BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Delphinus delphis
Short-beaked Common Dolphin
| Scientific Name: | Delphinus delphis Linnaeus, 1758 | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | Short-beaked Common Dolphin | ||||||||||
| English Name Synonyms: |
Saddle-backed Dolphin
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| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | Jefferson, T. A., F. I. Archer, and K. M. Robertson. 2024. The long-beaked common dolphin of the eastern Pacific Ocean: Taxonomic status and redescription of Delphinus bairdii. Marine Mammal Science e13133:1-37. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | M-DEDE | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Dec 2017) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | SNA (Dec 2022) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Accidental | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | Not at Risk (May 1991) | ||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | |||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
| Global Reproduction Comments: | Reproductive parameters vary significantly among different populations. Gestation lasts 10-11 months. Lactation lasts up to 19 months, though in at least some areas young may be weaned in 6 months or less. Sexually mature in 5-7 years or more (but apparently 2-4 years in Black Sea). Calving interval averages probably somewhat over 2 years. | ||||||||||
| Global Ecology Comments: | Travels in groups of a few to several thousand; commonly in groups of several hundred in the Pacific. | ||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
N / N / N / na / |
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| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | Primarily pelagic, in waters of about 10-28 C; usually along or seaward of the 100 fathom contour. Young are born in the water. | ||||||||||
| Provincial Habitat Comments: | Marine | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Invertivore: Adult, Immature
Piscivore: Adult, Immature |
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| Global Food Habits Comments: | Feeds opportunistically on pelagic schooling fishes (e.g., smelt, herring, mackerel, mullet, lantern fish) and squid. | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: |
Circadian: Adult, Immature
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| Global Phenology Comments: | Active day and night. | ||||||||||
| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Colonial Breeder: | N | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | 2600/ / | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | Worldwide in subtropical and warm temperate oceans, including the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea. In the Pacific Ocean, ranges from British Columbia south to Chile and out to 135 degrees west longitude; there are few records from the Gulf of California; documented from New Caledonia, New Zealand, and Japanese waters in the western Pacific, and there are records from north of Hawaii; range may extend entirely across the tropical and temperate North Pacific; records from the western Atlantic range from at least Florida to Newfoundland and in the eastern Atlantic from northern Europe to the west coast of Africa (Heyning and Perrin 1994). Abundant in waters of eastern North America, ranging north in large numbers to near Nova Scotia and Newfoundland in summer; otherwise, generally ranges from Gulf of Maine to Chesapeake Bay area (Gaskin 1992). Penetrates tropical zone where relatively cool waters keep surface temperature between about 15 to 26 C (Mead and Brownell, in Wilson and Reeder 1993, Gaskin 1992). | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | Hammerson, G. | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Feb 16, 1995 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
Banfield, A. W. F. 1974. The mammals of Canada. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Canada. 438 pp. |
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Folkens, P. 1984. The whale watcher's handbook. Doubleday Co., Inc., Garden City, NY 208 pp. |
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Gaskin, D. E. 1992. Status of the common dolphin, Delphinus delphis, in Canada. Can. Field-Nat. 106:55-63. |
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Godin, A. J. 1977. Wild mammals of New England. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. 304 pp. |
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Hall, E. R. 1981a. The Mammals of North America, second edition. Vols. I & II. John Wiley & Sons, New York, New York. 1181 pp. |
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Heyning, J. E., and W. F. Perrin. 1994. Evidence for two species of common dolphins (genus Delphinus) from the eastern North Pacific. Nat. Hist. Mus. Los Angeles County Contrib. Sci. (442):1-35. |
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IUCN (World Conservation Union). 1991. Dolphins, Porpoises and Whales of the World: the IUCN Red Data Book. M. Klinowska (compiler). IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, United Kingdom. viii + 429 pp. |
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Jones, J. K., Jr., R. S. Hoffman, D. W. Rice, C. Jones, R. J. Baker, and M. D. Engstrom. 1992a. Revised checklist of North American mammals north of Mexico, 1991. Occasional Papers, The Museum, Texas Tech University, 146:1-23. |
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Katona, S. K., V. Rough, and D. T. Richardson. 1983. A Field guide to the whales, porpoises, and seals of the gulf of Maine and eastern Canada. Cape Cod to Newfoundland. Charles Scribner's Sons, N.Y. 255 pp. |
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Leatherwood, S., and R. R. Reeves. 1983. The Sierra Club handbook of whales and dolphins. Sierra Club Books, San Francisco. 302 pp. |
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Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 1993. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Second edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. xviii + 1206 pp. Available online at: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/msw/. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1995. Species Summary: Delphinus delphis. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Dec 24, 2025).