kanaloa

Bouto or Amazon River Dolphins

Amazon River Dolphin, or Bouto

(Inia geoffrensis)
Geological ages ago, as shown by fossils, the family Iniidae, to which this river-dwelling dolphin belongs, was widely distributed in the waters of the world, but today there are only two survivors, the White Flag Dolphin in Tung Ting Lake, China , and the Bouto in South America .
All reports indicate that these dolphins are numerous in the Amazon River, from the long reach where the Tocantins empties into it, to and including most of its principal tributaries. The Boutos travel upstream at least to Nauta, Peru, on the Maranon, and follow some of the latter's smaller tributaries to lakes at the foot of the Cordilleras.
In Bolivia they inhabit the rivers that drain the immense Plains of Mojos and empty into the Guapore and Mamore Rivers, several hundred miles upstream from the falls on the Madeira. They ascend the Purus at least as far as Hyutanahan, penetrate far upstream in the Negro and the Branco, and enter some of the smaller tributaries of these rivers.They have been seen in the Tacutu River which forms part of the boundary between British Guiana and Brazil. On the Venezuela border, the Casiquiare River connects the Negro with the Orinoco, and through this channel the Bouto makes its way from the Amazon to the Orinoco.
The Boutos in the large rivers generally have pale-bluish, bluish-gray, or even flesh-colored upper parts, but those that wander into the larger lakes during the season of heavy rains are often blackish. The underparts are paler, usually whitish but sometimes pinkish.
Full-grown males attain a length in excess of nine feet. The slender and almost cylindrical beak is curved slightly downward. The Bouto comes to the surface to breathe more frequently than the oceanic dolphins. It feeds on fresh-water fish, including those that are habitually found on river bottoms.

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