Irrawaddy dolphin
Orcaella brevirostris (Owen in Gray, 1866)
ENEndangeredwhales and dolphins
The irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) is a mammal in the whales and dolphins group, placed in the order Cetacea, suborder Odontoceti and family Delphinidae. It is a large animal by our size classification, with a representative adult body mass of 190 kg.
Quick facts about the irrawaddy dolphin
It is a piscivore and carnivore with a marine lifestyle and a cathemeral activity pattern. The IUCN Red List classes it as Endangered (EN), a threatened category; it has one young per litter after a gestation period of 426 days.
- Weight
- 114 kg – 190 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 30 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Piscivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- coastal, marinesrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 426 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 5 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Active
- Day and night (cathemeral)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Marinesrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the irrawaddy dolphin
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the irrawaddy dolphin live?
Not recorded
What is the irrawaddy dolphin?
The Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) is a euryhaline species of oceanic dolphin found in scattered subpopulations near sea coasts and in estuaries and rivers in parts of the Bay of Bengal and Southeast Asia. It closely resembles the Australian snubfin dolphin (of the same genus, Orcaella), which was not described as a separate species until 2005. It has a slate blue to a slate gray color. Although found in much of the riverine and marine zones of South and Southeast Asia, the only concentrated lagoon populations are found in Chilika Lake in Odisha, India, and Songkhla Lake in southern Thailand.
From the Wikipedia article “Irrawaddy dolphin” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Irrawaddy_dolphin&oldid=1384660008), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the irrawaddy dolphin endangered?
The irrawaddy dolphin is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Endangered species.
How is the irrawaddy dolphin classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderCetacea
- familyDelphinidae
- genusOrcaella
- SpeciesOrcaella brevirostris (Owen in Gray, 1866)
Synonyms Orca brevirostris, Orcaella brevirostris, Orcaella brevirostris brevirostris, Orcaella brevirostris fluminalis, Orcaella fluminalis, Orcaella fluminalis, Orcella brevirostris, Orcella fluminalis, Phocaena brevirostris
Other names and names in other languages (23)
- Dolphin of the IrawadiEnglish
- Irawadi dolphinEnglish
- Irrawaddy river dolphinEnglish
- Irrawady dolphinEnglish
- Irrawady dolphinEnglish
- Larger Indian porpoiseEnglish
- Snub-fin dolphinEnglish
- Snubfin dolphinEnglish
- Snubfin dolphinEnglish
- IrabotiBangla
- delfín del IrrawaddySpanish
- orcelleFrench
- lumba-lumba MahakamIndonesian
- lumba-lumba air tawar IrawadiIndonesian
- Pa khaLao
- Lumba lumbaMalay
- LabaiBurmese
- IrrawaddydolfijnDutch
- plaloma irawadiThai
- Pla loma hooa bahtThai
- plaloma huabadkhriblangThai
- Irravady yunusuTurkish
- pesutroot
Relatives of the irrawaddy dolphin
Other species in the same genus Orcaella.
Australian snubfin dolphin
Orcaella heinsohni
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the irrawaddy dolphin?
The irrawaddy dolphin is a mammal in the whales and dolphins group, belonging to the order Cetacea, suborder Odontoceti and family Delphinidae.
How heavy is the irrawaddy dolphin?
The irrawaddy dolphin has a representative adult body mass of 190 kg, which places it in the large size class.
What does the irrawaddy dolphin eat?
The irrawaddy dolphin is a piscivore, and its trophic level is carnivore.
Is the irrawaddy dolphin endangered?
Yes. The IUCN Red List classes the irrawaddy dolphin as Endangered (EN) in its global assessment, which is a threatened category.
How long does the irrawaddy dolphin live?
The irrawaddy dolphin has a lifespan of 30 years.
How many young does the irrawaddy dolphin have?
The irrawaddy dolphin has one young per litter, after a gestation period of 426 days (1.2 years).
What are other names for the irrawaddy dolphin?
Other English names include Snubfin dolphin, Irawadi dolphin, Irrawady dolphin, Snub-fin dolphin and Dolphin of the Irawadi.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/irrawaddy-dolphin
“Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/irrawaddy-dolphin.
@misc{irrawaddy_dolphin_2026,
title = {Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/irrawaddy-dolphin},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}