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Overview
Brief Summary
Abstract for the species
The Long-beaked common dolphin (scientific name: Delphinus capensis) is one of two species of common dolphin. Known for its long beak, this dolphin has the most teeth out of any dolphin in the world. Both species of common dolphin are extremely colorful, however, the long-beaked common is typically less brightly colored. In addition to slightly different coloring, beak size, and other physical characteristics; the long-beaked common dolphin differs from the short-beaked in that it prefers more shallow, warmer waters. Also, the long-beaked common dolphin is less abundant than the short-beaked common dolphin.
A marine mammal, the Long-beaked common dolphin is a member of the family Delphinidae, part of the order of cetaceans. Thie species name, capensis, was derived from the location of the original specimen for this dolphin, being found on the Cape of Good Hope in the early 1800s.
Long-beaked common dolphins have a rounded melon, moderately long beak, and a sleek but robust body with a high, pointed, falcate dorsal fin located in the mid portion of the back. This species can be identified by its distinct bright contrasting coloration patterns. There is a dull yellow/tan thoracic panel between the dark cape and white ventral patch forward of the dorsal fin. The bold coloration forms a crisscrossing hourglass pattern below the dark saddle, and a lighter gray area extends up to the tail stock.
Long-beaked common dolphins usually occur in sizable social groups ranging from 100 to 500 individuals, but have been occasionally seen in larger herds of thousands of individuals. These large schools are believed to consist of smaller sub-groups of 10 to 30 animals that are possibly related or separated by age and/or sex.
- Encyclopedia of Life; Mark McGinley; Eileen Mary Dee. 2011. Long-beaked common dolphin. Topic ed. C.Michael Hogan. Ed-in-chief C.J.Cleveland. National Council for Science and the Environment. Washington DC www.eoearth.org/article/Long-beaked_common_dolphin
- Natoli, A., Cañadas, A., Peddemors, V.M., Aguilar, A., Vaquero, C., Fernández- Piqueras, P. and Hoelzel, A.R. (2006) Phylogeography and alpha taxonomy of the common dolphin (Delphinus sp.). Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 19: 953 - 954.
- Heyning, John E., and William F. Perrin. 1994. Evidence for Two Species of Common Dolphins (Genus Delphinus) from the Eastern North Pacific. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Contributions in Science, no. 442. 1-35
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Biology
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Description
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Description
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Mammal Species of the World
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Distribution
Range Description
There are two subspecies recognized:
D. c. capensis – This subspecies appears to be found in distinct areas and apparently-disjunct subpopulations are known from the east coast of South America, West Africa, southern Japan, Korea and northern Taiwan (and possibly China), central California to southern Mexico, Peru, and South Africa.
D. c. tropicalis – This subspecies ranges in the Indo-Pacific from at least the Red Sea/Somalia to western Taiwan/southern China and Indonesia, and including the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Thailand (Jefferson and Van Waerebeek 2002).
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van der Land, J. (2001). Tetrapoda, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 375-376
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National Distribution
United States
Origin: Native
Regularity: Regularly occurring
Currently: Present
Confidence: Confident
Type of Residency: Year-round
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Global Range: In the eastern Pacific, recorded from Point Conception, California, south to Peru, including the Gulf of California; in the western Pacific, known from the coasts of Korea, southern Japan, and Taiwan; records from the Atlantic are from coastal Venezuela south to the La Plata region of Argentina; also occurs along the west coast of Africa and in waters off South Africa, Madagascar, and the Arabian Peninsula; nominal species D. TROPICALIS, occurring around the edges of the Arabian Sea and some areas off southeastern Asia, may be this species (Heyning and Perrin 1994).
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Range
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Physical Description
Size
Size in North America
Length:
Range: 2-2.5 m males; 1.9-2.2 m females
Weight:
Range: 135 kg
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Ecology
Habitat
Habitat and Ecology
Systems
- Marine
Threats
Major Threats
Conservation Actions
Conservation Actions
Citation
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Water temperature and chemistry ranges based on 65 samples.
Environmental ranges
Depth range (m): 0 - 0
Temperature range (°C): 15.098 - 24.488
Nitrate (umol/L): 0.026 - 4.527
Salinity (PPS): 33.370 - 35.311
Oxygen (ml/l): 4.776 - 5.880
Phosphate (umol/l): 0.349 - 1.086
Silicate (umol/l): 2.121 - 12.244
Graphical representation
Temperature range (°C): 15.098 - 24.488
Nitrate (umol/L): 0.026 - 4.527
Salinity (PPS): 33.370 - 35.311
Oxygen (ml/l): 4.776 - 5.880
Phosphate (umol/l): 0.349 - 1.086
Silicate (umol/l): 2.121 - 12.244
Note: this information has not been validated. Check this *note*. Your feedback is most welcome.
