Stenella is a genus of marine mammals in Delphinidae, the family informally known as the oceanic dolphins.[2][3][4]
| Stenella Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Striped dolphin | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Family: | Delphinidae |
| Subfamily: | Delphininae |
| Genus: | Stenella Gray, 1866 |
| Type species | |
| Steno attenuatus [1] Gray, 1846 | |
| Species | |
S. attenuata | |
Species
Currently, five species are recognised in this genus:[3]
| Image | Common Name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | Pantropical spotted dolphin | S. attenuata | eastern Pacific Ocean |
_NOAA.jpg) | Atlantic spotted dolphin | S. frontalis | tropical areas of the Atlantic Ocean. I |
 | Spinner dolphin | S. longirostris | Pacific Ocean |
 | Clymene dolphin | S. clymene | Atlantic Ocean. |
 | Striped dolphin | S. coeruleoalba | North and South Atlantic Oceans, including the Mediterranean |
S. rayi was a species of this genus found in North Carolina, in the early Pliocene.[5]
The common name for species in this genus is the "spotted dolphins" or the "bridled dolphins".[2][3] They are found in temperate and tropical seas all around the world.[2][3] Individuals of several species begin their lives spotless and become steadily more covered in darker spots as they get older.[2][3]
The genus name comes from the Greek stenos meaning narrow.[2][3] It was coined by John Gray in 1866 when he intended it as a subgenus of Steno.[2] Modern taxonomists recognise two genera.[2][3]
The clymene dolphin (S. clymene) is the only confirmed case of hybrid speciation in marine mammals, descending from the spinner dolphin (S. longirostris) and the striped dolphin (S. coeruleoalba).[6]
Stenella dolphins tend to be more active during nighttime and spend their daytime resting. Although these dolphins are supposed to spend 60% of their daytime resting, they happen to be exposed to human activities for 80% of their day. These patterns of sleep deprivation can have negative impact on their resting habit and leads to decline in their population size.[7]
References
