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Pacific white-sided dolphin - LAGENORHYNCHUS OBLIOUIDENS
Possibly Endangered
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Dolphin": "Dolphin" is an old Greek word for the animal itself.
Location: The northern Pacific Ocean.
Habitat: Aquatic. Coastal waters, up to 125 miles from the shore.
Description: The back is black, merging into gray on the sides, and the underside is white and separated clearly from the gray sides by a black line, which runs from the corners of the mouth along the lateral fins to the anus. The fins are pointed, and the dorsal fin is tall, hooked, and bicolored. There are 29 teeth on each side of the upper jaw, and 32 on each side of the lower jaw. This dolphin reaches about 8 feet in length and about 300 pounds.
Behavior: The white-sided dolphin lives in large pods sometimes numbering several thousand individuals, although the average is usually about 100. It feeds on small ocean fish, but seems to have a special preference for cuttlefish. Migration to warmer waters occurs in the autumn, and it appears that the migrations reach lower latitudes along the coasts of America rather than along Asian coasts.
Reproduction: The mating season extends through the summer, and gestation lasts for about one year. The single young at birth is four feet long, and it has a large number of tactile hairs on the snout which disappear with growth.
Go to the Cetacea Page to learn more about the other whale-like animals.
Go to the Index to compare the various Dolphins found in America Zoo.
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