Humpback Dolphin - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

The taxonomy of the Sousa genus is complicated and disputed. As many as five species have been proposed:

• S. chinensis (Chinese white dolphin, Pacific humpback dolphin or Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin)
• S. plumbea (Indian humpback dolphin or Plumbeous humpback dolphin)
• S. teuszi (Atlantic humpback dolphin)
• S. lentiginosa
• S. borneensis

By the mid-2000s, most authorities accepted just two species—the Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific. However, in his widely used systematic account, Rice identified three species, viewing the Indo-Pacific as two species named simply the Indian and Pacific. The dividing line between the two (sub)species is taken to be Sumatra, one of the Indonesian islands; however, intermixing is thought to be inevitable.

Further, Australian cetologist Graham Ross writes "However, recent morphological studies, somewhat supported equivocally by genetic analyses, indicate that there is a single, variable species for which the name S. chinensis has priority".

Humpback dolphins found in Chinese waters are locally known as Chinese white dolphins. See that article for specific issues relating to that subspecies which corresponds to the Pacific humpback dolphin in Rice's classification.