At sea the Atlantic spotted dolphins may also be confused 

 with rough-toothed dolphins (p. 135). 



Distribution 



Atlantic spotted dolphins are a common species in the 

 continental waters of the tropical and warm temperate 

 western North Atlantic. Although they are far more 

 abundant south of Cape Hatteras, they have been reported 

 from the latitude of Cape May. N.J. (some fishermen claim to 

 have seen them even further north) south through the Gulf of 

 Mexico and the Caribbean to Venezuela. Atlantic spotted 

 dolphins may be replaced around the West Indies by the 

 bridled dolphin. 



Within this range, the Atlantic spotted dolphins appear to 

 be generally restricted to the waters outside the 100-fathom 

 curve, most commonly more than .5 miles offshore. However, 



populations in the Gulf of Mexico move inshore in the late 

 spring, and may approach close to shore during spring and 

 summer. 



Stranded Specimens 



Stranded Atlantic spotted dolphins may be difficult to 

 distinguish from bridled dolphins. If the color pattern is still 

 clearly visible, the differences in coloration described above, 

 particularly those of the head, and the presence or absence of 

 a spinal blaze may be used. But since external appearance 

 other than coloration are often very similar, specimens 

 should be photographed from as many aspects as possible and 

 the entire specimen or the roughed-out complete skeleton 

 transported to a museum for preparation and examination. 

 Tooth counts recorded for the two species to date are also 

 verv similar. 



Figure 118 — Juvenile Atlantic spotted dolphins at 

 sea in the southeastern Caribbean. Although 

 spotters can be either relatively short-snouted and 

 chunky or long-snouted and slightly built, the 

 spinal blaze, flipper-to-eye stripe, white lips, and 

 falcate dorsal fin can be used to identify 

 them. [Photo by D. Poppe.) 



Figure 119. — A captive Atlantic spotted dolphin 

 from off St. Augustine, Fla. This species has from 

 30 to 36 teeth in each upper jaw and from 28 to 35 in 

 each lower jaw. fewer than all other S(^«e^/a except 

 perhaps the bridled dolphin, fewer than the 

 saddleback dolphins, but more than the Atlantic 

 bottlenosed dolphins. {Photo by S. Leatherwood. ) 



107 



