kanaloa

Commerson's Dolphin

Commerson's Dolphin (Cephalorhynchus commersonii) 

This dolphin was discovered off the coast of Tierra del Fuego and in the Strait of Magellan, and its range extends in the South Atlantic Ocean from the latitude of Bahia Blanca, Argentina, to the boisterous seas beyond the latitude of Cape Horn. There are a number of dolphins close of kin but markedly different in color pattern in the southern seas.
Aside from its distinctive color pattern, this dolphin is distinguished from its first cousins by the short beak which is not sharply marked off from the receding forehead, 29 to 30 teeth on each side in each jaw, the low rounded dorsal fin, and the more or less rounded ends of the flippers. It rarely exceeds 4 feet 6 inches in length.
The food of this dolphin consists mainly of squids supplemented by the small shrimplike crustaceans that swarm at the surface of southern oceans during the summer months.

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