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Habitat Type: Marine
Comments: Nearshore tropical and temperate waters (Heyning and Perrin 1994).
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Migration
Non-Migrant: No. All populations of this species make significant seasonal migrations.
Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).
Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.
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Trophic Strategy
Comments: Feeds opportunistically on schooling fishes (e.g., smelt, herring, mackerel, mullet, lantern fish) and squid.
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General Ecology
Life History and Behavior
Cyclicity
Reproduction
Molecular Biology and Genetics
Molecular Biology
Barcode data: Delphinus capensis
There are 2 barcode sequences available from BOLD and GenBank. Below is a sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species. See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen and other sequences.
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Download FASTA File
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Statistics of barcoding coverage: Delphinus capensis
Public Records: 2
Specimens with Barcodes: 2
Species With Barcodes: 1
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Conservation
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List Assessment
Red List Category
Red List Criteria
Version
Year Assessed
Assessor/s
Reviewer/s
Justification
History
- 1996Lower Risk/least concern
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National NatureServe Conservation Status
United States
Rounded National Status Rank: NU - Unrankable
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NatureServe Conservation Status
Rounded Global Status Rank: G4 - Apparently Secure
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Status
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Trends
Population
Population Trend
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Threats
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Management
Conservation Actions
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Conservation
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Relevance to Humans and Ecosystems
Risks
IUCN Red List Category
-
IUCN (2008) Cetacean update of the 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
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Wikipedia
Long-beaked common dolphin
The long-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus capensis) is a species of common dolphin. It has a more restricted range than the short-beaked common dolphin (D. delphis). It has a disjointed range in coastal areas in tropical and warmer temperate oceans. The range includes parts of western and southern Africa, much of western South America, central California to central Mexico, coastal Peru, areas around Japan, Korea and Taiwan, and possibly near Oman.[1][3] Vagrants have been recorded as far north as Vancouver Island. They live in shallow, warmer temperature waters near the coast. They also live in the tropical and subtropical regions.[4]
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Physical characteristics[edit]
The long-beaked common dolphin is medium-sized, but smaller than the more popular bottlenose dolphin. Adults range between 1.9 and 2.5 m (6.2 and 8.2 ft), long, and can weigh between 80 and 235 kg (180 and 520 lb), although a range between 80 and 150 kg (180 and 330 lb) is more common.[5] Males are generally longer and heavier.[5] 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.[6] This species also has a rounded melon on tops of their heads used for echolocation.[4] It has a long, thin rostrum with up to 60 small, sharp, interlocking teeth on each side of each jaw.[7] They have more teeth than any other delphinids.[8]
Taxonomy[edit]
The long-beaked common dolphin is a member of common dolphin genus, Delphinus within the dolphin family, Delphinidae in the cetaceans order.[4] 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.[3][5] In 1994, Heyning and Perrin[9] did research on these species and then Kingston and Rosel[10] confirmed there were two separate species. Currently, the two recognized species of Delphinus are the short-beaked common dolphin (D. delphis) and the long-beaked common dolphin.[1] The long-beaked common dolphin is generally larger with a longer beak than the short-beaked common dolphin and has a longer rostrum.
The Indo-Pacific common dolphin is sometimes considered a separate species (D. tropicalis), but is more often considered a form of the long-beaked common dolphin.[1][3]
Behavior[edit]
Long-beaked common dolphins can live in aggregations of hundreds or even thousands.[3] Within these large groups, smaller subgroups of 10 to 30, related in either sex or age, typically are found.[4] They sometimes associate with other dolphin species, such as pilot whales.[3] They have also been observed bow riding on baleen whales, and they also bow ride on boats.[3] Breaching behavior and aerial acrobatics are common with this species.[5]
Diet[edit]
The long-beaked common dolphin has a varied diet consisting of small schooling fish, such as sardines, anchovies, or pilchards, and krill and cephalopods. This species may work in groups to herd their prey together.[11] They are able to dive in the water to about 900 ft (280 m) and hold their breath for up to 8 min to catch prey.[4]
Reproduction[edit]
The long-beaked common dolphin has a gestation period of 10 to 11 months typically during spring or autumn.[4][5] The newborn calf has a length of between 80 and 100 cm (2.6 and 3.3 ft) and a weight of about 10 kilograms (22 lb).[5] The young and juvenile dolphins coloration and patterns are darker than the adults.[11] Typical interbirth interval ranges from one to three years.[5] In captivity, this dolphin has hybridized with the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus).[3][12] One of the hybrids has been bred back to a bottlenose dolphin, demonstrating such hybrids are fertile.[12] The long-beaked common dolphin can live up to 40 years.[4]
Conservation[edit]
Delphinus capensis is covered by the Memorandum of Understanding Concerning the Conservation of the Manatee and Small Cetaceans of Western Africa and Macaronesia[13] and the Memorandum of Understanding for the Conservation of Cetaceans and Their Habitats in the Pacific Islands Region (Pacific Cetaceans MoU).[14] One of the main threats to the Long-Beaked Common Dolphin is fisheries. Out of 930 dolphins observed off of Peru between 1985 and 2000, 120 of them had many lacerations on their head, skin, appendages, and teeth. Most of these injuries were from fisheries-related connection.[15] Another threat to this species is pollution because many of them have shown signs of organochlorine residue on their blubber.[16] On the coast of California there are only about 25,000 to 43,000 dolphins and on the coast of South Africa there are 15,000 to 20,000.[17]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d Mead, J. G.; Brownell, R. L., Jr. (2005). "Order Cetacea". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 723–743. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
- ^ Hammond, P.S., Bearzi, G., Bjørge, A., Forney, K., Karczmarski, L., Kasuya, T., Perrin, W.F., Scott, M.D., Wang, J.Y., Wells, R.S. & Wilson, B. (2008). Delphinus capensis. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 7 October 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g Perrin, W. (2002). "Common Dolphins". In Perrin, W.; Wursig, B. and Thewissen, J. Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals. Academic Press. pp. 245–248. ISBN 0-12-551340-2.
