STRIPED DOLPHIN (T) 



SteneUacoemkoalba (Meyen 1833) 



Other Common Names 



Euphrosyne dolphin (SteneUa styx), Meyen's dolphin, 

 blue-white dolphin, Gray's dolphin, striped porpoise, 

 streaker porpoise. 



Striped Dolphin 



Saddleback Dolphin 



LENGTH 



To about 9 feet (2.7 m) 

 more. 



Seldom greater than 7.5 feet 



(2.3 m). 



Description 



The striped dolphin is a widely distributed relative of the 

 spinner and the Atlantic spotted dolphins, though it more 

 closely resembles saddleback dolphins than either of these 

 two species. It reaches a maximum length of about 9 feet (2.7 

 m) and is characterized by a series of distinctive black stripes. 

 One band of black begins near the eye and extends down the 

 side of the body to the area of the anus. (A small secondary 

 stripe originating with this band turns off and disappears in 

 the white coloration of the side just above the flippers.) A 

 second band of black extends from the eye to the flipper. 

 Some workers have contended that striped dolphins are 

 separable into distinct species depending on whether the 

 eye-to-flipper stripe has one (S. coerufeoaZfea) or two (S. styx) 

 components. 



Most individuals have an additional distinctive finger of 

 black coloration which extends from the black coloration 

 behind the dorsal fin forward towards and about halfway to 

 the eye. It is this feature which is most distinctive in animals 

 riding the bow or leaping clear of the water. The back is dark 

 gray to bluish gray, the sides are lighter gray, and the belly is 

 white. 



Natural History Notes 



Though little is known of this species, it has been reported 

 in herds of up to several hundred individuals and apparently 

 exhibits behaviors very similar to those of the saddleback 

 dolphins (p. 116), frequently jumping clear of the water. 

 Atlantic and Mediterranean animals have been reported to 

 bow ride. 



May Be Confused With 



This species is most likely to be confused with the 

 saddleback dolphin, which it closely resembles. The two may 

 be distinguished by the following characteristics: 



COLORATION 



Back basically black or 

 brownish; distinct white 

 chest or belly patch; hour- 

 glass or crisscross pattern on 

 the sides; distinct black 

 stripe from flipper to middle 

 of lower jaw. 



Back from light gray to dark 

 gray to bluish gray; sides 

 gray; belly gray or white; 

 distinctive black lateral 

 stripping from 1) eye to flip- 

 per, 2) eye to anus, and 3) 

 dark color behind dorsal fin 

 forward, towards but not 

 reaching head. 



Distribution 



Striped dolphins are widely distributed in the temperate, 

 subtropical, and tropical seas of the western North Atlantic. 

 They have been reported from at least Halifax, Nova Scotia, 

 south as far as Jamaica. (Additional records, purportedly 

 from southern Greenland, involved a museum specimen. 

 Since striped dolphins of the eastern North Atlantic are rare 

 north of England, the species occurrence near Greenland 

 would be highly improbable.) Individuals have recently been 

 reported from the Gulf of Mexico. 



Despite this wide distribution, striped dolphins appear to 

 prefer warmer waters and are probably normally confined to 

 the Gulf Stream or the waters off the continental slope. 

 Individuals appearing to the north of the range seem to have 

 ventured northward with fingers of warm water. 



Stranded Specimens 



Stranded striped dolphins should be readily identifiable 

 by the highly distinctive patterns of lateral striping 

 discussed above for living animals. If the color pattern has 

 faded, they may still be identified by their size, larger than 

 other dolphin species of similar appearance, and the 

 relatively large number of teeth (43-50 per side in both 

 upper and lower jaws). Only the spinner dolphin, much 

 smaller in body length and having a much longer beak, has 

 more teeth (46-65 per side in each jaw). 



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