale dolphins- Lissodelphis borealis (Peale, 1848) and Lissodelphis peronii (Lacepede, 1804). Handbook of Marine Mammals, vol. 5: The First Book of Dolphins.(S.H. Ridgway and R. Harrison, eds). Pp. 335-362.
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).
URL for this page: http://csiwhalesalive.org/csisouthrightwhaledolphin.html