distance, saddleback dolphins might also be confused with spinner
dolphins because of the habits of both species of congregating in large
schools with much jumping and splashing. Both species ride the bow wave,
and close examination should permit positive identification using the
following characteristics:

SADDLEBACK DOLPHIN SPINNER DOLPHIN

COLORATION

Dark gray to brownish gray Dark gray on back; tan or
on back; white on belly with yellowish tan on sides; white
crisscross or hourglass pattern on belly; lacks crisscross
of tan to yellowish tan pattern on sides; distinct
on side; distinct black stripe black stripe from flipper to
from flipper to middle of eye.
lower jaw.

Distribution

Saddleback dolphins are widely distributed in the temperate,
subtropical, and tropical waters of the western North Atlantic Ocean.
They have been reported off Newfoundland, Iceland, Nova Scotia, and the
coast of Massachusetts, south along the coast of North America to the
Caribbean (West Indies and Jamaica), in the Gulf of Mexico, and from
South American waters at least to Margarita Island, Venezuela.

The species' occurrence in the more northerly portions of this range
during the summer and early fall months appears to coincide with the
intrusion of warm waters into those areas. They are not uncommon off
Nova Scotia in summer and fall and are casual members of the marine
mammalian fauna of the remaining Maritime Provinces during that period.

In previous years, saddleback dolphins were not uncommonly encountered
by collectors of Marineland of Florida working the northeast coast of
Florida, but the species has been conspicuously absent since about 1960.
Reasons for this apparent shift of range are unknown.

Stranded Specimens

Saddleback dolphins have from 40 to 50 small, sharply pointed teeth in
each side of both the upper and lower jaws. These numbers overlap with
only those of the striped and spinner dolphins (with 43-50 and 46-65,
respectively). Saddleback dolphins should be readily distinguishable
from both these species by the features outlined under the descriptions
of living animals and distinguishable from the bridled dolphins by the
distinctive markings on the head of the two species (see Figs. 121 and
134).

[Illustration: Figure 130.--Saddleback dolphins captured off St.
Augustine, Fla., shown in the tan