Atlantic Spotted Dolphins
Atlantic Spotted Dolphins Info
Along the southeastern and Gulf coasts of the U.S., Stenella frontalis inhabits the continental shelf, usually within 250-350 km of the coast. In the Bahamas, the Atlantic spotted dolphin spends most of its time in the shallow water over sand flats.
As the common name spotted dolphin suggests, S. frontalis has a spotted color pattern on its body. These spots are not present at birth, and generally do not appear until the onset of weaning. The first spots to appear on the calves are dark spots on the animal's ventral surface. As the dolphin approaches puberty, the ventral spots increase in number and size and pale dorsal spots appear as well. The number of spots continues to increase with age, similar to the development of spotting in Stenella attenuata. There is a large amount of variation in the adult color pattern, between populations and between individuals. At times some individuals become so heavily spotted that they appear white from a distance. Spotting seems to decrease with the distance from the continental shores of North America. In the Azores some specimens have had few or no ventral spots, but well developed dorsal spotting.
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