Spinner dolphin
Stenella longirostris (Gray, 1828)
LCLeast Concernwhales and dolphins
The spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris) is a mammal in the whales and dolphins subgroup, belonging to the family Delphinidae in the order Cetacea, suborder Odontoceti. It is a large, marine invertivore with a cathemeral activity pattern, and adults weigh 50.5 kg, with values up to 72.7 kg reported.
Quick facts about the spinner dolphin
Gestation lasts 316.5 days, litters average 0.99 young, and sexual maturity is reached at 5.3 years, with reported values from 3.0 to 10.0 years. The IUCN Red List assesses the spinner dolphin globally as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 50.5 kg – 72.7 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 20 years – 29 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- coastalsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 317 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 0.99src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 2.99 years – 10 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 0.42src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- Day and night (cathemeral)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Marinesrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the spinner dolphin
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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1 more photo exists under a licence we cannot display: view at source.
Where does the spinner dolphin live?
Not recorded
What is the spinner dolphin?
The spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris) is a small dolphin found in off-shore tropical waters around the world. It is famous for its acrobatic displays in which it rotates around its longitudinal axis as it leaps through the air. It is a member of the family Delphinidae of toothed whales.
The distribution of the spinner dolphin extends across the tropical and subtropical waters of all oceans. Spinner dolphins exhibit a diurnal schedule characterised by predictable daily geographic migrations, spending mornings resting and socialising in shallow coastal waters before travelling offshore to forage at night.
Concerns have been raised regarding the effects of anthropogenic activities on the species. Tourist vessels used for dolphin watching may disrupt normal behaviour, particularly when vessel numbers are high or when vessels approach dolphins more closely than permitted by local guidelines.
From the Wikipedia article “Spinner dolphin” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spinner_dolphin&oldid=1378363503), 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 spinner dolphin endangered?
The spinner dolphin is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- 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 Least Concern species.
How is the spinner dolphin classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderCetacea
- familyDelphinidae
- genusStenella
- SpeciesStenella longirostris (Gray, 1828)
Synonyms Clymene alope, Clymene microps, Clymene stenorhynchus, Clymenia alope, Clymenia longirostris, Clymenia microps, Clymenia roseiventris, Clymenia stenorhynchus, Delphinus longirostris, Delphinus stenorhynchus, Fretidelphis roseiventris, Prodelphinus alope, Prodelphinus longirostris, Prodelphinus longirostris, Prodelphinus microps, Prodelphinus roseiventris, Stenella alope, Stenella microps, Steno roseiventris
Other names and names in other languages (83)
- Central American spinnerEnglish
- Dwarf spinner dolphinEnglish
- Eastern spinnerEnglish
- Eastern spinner dolphinEnglish
- Gray's spinnerEnglish
- Long-beaked dolphinEnglish
- Long-beaked dolphinEnglish
- Long-nosed dolphinEnglish
- Long-snouted dolphinEnglish
- Long-snouted dolphinEnglish
- Long-snouted spinner dolphinEnglish
- Pantropical spinner dolphinEnglish
- Red-bellied dolphinEnglish
- RolloverEnglish
- Small-headed dolphinEnglish
- SpinnerEnglish
- Spinner porpoiseEnglish
- Spinning dolphinEnglish
- Whitebelly spinnerEnglish
- toldolfynAfrikaans
- دولفين دوارArabic
- دولفين غزالArabic
- دلفين طويل الأنفArabic
- دلفين طويل المنقارArabic
- دلفين دوار طويل الأنفArabic
- tishukBaluchi
- lumba lumbaCebuano
- delfín dlouholebýCzech
- Langnæbbet delfinDanish
- SpinnerdelfinGerman
- Langschnauzen-DelfinGerman
- Ostpazifischer DelfinGerman
- Ostpazifischer DelphinGerman
- Μακρύρυγχο Δελφίνι του ΙσημερινούGreek
- tornillosSpanish
- churumbelesSpanish
- delfín churumbeloSpanish
- delfin de hocico largoSpanish
- delfín giradorSpanish
- Delfín tornilloSpanish
- delfín tornillonSpanish
- Delfín TornillónSpanish
- delfin volteadorSpanish
- estenela giradoraSpanish
- falso delfinSpanish
- PitkäkuonodelfiiniFinnish
- suippokuonodelfiiniFinnish
- dauphin longirostreFrench
- Dauphin à long becFrench
- golfiño rotadorGalician
- NaiʻaHawaiian
- סטנלה ארוכת חרטוםHebrew
- trópusi delfinHungarian
- lumba-lumba perut marahIndonesian
- Lumba-Lumba Moncong PanjangIndonesian
- lumba-lumba paruh panjangIndonesian
- lumba-lumba peruh panjangIndonesian
- TrjónuskoppariIcelandic
- Stenella dal lungo rostroItalian
- ハシナガイルカJapanese
- 嘴長海豚Japanese
- hashinaga irukaJapanese
- 긴부리돌고래Korean
- ginburi-dolgoraeKorean
- SkruedelfinNorwegian Bokmål
- SpinnerdolfijnDutch
- langsnuitdolfijnDutch
- delfinek długoszczękiPolish
- golfinho rotadorPortuguese
- Golfinho-fiandeiroPortuguese
- Golfinho-rotadorPortuguese
- dlinnonosyi delfinRussian
- Длиннорылый продельфинRussian
- vertyashchiysya delfinRussian
- SkruvdelfinSwedish
- spinndelfinSwedish
- โลมากระโดดThai
- plaloma huakhuadmalayuThai
- plaloma kradodThai
- dönücü yunusTurkish
- 飞旋原海豚Chinese
- 長吻飛旋海豚Chinese
- 飛旋原海豚Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the spinner dolphin
Other species in the same genus Stenella.
Striped dolphin
Stenella coeruleoalba
Pantropical spotted dolphin
Stenella attenuata
Gamin
Stenella frontalis
Helmet dolphin
Stenella clymene
CompareSpinner dolphin vs Striped dolphinSpinner dolphin vs Pantropical spotted dolphinSpinner dolphin vs GaminSpinner dolphin vs Helmet dolphin
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 spinner dolphin?
The spinner dolphin is a mammal in the whales and dolphins subgroup, classified in the family Delphinidae, order Cetacea.
How heavy is a spinner dolphin?
An adult spinner dolphin weighs 50.5 kg, and our sources report values up to 72.7 kg.
What does the spinner dolphin eat?
The spinner dolphin is an invertivore, and its trophic level is carnivore.
Is the spinner dolphin endangered?
No. The spinner dolphin is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a spinner dolphin live?
The spinner dolphin has a lifespan of 20 years, with values up to 29 years reported by our sources.
How long is the spinner dolphin's gestation period?
Gestation lasts 316.5 days, with values up to 319.6 days reported. Litters average 0.99 young, at 0.42 litters per year.
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). Spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/spinner-dolphin
“Spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/spinner-dolphin.
@misc{spinner_dolphin_2026,
title = {Spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/spinner-dolphin},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}