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Stenella attenuata
– Lower Risk Conservation Dependent
Taxonomy
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Kingdom:
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ANIMALIA
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Phylum:
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CHORDATA
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Class:
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MAMMALIA
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Order:
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CETACEA
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Family:
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DELPHINIDAE
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Scientific Name:
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Stenella attenuata
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Species Authority:
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(Gray, 1846)
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Common Name/s:
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BRIDLED DOLPHIN (Eng)
NARROW-SNOUTED DOLPHIN (Eng)
PANTROPICAL SPOTTED DOLPHIN (Eng)
DAUPHIN TACHETÉ PANTROPICAL (Fre)
DELFÍN MANCHADO (Spa)
DELFÍN PINTADO (Spa)
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Assessment Information
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Red List Category & Criteria:
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LR/cd ver 2.3 (1994)
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Year Assessed:
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1996
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Annotations:
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Needs updating
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Assessor/s:
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Cetacean Specialist Group
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Justification:
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Extract from Reeves et al. (2003, pp. 45): "This abundant and very widely distributed species is, as the name implies, pantropical. It inhabits both near-shore and oceanic habitats in tropical and warm temperate seas. Three subspecies are currently recognized in the Pacific Ocean, where large samples have been available for study as a result of mortality in the tuna purse seine fishery. These are an unnamed Hawaiian race, an unnamed eastern Pacific offshore race, and an eastern Pacific coastal race (S. a. graffmani) (Rice 1998). Offshore spotted dolphins bore the brunt of the massive dolphin kill by tuna seiners from the late 1950s to the 1980s. For example, in the period 1959 to 1972, nearly five million dolphins were killed, and of this number, about three million were from the north-eastern offshore stock of spotted dolphins (Wade 1995). Although mortality rates have been greatly reduced, a recent assessment of this population indicated that it was not recovering at the expected rate and that the stress of being chased and captured repeatedly in the tuna nets, separation of mothers from young, and under-reporting of fishery kills could account for the depressed growth rate (Southwest Fisheries Science Center 1999). Abundance estimates based on surveys in the late 1980s totaled about two million spotted dolphins in the eastern tropical Pacific (Wade and Gerrodette 1993). In 1998, the northeastern offshore stock was estimated at about 600,000–1,000,000 and the coastal stock at about 70,000–100,000 (T. Gerrodette, pers. comm.).
Pantropical Spotted Dolphins are subject to high mortality in some other parts of the world, notably Japan, where they are killed by harpooning and driving. Catches in Japan have been in the thousands in some years (Kishiro and Kasuya 1993), although they have totaled less than 500 per year over the past decade (see summary tables in Journal of Cetacean Research and Management annual supplements). Estimated abundance in Japanese waters was about 440,000 in the early 1990s (Miyashita 1993). Other areas where large numbers of spotted dolphins have been killed for food or bait include the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Lesser Antilles, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Although the species is not considered threatened, there is a need for improved understanding of regional stock differences, abundance, and take levels."
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History:
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| 1994 | - | Insufficiently Known (Groombridge 1994) |
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Geographic Range
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Countries:
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Native:
Argentina; Australia; Bangladesh; Brazil; Cape Verde; China; Costa Rica; Djibouti; Fiji; Gabon; Honduras; India; Indonesia; Japan; Kenya; Korea, Democratic People's Republic of; Korea, Republic of; Madagascar; Malaysia; Maldives; Mexico; Myanmar; New Zealand; Oman; Panama; Papua New Guinea; Peru; Philippines; Saint Helena; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Seychelles; Singapore; Solomon Islands; South Africa; Sri Lanka; Taiwan, Province of China; Tanzania, United Republic of; Thailand; Tuvalu; United States; Uruguay; Vanuatu
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FAO Marine Fishing Areas:
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Native:
Atlantic-eastern central; Atlantic-northwest; Atlantic-southeast; Atlantic-southwest; Atlantic-western central; Indian Ocean-eastern; Indian Ocean-western; Pacific-eastern central; Pacific-northwest; Pacific-southeast; Pacific-southwest; Pacific-western central
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Habitat and Ecology
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