RECORDS OF THE DELPHINID GENUS STENELLA
IN WESTERN SOUTH ATLANTIC WATERSROBERT L. BROWNELL, JR.
Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.

AND
RICARDO PRADER!
Afuseo Nacional de Historia Natural
Casilla de Correo 399 Montevideo, Uruguay

INTRODUCTION

Little information has been published on Stenella spp. from the western South
Atlantic Ocean. Numerous references (Lahille, 1899 and 1905; Beddard, 1900;
van Beneden and Gervais, 1880; Figueira, 1894; and others-see text) exist citing
the long-snouted dolphin, S. longirostris, in Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina,
but none of these reports are confirmed with specimens. A single report of S.
attenuata in this area is an unconfirmed mention from Cape Horn (Beddard,1900). The holotype of the striped dolphin, S. coeruleoalba, was collected somewhere around the mouth of the Rio de la Plata (River Plate) between Uruguay
and Argentina (Meyen, 1833). Since that time only three additional specimens
have been reported from this region (Malm, 1871; and Praderi, In: Ximenez,
et al., 1972).
The purpose of this note is to provide information on museum specimensof Stenella spp. in Uruguay and Argentina. We will also discuss the older
references of S. longirostris in western South Atlantic waters.
MATERIALS

The present study is based on the examination of the cetacean collections infive South American museums. These are: Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia ", Buenos Aires, Argentina (MACNBA); Museode La Plata, La Plata, Argentina (MLP); Museo Nacional de Historia Naturalde Montevideo, Uruguay (MNHNM); Museu Nacional do Zoologia de la Universidad de Sao Paulo, Brazil (MZSP) ; and Museu N acional do Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil (MNRJ). No specimens of Stenella were found in either of the Brazilian
museums.

Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst.,
No. 28, 1976, 129-135.

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BROWNELL AND PRADER!

SPECIES ACCOUNTS

Stenella coeruleoalba-Fraser and Noble (1970) have concluded, based on pigmentation patterns of specimens, that several nominal species of Stenella (Delphinits
coerulealbus Meyen, 1833; D. marginatus Desmarest, 1855± 1; D. euphrosyne,
Gray 1846; D. styx, Gray, 1846; and D. lateralis Peale, 1848) with a spinal blaze
and eye-to-anus stripe (terminology of Mitchell, 1970) probably belong to one
species, S. coeruleoalba Meyen, 1833). Hubbs et al. (1973) have stated that theirrecords of S. coeruleoabla across the tropical Pacific supports the view " that thenorthern and far-southern populations of this species are conjoined and thus
confirms the synonymy adopted by Fraser and Noble (1970)."
We have examined two S. coeruleoabla specimens: (1) a skull (MNHNM
1305) from Balneario Solymar, Depto. de Canelones, Uruguay (34°49'S., 55°55'W),
Rio de la Plata; and (2) a skull (MACNBA 2625) from Miramar, Pcia. Buenos
Aires, Argentina (38°17'S.) Atlantic Ocean. The cranium from Punta Jose
Ignacio, Uruguay that Praderi reported in Ximenez et al. (1972) was not available to us.
The only skull measurements available for this species from the type locality
are those of Meyen (1833) and Malm (1871 : 63, holotype of Clymenia bitrmeisteri). Cranial dimensions in millimeters and dental counts of the two specimens we examined of S. coeruleoalba are presented in Table 1. No additional
information is available for the Miramar specimen. The Solymar skull wascollected from a stranded specimen by Praderi on 23 August 1959. The total
length of the carcass (notch to tip of lower jaw) was 242 cm. The specimen
was a male.
Stenella spp.-Various scientific names are currently used for spotted dolphins. These include S. attenuata (Gray, 1846) in the Pacific, Indian, andAtlantic Oceans, and S. dubia (G. Cuvier, 1812); S. frontalis (G. Cuvier, 1829),
and S. plagiodon (Cope, 1866) in the Atlantic. There are probably only two
valid species (Perrin, 1975).
'
We examined one skull that can be referred to the spotted dolphin complex.
This specimen (MACNBA 23-46) is from Mar del Plata, Pcia. Buenos Aires,
Argentina (38°00'S.) Atlantic Ocean. The date of collection was 1923, but noadditional information is available for this specimen. Skull measurements anddental counts of this specimen are presented in Table 1. The skull is illustrated
in Plate 1.
Stenella longirostris- This species was described as Delphinus longirostrisfrom an unknown locality (Gray, 1828). Van Bree (1971) stated that the complete synonymy proposed by Hershkovitz (1966: 37-40) is probably correct, but"much more must be known before definite conclusions can be drawn about the
taxonomic status and nomenclature of Stenella longirostris." This species has
been reported from both sides of the tropical Atlantic Ocean (Moore, 1953;
Cadenat and Doutre, 1959; Layne, 1965; van Bree, 1971; Caldwell et al., 1971;
and van Halewijn and van Bree, 1972). We found no specimens referable toSci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst.,
No. 28, 1976.

131

STENELLA SPP. SOUTH ATLANTICTABLE 1.

