Clymene dolphin

How it lives

Groups are usually around 40 animals, with reports from 2 up to 200. NOAA gives 60 to 80 as typical for its stocks. Many groups are made up of one sex and one age class. Clymene dolphins are lively: they leap and spin, though less regularly than spinner dolphins, and they sometimes ride the bow wave of boats. Calving and lifespan are not covered by the sources read.

Where it goes

Clymene dolphins live in deep Atlantic water, usually deeper than 100 m, so most meetings happen well offshore. No set migration is described in the sources read. Off West Africa the species is known from few records: the northernmost is a stranding north of Nouakchott (about 19°N) and the southernmost a sighting off northern Angola (about 6°S). It does not occur in the Mediterranean.

We only draw a journey on the map when scientists have tracked it or clearly documented it. For this animal we have not found one yet.

Populations

There is no estimate for the whole species and no known trend. NOAA lists about 513 animals for the northern Gulf stock and about 21,778 for the western North Atlantic stock (counts for US waters only). In the eastern tropical Atlantic the species is confirmed from only eight countries, out of some twenty possible range states, so West African records are patchy. Some are taken in Caribbean harpoon fisheries and in nets, including possibly off West Africa. IUCN lists the species as Least Concern (2018).