- Group
- Marine mammal
- Habitat
- Open water
- Max size
- 4.0 m
- Family
- Delphinidae
The common bottlenose dolphin or Atlantic bottlenose dolphin is one of three species of bottlenose dolphin in the genus Tursiops. While formerly known simply as the bottlenose dolphin, this term is now applied to the genus Tursiops as a whole. As considerable genetic variation has been described within this species, even between neighboring populations, many experts think additional species may be recognized and split out.
Adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Behaviour
Travels in pods and will bow-ride a moving boat. Present in coastal and offshore water year-round.
Easily confused with
Side by side, with what tells them apart.
Spinner Dolphin is slim, with a long, thin beak, three tones of grey -- dark back, lighter flanks, pale belly -- an upright triangular dorsal fin, and the spinning leaps that name it. Common Bottlenose Dolphin is bigger and heavier, plain grey, with a short, stubby beak and a curved, hooked dorsal fin; it grows to 4 m, where a spinner stays under 2.4 m.
See the Spinner Dolphin →
From a boat both show a dark back and a curved fin. Short-finned Pilot Whale is black, with a round, bulbous head and barely any beak, a broad, low dorsal fin set forward on the back, often a pale saddle behind it, and it reaches 7 m. Common Bottlenose Dolphin is grey, with a short but distinct beak and a taller, hooked fin mid-back, and stays under 4 m.
See the Short-finned Pilot Whale →