SKULL MEASUREMENTS (MILLIMETERS) AND DENTAL COUNTS OFSTENELLA SPP. FROM WESTERN SOUTH ATLANTIC WATERS.
MAC NBA

Measurements

2625

%CBL

mm
Condylo-basal length
Rostrum length
Rostrum basal width
Rostrum, width 60 mm anterior to base
Rostrum, width at middle

442
260
111
70
59

100.0
58.8
25. 1
15.8
13.3

MNHN

MACNBA

1305

23-46

mm

mm

402+

389
230
93
60
45

100.0
59.1
23.9
15.4
11. 6

34

8. 7

24
272

6.2
69.9

163

41. 9

162

41. 6

43
70
142
65
48
186
189

11. 1
18.0
36.5
16. 7
12.3
47.8
48.6

120
77

Rostrum, width at 3/4 the distancefrom the basePremaxillae width at middle
Tip of snout to blowhole
Tip of snout to pterygoid
Preorbital width
Post-orbital width
Orbital width
Zygomatic breadth
Blowhole, width atMaximum width premaxillae
Braincase width across parietals
Temporal fossa length
Temporal fossa height
Length of tooth row upper R.
Length of tooth row upper L.
Mandible length
Coronoid height
Length of symphysis
Length of tooth row lower R.
Length of tooth row lower L.
Number of teeth upper R.
Number of teeth upper L.
Number of teeth lower R.
Number of teeth lower L.

305
321
185
206
191
209

150
71
46
230
229
374
67
50
226
226
44
45
43
43

69.0
72.6
41. 8
46.6
43.2
47.3

33.9
16. 1
10.4
52.0
51. 8
84.6
15.1
11. 3
51. 1
51. 1

217
236
215
233

174
71
45

%CBL

407
76
231
227
34+
37
50+
49+

S. longirostris in five eastern South American museums. As noted in the
introduction, numerous authors have reported S. longirostris and the probably
conspecific nominal species (see van Bree, 1971) Delphinus alope and D. microps
from localities including Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Cape Horn. All
southern " records" are without documented specimens or observations. In viewof this confusion, we present below the genesis and chronological review ofwestern South Atlantic "records" for this species.
Gray (1866) reported Delphinus alope from "Cape Horn", but the specimen
is apparently now not extant in the British Museum (Natural History) and no
Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst.,
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BROWNELL AND PRADER!

additional information is available in the museum on the collection locality ofthis specimen (W. F. Perrin, per. comm., 1973). Based on the valid records of
S. longirostris, this species is known worldwide only in tropical waters. It isextremely unlikely that S. longirostris will ever be recorded from the coldtemperate waters of southern South America. In fact, this species is still not
known from any of warm-temperate waters of the world. The reports of thisspecies from Chilean waters by Schneider (1946) and Mann (1957) are without
any type of documentation and should be discounted. The "records" of Gray
(1866), Schneider (1946) and Mann (1957) are probably what influenced Marcuzzi
and Pilleri (1971) to map the erroneous distribution of S. longirostris around
Cape Horn.
Gray's comments (1850: 126, 1866: 240 and 1871: 69) are all apparently basedon one specimen of Delphinus microps from the " coast of Brazils " from Dr.
Dickie's collection. This specimen was probably collected in the tropical waters
somewhere north and east of Rio de Janeiro. Burmeister (1867 and 1879)
provided the following accounts about D. microps: (1867) "vive en el alto
mar Atlantico al sud del ecuador y se presenta muchas veces a los viajeros enbuques de velas. Tenemos en el Museo Publico dos craneos completos, el uno
regalado por el Sr. Dr. D. Miguel Olaguer Feliu", (We could not find eitherof these skulls in the museum, MACNBA.) and (1879) "on trouve cette espece
clans l'Ocean Atlantique, principalement au sud de l'Equateur, par troupes de
20 a 30 individus. Ils suivent quelquefois la marche du navire et passent enbondissant a son avant. Je les ai apercus et etudies plusieurs fois pendant lesquatre voyages que j'ai faits clans cette partie de l'Ocean. (Voyez mon voyage
du Bresil, page 37, Berlin 1853)". Van Beneden and Gervais (1880) cited D.
microps from the mouth of the Rio de la Plata and the coast of Brazil. They
provided no new data and probably just followed the above statements by Grayand Burmeister. Figueira (1894) noted that "Delphinus microps Gray. Tonina.
Es una de las especies mas comunes en nuestras costas sobre el Rio de la Plata,
especialmente en los meses de Noviembre a Febrero ". Tonina is used today
in Uruguay by laymen for Tursiops cf. truncatus and this is what Figueira's
records of D. microps must have been. Lahille only noted the following: (1899)"Delphinus delphis Linneo. Esta especie (D. microps Burm, nee Gray) se hanotado en las costas del Chubut" and (1905) "Prodelphinus longirostris. Cahode Buena Esperanza, Australia; Costas de la Provincia de Buenos Aires".
Carcelles (1948) stated that "Prodelphinus longirostris Cuvier, Habita tambien
el litoral atlantico bonaerense, asi como las Islas Galapagos, Panama, Australia.
En el Museo de la Estacion Hidrobiologica de Puerto Quequen, puede verse
un modelo en yeso del craneo ".
RESUMEN
Se proporcionan medidas y detalles de 3 especimenes de delfinidos del genero

Stenella del Oceano Atlantico Sudoccidental. Se cita por primera vez para esta
Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst.,
No. 28, 1976.

