Bottlenose Dolphin Images (Tursiops) - stock photos, illustrations & facts showing behaviors and characteristics of this curious cetacean
We have curated the high quality bottlenose dolphin images over the years, created by the world’s leading professional wildlife photographers. We also have many pictures capturing the animal’s various behaviors and anatomical features. This is your go-to stock photo resource for the great bottlenose dolphin images.
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Bottlenose Dolphin Images (Tursiops) - stock photos, illustrations & facts showing behaviors and characteristics of this curious cetacean
We have curated the high quality bottlenose dolphin images over the years, created by the world’s leading professional wildlife photographers. We also have many pictures capturing the animal’s various behaviors and anatomical features. This is your go-to stock photo resource for the great bottlenose dolphin images.
Kingdom: Animalia > Phylum: Chordata > Class: Mammalia > Order: Artiodactyla > Infraorder: Cetacea > Family: Delphinidae > Genus: Tursiops
The bottlenose dolphin is one of the world’s best known dolphins. There are two separate species, the common bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, and the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops aduncus. Both species live in warm and temperate oceans worldwide. Tursiops truncates is further divided into two sub-species, Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin Tursiops truncatus gillii, and the Black Sea Bottlenose Dolphin Tursiops truncatus ponticus. Large shark species prey on the bottlenose dolphin, especially the young. However, the dolphin has developed a mobbing behavior to protect the group which can be fatal to the shark. Even a single adult dolphin is dangerous prey for a shark of similar size.
The Bottlenose Dolphin is gray, varying from dark gray at the top near the dorsal fin to very light gray and almost white at the underside. Its elongated upper and lower jaws form a rostrum, or beak-like snout, which gives it its common name, the Bottlenose dolphin. The functional nose is the blowhole on top of its head. Tursiops truncates has a dark line from the beak to the blow hole. Tursiops aduncus has a white belly with grey spots.
Bottlenose dolphins range in length from 8 to 12 feet and can weigh as much as 1,400 pounds. The males are larger than the females. The size of a dolphin varies with habitat. Those dolphins in warmer, shallower waters tend to have a smaller body than their cousins in cooler waters. They have a high, curved dorsal fin in the middle of the back. They have broad notched flukes, and pointed flippers. Bottlenose dolphin have between 18 and 26 pairs of sharp conical teeth on each side of the jaw. Bottlenose dolphins capture prey, sometimes as a group effort, and feed on fish, squid, and crustaceans. When a shoal of fish is found dolphins work as a team to keep the fish close together and maximize the harvest. They also search for fish alone, often bottom dwelling species. An adult may eat as much as 30 pounds each day.
Bottlenose dolphins are found worldwide in temperate and tropical waters. They are frequently seen in harbors, bays, lagoons, estuaries, and river mouths. Bottlenose dolphins live in relatively open societies. Mother and calf will bond strongly, but otherwise the dolphins will be seen with a variety of different other individuals in groups ranging from 20 in the nearshore to several hundred in the open ocean.
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