Dolphin Species

In all there are 32 different dolphin species. Of these the one most familiar is the bottlenose dolphin -- tursiops truncatus -- the playful dolphins seen on television and movies, and in books. And interestingly enough, this is the largest Orca -- Orcinus orca -- better known as the killer whale. Both whales and dolphins are from the order Cetacea, the suborder, Odontoceti, -- toothed whales.

Yet, here we are concerned with the family in which the dolphins belong, and that is Delphinidae which translates into Dolphins. It is necessary to distinguish between whales and dolphins because, of their size and their personalities. Both are intelligent, but the dolphins are thought to be smarter.

It is their characteristics that give them their distinctive common names. As examples, the rough-toothed dolphin had rougher and more ferocious looking teeth. This would have been difference and would have told other immediately he was not bottle nosed dolphin.

The bottle nosed member has a narrow nose, suggestive of a bottle. Another, with a prominent white proboscis is the white beaked dolphin. As suggested by torso differences, the hour-glass species, would be hard to miss in a line up. Other names are harder to figure out: Spinner dolphin makes one wonder. Do they spin balls and objects on their nose, or do they twirl? We shall see later.

Peale's, Frasier's, Commerson's and Hector are harder to figure out without more information. Peale's is a South American dolphin and is black in color. It is little known but is probably named for whom first discovered this particular variety. Hector's is a New Zealand dolphin and is named for a zoologist. Frasier's and Commerson's are likewise named for their discoverers. The spinner dolphin is, you guessed right, the show-off dolphin seen frequently near the shore, dazzling the spectators.