STENELLA SPP. SOUTH ATLANTIC

133

area un ejemplar del "spotted species complex". Se mencionan tambien 2
especimenes de S. coeruleoalba, 1 de Uruguay y 1 de Argentina, de lasproximidades de la localidad tipica (desembocadura del Rio de la Plata).
De S. longirostris no se encontraron ejemplares en ninguna de las colecciones
de 5 museos sudamericanes (ver Materials) del cual tampoco existen datos deespecimenes documentados en la literatura, citados para el Oceano Atlantico
Sud occidental.
ACKNOWLEDG MENTS
We are indebted to the following for allowing us to examine specimens in theircare : Jorge Crespo and Elisa Kantis (MACNBA); Raul Aramburu (MLP);
Miguel A. Klappenbach (MNHNM) ; Paulo Vanzolini (MZSP) ; and Daley deAlbuquerque (MNRJ). William F. Perrin provided valuable information andPerrin and P.J. H. van Bree read the manuscript and provided useful criticism.
REFERENCESBEDDARD. F. E., 1900. A book of whales. John Murray, London. 320 p.
BENEDEN, P. J. VAN, and P. GERVAIS, [ 1868-1880]. Osteographie des cetaces vivant et fossiles
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BREE, P. J. H. VAN, 1971. On skulls of Stenella longirostris (Gray, 1828) from the eastern Atlantic.
(Notes on Cetacea, Delphinoidea IV.). Beaufortia, 19: 21-25.
BURMEISTER, G., 1867. Fauna Argentina. Mammifera Pinnata Argentina. An. Mus. Publico B.
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BURMEISTER, H., 1879. Description physique de la Republique Argentine. Animaux Vertebres. !ere.
Partie. Mammiferes vivants et eteints. Avec Atlas, 3 ,: 1-555.
CADENAT, J., and M. DoUTRE, 1959. Notes sur les Delphinides ouest-Africans. V. Sur un
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FRASER, F. C., and B. A. NOBLE, 1970. Variation of pigmentation pattern in Meyen's dolphin,
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GRAY, J.E., 1828. Spicilegia zoologica; or original figures and short systematic descriptions of
new and unfigured animals. Treuttel, Wurtz and Co. and 'vV. Wood, London.
GRAY, J.E., 1850. Catalogue of the specimens of Mammalia in the collection of the British Museum.
Part I. Cetacea. Trustees, British Museum, London. 153 p.
GRAY, J.E., 1866. Catalogue of seals and whales in the British Museum. Trustees, British Museum,London. 402 p.
GRAY, J.E., 1871. Supplement to the Catalogue of seals and Whales in the British Museum. Trustees,
British Museum, London. 103 p.
HALEWIJN, R., and P. J. H. VAN BREE, 1972. On the occurrence of the common dolphin,Sci, Rep, Whales Res. Inst.,
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BROWNELL AND PRADER!

Delphinus delphis, and the spinner dolphin, Stenella longirostris, off the coast of Venezuela. In.
G. Pilleri [ed.], Investigations on Cetacea, Vol. IV, p. 187-188.
HERSHKOVITZ, P., 1966. Catalog of living whales. U.S. Nat. Mus. Bull., 246: 1-259.
HUBBS, C. L., W. F. PERRIN, and K. C. BALCOMB, 1973. Stenella coeruleoalba in the eastern andcentral tropical Pacific. J. Mammal., 54: 549-552.
LAHILLE, F., 1899. Ensayo sabre la distribucion geografica de los mamiferos de la Republica
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MITCHELL, E., 1970. Pigmentation pattern evolution in delphinid cetaceans: an essay inadaptive coloration. Canadian J. Zool., 48: 717-740.
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tropical Pacific and Hawaii. Scripps Inst. of Oceanogr. Bull., 21, 181 p.
SCHNEIDER, C. 0., 1946. Catalogo de los mamiferos de la Provincia de Concepcion. Bol. Soc.
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Uruguay. An. Mus. Nac. Hist. Nat. ,Montevideo, 2 Serie, 7(5): 1-49.

Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst.,
No. 28, 1976.

STENELLA SPP. SOUTH ATLANTICEXPLANATION OF PLATE
PLATE I
Fig. 1. Stenella sp. referred to the spotted dolphin complex (see text). This specimen(MACNBA 23-46) is from Mar del Plata, Pcia. Buenos Aires, Argentina (38°00'S.)
Atlantic Ocean. Dorsal view of specimen.
Fig. 2. Stenella sp. (MACNBA 23-46) ventral view of specimen.
Fig. 3. Stenella sp. (MACNBA 23-46) lateral view of specimen.

Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst.,
No. 28, 1976.

135

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