Delphinus capensis
| Long-beaked common dolphin | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Family: | Delphinidae |
| Genus: | Delphinus |
| Species: | D. capensis |
| Binomial name | |
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Delphinus capensis Gray, 1828 |
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| Long-beaked Common Dolphin range | |
The long-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus capensis) is a species of common dolphin. It has a more restricted range than the short-beaked common dolphin (D. delphis). It has a disjointed range in coastal areas in tropical and warmer temperate oceans. The range includes parts of western and southern Africa, much of western South America, central California to central Mexico, coastal Peru, areas around Japan, Korea and Taiwan, and possibly near Oman. Vagrants have been recorded as far north as Vancouver Island. They live in shallow, warmer temperature waters near the coast. They also live in the tropical and subtropical regions.
The long-beaked common dolphin is medium-sized, but smaller than the more popular bottlenose dolphin. Adults range between 1.9 and 2.5 m (6.2 and 8.2 ft), long, and can weigh between 80 and 235 kg (176 and 518 lb), although a range between 80 and 150 kg (180 and 330 lb) is more common. Males are generally longer and heavier. The color pattern on the body is unusual. The back is dark and the belly is white, while on each side is an hourglass pattern colored light grey, yellow or gold in front and dirty grey in back. This species also has a rounded melon on tops of their heads used for echolocation. It has a long, thin rostrum with up to 60 small, sharp, interlocking teeth on each side of each jaw. They have more teeth than any other delphinids.
The long-beaked common dolphin is a member of common dolphin genus, Delphinus within the dolphin family, Delphinidae in the cetaceans order. Until the mid-1990s, the different forms within Delphinus were not recognized as separate species, but were all considered members of the species D. delphis. In 1994, Heyning and Perrin did research on these species and then Kingston and Rosel confirmed there were two separate species. Currently, the two recognized species of Delphinus are the short-beaked common dolphin (D. delphis) and the long-beaked common dolphin. The long-beaked common dolphin is generally larger with a longer beak than the short-beaked common dolphin and has a longer rostrum.
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Wikipedia