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STRIPED DOLPHIN FACTS |
Description
Striped dolphins are bluish-gray in color with a dark back and whitish underside. They have a dark blue-black stripe running across the entire length of the body, from the eye to the anus. Striped Dolphins are often seen leaping out of the water and rotating the tail energetically several times before reentering the water - this is called "roto-tailing".
Size
Length 2.0m - 2.5m. Males are slightly longer than females.
Habitat
offshore and inshore warm-temperate and tropical water
Food
fish, squid and crustaceans
Breeding
A single calf is born after a gestation period of 12-13 months. The calf is about 90-100cm long at birth and weighs about 11kg, and is fully weaned after about 16 months.
Range
warm-temperate and tropical seas throughout the world including Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean
Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Conservation Status
The conservation status in the 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals is "lower risk/conservation dependent".
Classification
| Class: | Mammalia | | Order: | Cetacea | | Family: | Delphinidae | | Genus: | Stenella | | Species: | coeruleoalba | | Common Name: | Striped Dolphin |
Relatives in same Genus
Pantropical Spotted Dolphin (S. attenuata)
Spinner Dolphin (S. longirostris)
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