Long Beak Spinner Dolphin
Scientific Name : Stenella longirostris
- IUCN: Not Endangered/ Least Concern
- Other names: Long-snouted spinner dolphin, Gray’s spinner dolphin
- Swahili name: Pomboo mzunguko
- Length: 1.9-2.3m (males generally larger than females)
- Weight: 60-75kg
- Life expectancy: 20-25 years
- Abundance: Offshore and coastal tropical waters around the world
- Occurance: Year-round
- Primary prey: Fish, squid and shrimps of smaller size (less than 20cm)
- Conservation status: Unknown, though there are concerns with fishery bycatch in many areas
- Quick key identification: Usually travels in large pods/groups (up to or more than 50), very active and acrobatic, spinning while leaping out of water. Petite and slender, very long thin rostrum, small triangular dorsal fin. Tripartite pattern; dark above blending into a lighter grey and then white underneath/chest. Spinners have more teeth than other species of dolphins, with between 45 to 65 sharp, pointed teeth in each side of both the upper and lower jaws.
Sometimes referred to as the long snouted spinner dolphin, the Gray’s spinner dolphin is the most typical form of spinner dolphin found in most oceanic areas of the world and also the subspecies found in the western Indian Ocean region. Can be confused with Pan-tropical spotted dolphin.
