Striped-dolphin

Slender dolphin reaching approx. 2,5 metres of maximum length and easily mistaken for the common-dolphin.  Its dorsal colour is dark with pale/pinkish ventral side. From each eye, two dark coloured stripes stretch towards the pectoral fin and ventral posterior region. This cetacean has a long beak comprising 40 to 50 conical teeth per hemi-maxilla. Striped dolphins display a complex social behaviour. In Portugal, they feed mostly on cephalopods and small pelagic fish. Its cosmopolitan distribution is mostly oceanic, however data records of the last decades show that it is a recurring stranded species in all the coast of Portugal.