Roughed toothed dolphin (Steno bredanensis)

This species has an almost reptilian appearance, with long gape, large eye and cone-shaped head. Though robust, the Rough-Toothed Dolphin is also streamlined, with a narrow dorsal cape. The skin colour varies from dark or bluish grey on the back and tail stock to lighter grey on the flanks. The dorsal cape is a darker grey, while the belly and undersides are pale pink-white. Yellow-white blotches along the skin are the scars from bites of Cookiecutter Sharks. The lips of both jaws are white, and each jaw contains 20-27 pairs of teeth. The maximum length is 2.8m, although most specimens have measured 2.4m and have weighed around 150kg.
The Rough-Toothed Dolphin can be confused with other dolphin species at a distance, particularly the Spotted, Spinner and Bottlenose Dolphins. However, the distinctive narrow dorsal cape is a characteristic of only the Rough-Toothed Dolphin. At closer quarters, the blotches on the body, white lips and cone-shaped head should also be sufficient means of identification.
Rough-Toothed Dolphins prefer deep water with a surface temperature of around 25ºC.
It appears that Rough-Toothed Dolphins take a variety of fish species, free-swimming octopi and squid.
The typical family unit contains Between 10-50 individuals, but occasionally can number more than 100. Rough-Toothed Dolphins also associate with other small cetaceans, and are powerful swimmers. They do not bowride as often as other species, but do 'skim', swimming rapidly with only the dorsal fin exposed above the surface.