Pantropical spotted dolphin
Stenella attenuata
Valid name.
- English
- Pantropical spotted dolphin
- Scientific
- Stenella attenuata
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- Group
- Dolphins
- Maximum size
- Up to about 2.4-2.6 m
- Depth and habitat
- Oceanic waters outside the atolls
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2018
Description
A slender dolphin with a long, thin beak with a white tip, a dark grey cape and spotting that increases with age; calves are unspotted, and older adults can look heavily speckled. It lives in large, active schools, often mixed with spinner dolphins. It feeds on small fish and squid near the surface, and at night on prey that migrates up from the depths. In the eastern Pacific it was killed in huge numbers in tuna purse-seine nets.
In the Maldives
One of the most abundant cetaceans in the Maldives (about 15% of all individuals seen) and a qualifying species for the Maldives Important Marine Mammal Area. It associates closely with yellowfin tuna, and Maldivian handline fishermen follow spotted dolphin schools to find the tuna. The far north appears to be a seasonal feeding area.
Sources
- sealifebase.se /summary/Stenella-attenuata.html
- mammalwatching.com /wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Maldives-cetaceans-review-2012.pdf
- mrc.gov.mv /assets/Uploads/2005-Observations-of-cetaceans-in-the-Maldives-1990-20
- marinemammalhabitat.org /wp-content/uploads/imma-factsheets/WesternIndianOcean/Maldives-archip
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Pantropical_spotted_dolphin_swimming_off_the_coast_of_Costa
Dhivehi name source: No Dhivehi name found in the cetacean literature reviewed (Anderson 2005; Anderson et al. 2012), FishBase/SeaLifeBase or Dhivehi Wikipedia.