- ^ a b c d e f g Mark McGinley, Eileen Mary Dee (December 2011). "Long-beaked common dolphin". Encyclopedia of earth. Retrieved April 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g Shirihai, H. & Jarrett, B. (2006). Whales, Dolphins and Other Marine Mammals of the World. pp. 174–176. ISBN 0-691-12757-3.
- ^ Reeves, Stewart, Clapham, Powell. Guide to Marine Mammals of the World. p. 388. ISBN 0-375-41141-0.
- ^ "The Common Dolphin". Retrieved 2008-07-03.
- ^ Jefferson TA, Webber MA , Pitman RL (2008) Marine mammals of the world. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 573 pp.
- ^ Heyning JE, Perrin W F (1994) Evidence for two species of common dolphins (genus Delphinus) from the eastern North Pacific. Los Angeles County Mus. Nat. Hist. Contr. Sci. 442: 1-35.
- ^ Kingston SE, Rosel PE (2004) Genetic differentiation among recently diverged delphinid taxa determined using AFLP markers. J. Hered. 95: 1-10
- ^ a b "Long-Beaked Common Dolphin (Delphinus capensis)". NOAA Fisheries, Office of Protected Resources. 2012. Retrieved April 2013.
- ^ a b Zornetzer H.R.; Duffield D.A. (October 1, 2003). "Captive-born bottlenose dolphin × common dolphin (Tursiops truncatus × Delphinus capensis) intergeneric hybrids". Canadian Journal of Zoology (NRC Research Press) 81 (10): 1755–1762. doi:10.1139/z03-150.
- ^ Memorandum of Understanding Concerning the Conservation of the Manatee and Small Cetaceans of Western Africa and Macaronesia
- ^ Memorandum of Understanding for the Conservation of Cetaceans and Their Habitats in the Pacific Islands Region
- ^ Van Bressem M-F, Van Waerebeek K, Montes D, Kennedy S, Reyes JC, Garcia-Godos IA, Onton-Silva K, Alfaro-Shigueto Joanna (2006) Diseases, lesions and malformations in the long-beaked common dolphin Delphinus capensis from the Southeast Pacific. Dis. Aquat. Org. 68: 149-165
- ^ Kajiwara N, Matsuoka S, Iwata H, Tanabe S, Rosas FCW, Fillmann G, Readman JW(2004) Contamination by persistent organochlorines in cetaceans incidentally caught along Brazilian coastal waters. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 46: 124-134
- ^ Shirihai, H. and B. Jarrett (2006). Whales, Dolphins and Other Marine Mammals of the World. Princeton, Princeton University Press. p. 174-176.
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Names and Taxonomy
Taxonomy
Comments: Mead and Brownell (in Wilson and Reeder 1993) included D. bairdii, D. capensis, and D. tropicalis in D. delphis. Heyning and Perrin (1994) examined variation in Delphinus in the eastern North Pacific and found two distinct forms, a short-beaked form that they recognized as D. capensis (D. bairdii is a junior synonym), and a long-beaked form regarded as D. delphis. They noted that the status of D. tropicalis needs to be examined to determine if it is an extremely long-beaked form along a cline of D. capensis or a third species of Delphinus. Mead and Brownell (in Wilson and Reeder 2005) recognized D. capensis and D. delphis (but not D. tropicalis) as distinct species.
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