in.

FLIPPERS

Small, dark in color, and Longer, sometimes lighter
originating in light color of on upper surface; note stripe
sides. from front of flippers to eye.

DORSAL FIN

Small, slender, slightly Taller dorsal fin, broader at
falcate, and pointed on top. base.

Distribution

Although Fraser's dolphins have yet to be described for the western
North Atlantic Ocean, they are included here as "possibles" because of
the recent discovery that their range is far more extensive than
previously known. Records to date have been limited to offshore tropical
waters.

The species was first described in 1956 from the remains of a
beach-washed specimen from Sarawak in the South China Sea. Since that
time specimens have been collected from the eastern tropical Pacific,
and others have stranded in such widely divergent localities as
Australia, South Africa, and Japan. Recent summaries have added sighting
records from the Central Pacific, near the Phoenix Island, from
northwest of the Galapagos Islands, and from South African waters.

Stranded Specimens

Stranded Fraser's dolphins should be readily identifiable by 1)
distinctive coloration of the body; 2) short, indistinctive beak; and 3)
robust form. The only other species of small dolphins with beaks of
similar length and general appearance are the Atlantic white-sided and
white-beaked dolphins (p. 123 and 126); these dolphins, both with far
more northerly ranges, have 30-40 and 22-28 teeth in each side of each
jaw, respectively, while Fraser's dolphins have from 40 to 44 teeth in
the upper jaw and from 39 to 44 in the lower jaw.

[Illustration: Figure 135.--Fraser's dolphins, like these photographed
off the Phoenix Islands in the Pacific (top) and this one off the
Philippines (bottom), are definitely identifiable in their tropical
range by the short snout, the dark flank stripe and the small dorsal fin
and flippers. They may reach 8 feet (2.4 m), or more, in length and
occur in herds of at least 500 animals, sometimes with spinner dolphins
or Atlantic spotted dolphins. (_Photos by K. C. Balcomb (top) and T.
Hammond (bottom)._)]

[Illustration: Figure 136.--Fraser's dolphins from the eastern tropical
Pacific: adult (top and inset) and calf (bottom). Note the distinctive
black lateral strip and the extremely small flippers and dorsal fin.
(_Ph