Spinner Dolphin - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

The Spinner Dolphin is sometimes referred to as the Long-snouted Dolphin, particularly in older texts, to distinguish it from the similar Clymene Dolphin which is often called the Short-snouted Spinner Dolphin. The species was described by John Gray in 1828. There are four named subspecies:

• Eastern Spinner Dolphin (S. l. orientalis), from the tropical eastern Pacific.
• Central American or Costa Rican Spinner Dolphin (S. l. centroamericana), also found in the tropical eastern Pacific.
• Gray's or Hawaiian Spinner Dolphin (S. l. longirostris), from the central Pacific Ocean around Hawaii but represents a mixture of broadly similar subtypes found worldwide.
• Dwarf Spinner Dolphin (S. l. roseiventris), first found in the Gulf of Thailand.

However the species display greater variety than these subspecies might indicate. A hybrid form characterized by its white belly inhabits the eastern Pacific. Other less distinct groupings inhabit other oceans.

The specific name comes from the Latin term for long-beaked.