Short-snouted spinner dolphin
The Clymene dolphin (Stenella clymene) is a dolphin native to the Atlantic Ocean. It is the only confirmed case of hybrid speciation in marine mammals, descending from the Spinner dolphin and the Striped dolphin.
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NocturnalNocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal",...
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CarnivoreA carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of a...
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MolluscivoreA molluscivore is a carnivorous animal that specializes in feeding on molluscs such as gastropods, bivalves, brachiopods, and cephalopods. Known mo...
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PiscivoresA piscivore is a carnivorous animal that eats primarily fish. Piscivorous is equivalent to the Greek-derived word ichthyophagous. Fish were the die...
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NatatorialNatatorial animals are those adapted for swimming. Some fish use their pectoral fins as the primary means of locomotion, sometimes termed labriform...
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ViviparousAmong animals, viviparity is the development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. The term 'viviparity' and its adjective form 'viviparous'...
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PrecocialPrecocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. Precocial species are normall...
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Pursuit predatorPursuit predation is a form of predation in which predators actively give chase to their prey, either solitarily or as a group. Pursuit predators r...
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Highly socialHighly social animals are those which are highly interactive with other members of their species. They live in large groups, nest in colonies, and ...
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starts withThe Clymene dolphin looks very similar to the Spinner dolphin. At close quarters, it is possible to observe that the beak of the Clymene is slightly shorter than that of its relative. The dorsal fin is also less erect and triangular. The basic color of the Clymene dolphin is "cetacean neapolitan"; it occurs in three shaded layers, the underside being white. Next, a strip of light grey runs from just above the beak, around either side of the eye back to the tailstock, where the band thickens. The top layer, from the forehead, along the back to the dorsal fin, and down to the top of the tail stock, is a dark grey. The beak, lips, and flippers are also dark grey in color.
The full range of this species is still poorly understood, particularly at its southern end. Clymene dolphins prefer deep temperate and tropical waters. The northern end of the range runs roughly from New Jersey east-southeast to southern Morocco. The southern tip runs from somewhere around Angola to Rio de Janeiro and numerous sightings of Clymene dolphins have been recorded in the Gulf of Mexico.
Clymene dolphins are social animals and live in groups that vary from just 4 up to around 150 individuals, although about 40 is typical. Many of these groups appear to be single-sex, and also to be segregated by the approximate age of the individuals. Clymene dolphins like to leap out of the water, spin in the air, and “surf” in the waves created by vessels. They are also highly vocal and make short whistles in a range of 6-19 kHz. They spend most of their lives in waters over 100 m (330 ft) in depth but may sometimes move into shallower, coastal regions. They prefer to hunt either at night or in mesopelagic waters where there is only limited light.
Clymene dolphins are carnivores (molluscivores, piscivores). They feed on squid and small schooling fish.
Little is known about the reproductive habits of Clymene dolphins. Adult females give birth to a single calf and they become reproductively mature when they are 1.8 m (6 feet) long.
The main threats to Clymene dolphins include entanglement in commercial fishing gear, hunting for their meat and oil, and underwater noise pollution which disturbs dolphins’ feeding, communication, and orientation.
The IUCN Red List and other sources don’t provide the number of the Clymene dolphin total population size. Currently, this species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List.
