enosed dolphins and the Atlantic
spotted dolphins can be distinguished, however, by the following
characteristics:

ATLANTIC ATLANTIC
BOTTLENOSED DOLPHIN SPOTTED DOLPHIN

MAXIMUM SIZE

8 feet to as much as 12 feet 7.5-8 feet (2.3-2.4 m).
(2.4 to 3.7 m).

COLORATION

Not spotted (old females may Dark purplish gray on back;
have spots on belly); dark lighter gray on sides and
gray on back; light gray on belly; body becomes increasingly
sides; white or pink on belly. spotted with age.

HEAD AND BEAK

Head robust; beak relatively Head more slender; beak
short. longer.

Some Atlantic bottlenosed dolphins are distributed well offshore as far
as the edge of the continental shelf. Those individuals may be confused
with either rough-toothed dolphins (p. 135) or with grampus (p. 96).
They may be distinguished from rough-toothed dolphins by the following:

ATLANTIC BOTTLENOSED
DOLPHIN ROUGH-TOOTHED DOLPHIN

BODY COLOR

Dark gray on back; light Dark gray, almost purplish
gray on side; white or pink on with yellow spots; lighter on
belly. belly.

SNOUT

Relatively short and stubby, Long and slender; not
and clearly demarcated from clearly demarcated from
forehead; usually all gray; forehead; lower jaw and lips
some older individuals have speckled white.
white-tipped snouts and/or
white lips.

Distinguishing differences between the Atlantic bottlenosed dolphins in
offshore areas and grampus are tabularized on p. 96.

In northeastern South America the range of the Atlantic bottlenosed
dolphin apparently overlaps with that of the Guiana dolphin, which,
except for size, it closely resembles (see p. 132).

Distribution

The Atlantic bottlenosed dolphins are widely distributed in the
temperate and tropical waters of the western North Atlantic. They are
known from at least Nova Scotia but are best known from New England
southward to Florida, westward in the Gulf of Mexico, and thence
throughout the West Indies and Caribbean to Venezuela.

In the northern portion of that range, Atlantic bottlenosed dolphins ar