Spotted dolphin refers to either one of two closely related dolphin species, being:
*
Atlantic spotted dolphin
The Atlantic spotted dolphin (''Stenella frontalis'') is a dolphin found in warm temperate and tropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Older members of the species have a very distinctive spotted coloration all over their bodies.
Taxonomy
The Atl ...
, ''Stenella frontalis''
*
pantropical spotted dolphin
The pantropical spotted dolphin (''Stenella attenuata'') is a species of dolphin found in all the world's temperate and tropical oceans. The species was beginning to come under threat due to the killing of millions of individuals in tuna purse s ...
, ''Stenella attenuata''
While the pantropical spotted dolphin can be found around the world's oceans where a
tropical
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in
the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...
or
subtropical climate exists, the Atlantic spotted dolphin can only be found in the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
.
{{Animal common name
Oceanic dolphins