May Be Confused With
Fraser's dolphin is intermediate in form between Lagenorhynchus and Delphinus delphis (thus the composite name Lagenodelphis). Because the species is apparently limited to tropical waters, however, and because of the prominent stripe on the side of the body, Fraser's dolphins are more likely to be confused with the striped dolphins (p. [113]). The two species can be distinguished at sea by several characteristics:
| Fraser's Dolphin | Striped Dolphin |
|---|---|
| COLORATION | |
| Single broad black stripefrom beak and eye back toarea of anus. | Color dominated by series ofstripes from: 1) eye to anus;2) eye to flipper, and 3)black behind dorsal finforward, towards but notreaching the head. |
| BEAK | |
| Extremely short and indistinct. | Longer, much more distinctive. |
| BODY SHAPE | |
| Robust, particularly in frontof dorsal fin. | Slenderer. |
| FLIPPERS | |
| Small, dark in color, andoriginating in light color ofsides. | Longer, sometimes lighteron upper surface; note stripefrom front of flippers to eye. |
| DORSAL FIN | |
| Small, slender, slightlyfalcate, and pointed on top. | Taller dorsal fin, broader atbase. |
Distribution
Although Fraser's dolphins have yet to be described for the western North Atlantic Ocean, they are included here as "possibles" because of the recent discovery that their range is far more extensive than previously known. Records to date have been limited to offshore tropical waters.
The species was first described in 1956 from the remains of a beach-washed specimen from Sarawak in the South China Sea. Since that time specimens have been collected from the eastern tropical Pacific, and others have stranded in such widely divergent localities as Australia, South Africa, and Japan. Recent summaries have added sighting records from the Central Pacific, near the Phoenix Island, from northwest of the Galapagos Islands, and from South African waters.
Stranded Specimens
Stranded Fraser's dolphins should be readily identifiable by 1) distinctive coloration of the body; 2) short, indistinctive beak; and 3) robust form. The only other species of small dolphins with beaks of similar length and general appearance are the Atlantic white-sided and white-beaked dolphins (p. 123 and 126); these dolphins, both with far more northerly ranges, have 30-40 and 22-28 teeth in each side of each jaw, respectively, while Fraser's dolphins have from 40 to 44 teeth in the upper jaw and from 39 to 44 in the lower jaw.
