Short-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. delphis |
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Delphinus delphis Linnaeus, 1758 |
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| Short-beaked Common Dolphin range | |
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The short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) is a species of common dolphin. It has a larger range than the long-beaked common dolphin (D. capensis), occurring throughout warm-temperate and tropical oceans, including the Indian Ocean although in smaller quantities than other places they are found. There are more short-beaked common dolphins than any other dolphin species in the warm-temperate portions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is also found in the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas. The short-beaked common dolphin is also abundant in the Black Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Red Sea. They follow the gulf stream up to Norwegian waters. Seldom do any short-beaked dolphin venture near the Arctic.
The short-beaked common dolphin is a medium-sized dolphin, smaller than the more widely known bottlenose dolphin. Adults vary in length from five to eight feet and range in mass from 100 to 136 kilograms or 220.26 to 299 pounds. Males are generally longer and heavier, with a sexual size dimorphism of 1.06. Mature males also have prominent postanal humps. 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. It has a long, thin rostrum with 50–60 small, sharp, interlocking teeth on each side of each jaw. Juvenile dolphins have a more muted appearance and become more distinguishable when they mature.
The short-beaked common dolphin is a member of common dolphin genus, Delphinus, within the dolphin family, Delphinidae. 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. Currently, there are two recognized species of Delphinus: the short-beaked common dolphin and the long-beaked common dolphin (D. capensis). The short-beaked common dolphin is generally smaller than the long-beaked common dolphin and has a shorter rostrum. Differentiation among the short-beaked variety can be attributed to ocean temperature, chlorophyll concentration, and ocean turbidity, rather than zoogeographical distribution.
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