Habitat
The genus
Delphinus classifies the types of dolphins known as the common
dolphins. These
dolphins are found in all of the oceans between the latitudes 600
N and 500 S (give or take 100),
besides the Western Atlantic in the tropical areas (Pinela,
2011).
Delphinus spp.
can be found from cool temperate zones to the warmer
tropical regions.
Throughout the world, the common dolphin occupies many different
types of habitats.
These habitats include oceanic regions, continental shelf
waters, and the continental shelf break (Jefferson et al. 2009).
The large distribution of
Delphinus promotes many
different morphotypes.
There are two main morphotypes that are recognized.
The two main types are the short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) and the long-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus
capensis). There are
two other species that have been recognized as subspecies, the
Indian Long-Beaked Common dolphin (Delphinus
capensis tropicalis) (Tavares, 2010).
The short-beaked common dolphin is found all
over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans as well as the continental
shelf, which is the extended perimeter of each continent before it
drops off into the open ocean.
This ranges from southern Norway to the northwest African
coast, Newfoundland to Florida, and from southern Canada to Chile.
Delphinus capensis are distributed throughout the shores of the
Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
The habitat for this organism ranges from Venezuela to
Argentina, southern California to central Mexico, in Peru, and
around Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
Lastly, the Indian Long-Beaked Common Dolphin is only found
in the Indian Ocean and shallow coastal waters (Pinela, 2011).
The geographic range for many
of these species and subspecies overlap.
Different subspecies prefer different temperatures of water
depending on the latitude they inhabit.
Since the common dolphin is found in nearly
every ocean, there are a wide variety of different species that live
in the same habitat as the
Delphinus delphis.
The website multipleorganisms.net has many organisms that live in
these marine environments.
A few examples would be the
orca (killer whale), sardines (a stable food source of the
common dolphin), and
great white shark.
To learn about what characteristics the
common dolphin has adapted go to Form and Function
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