Re: How is the spotted dolphin different from other dolphins?

Here is your information about Spotted Dolphins.

The group of dolphins classified in the genus Stenella are as widely distributed as they are diverse. They include five species found in tropical and warm temperate waters. They have been reported from the tropical South Atlantic and from much of the North Atlantic (New Jersey and England southward, including the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico). In the Indian Ocean, they range from the Red Sea and The Seychelles east and south to New Zealand, primarily offshore. They are present in the South China Sea and near Japan, and they occur as far south in the Pacific as Peru and New Zealand. Adult Stenella dolphins are easily identified by the numerous spots covering their body, hence their common name, spotted dolphins. Juvenile spotted dolphins, however, look almost identical to the well-known bottlenose dolphins, i.e., completely lacking spots. Spotting develops with age in all populations and is most extensive in large adults. The degree of spotting decreases eastward in the Atlantic and westward in the Pacific. Hawaiian spotted dolphins are usually unspotted; Japanese and eastern Indian Ocean animals have only moderate spotting. In general, the spotting is heaviest in the coastal forms off both North American coasts. Spotted dolphins are vigorous swimmers, frequently hurling themselves high into the air. They often make a series of amazingly high leaps, fairly hanging in the air for seconds before falling with a splat.

Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis), i.e., Charlie's species, are commonly found in the tropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean. There are more Gulf records of Atlantic spotted dolphins than there are for any other species of offshore cetacean. Atlantic spotters migrate inshore in spring, often approaching close to shore, where they overlap with bottlenose dolphins. One interesting finding of this species is the low number of strandings associated with them. Almost all records of Atlantic spotted dolphins are of sightings or captures. As to why a species as common as this one appears to be is so poorly represented in the stranding record remains a mystery.

Information for this article was collected from The Sierra Club Handbook of Whales and Dolphins by Stephen Leatherwood and Randall R. Reeves and Jefferson and Andrew Schiro's Historical Records of Whales and Dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico in prep.

http://www.tmmsn.org/mmgulf/stenella.html