ly provides a reasonably healthy, if 

 only periodic source of food for 

 these wide ranging carnivores. 



Common Name 



Minke whale 



Bottle nosed dolphin 



Spotted dolphin 



Short finned pilot whal 



Sperm whale 



Cuvier's beaked whale 



California sea lion 



Scientific Name 



Balaenoptera acutorostrata 

 Tursiops truncatus 

 Stenella plaqiodon 

 Globicephala macrorhyncha 

 Physeter catodon 

 Zi phi us cavirostris 

 Zalophus califonanus 



Table 51. Cetaceans occurring in 



or near the Florida Keys 

 (adapted from Caldwell 

 and Caldwell 1973). 



Table 50. Land mammals occur- 

 ring in the Florida 

 Keys (adapted from 

 Layne 1974). 



( Oryzomys sp. ) , the Key Largo cotton 

 mouse ( Peromyscus qossypinus alla- 

 paticola ) , and the Key Largo wood 

 rat ( Neotoma floridana smalli ) are 

 also considered endangered (Layne 

 1978). The isolation of the Keys 

 from the mainland is believed re- 

 sponsible for the distinctiveness of 

 the mammalian fauna (Layne 1974). 



Table 51 presents a list of 7 

 marine mammals observed in or near 

 the Florida Keys (Caldwell and Cald- 

 well 1973). Of these 7, only the 

 bottle nosed dolphin is considered a 

 regular participant in overall 

 energy flow of the area. The minke 

 whale feeds on zooplankton and small 

 fish, the bottle nosed dolphin on 

 fish and crustaceans, and the larger 

 whales and spotted dolpin on a com- 

 bination of squid and fish. As 

 such, the diversity and productivity 

 of the Keys marine ecosystem probab- 



219 



