spotted dolphin

noun — 3 senses

noun

Etymology From spotted + dolphin.

Any of two species of dolphins of the genus Stenella.

Spotted dolphins perform ‘genital buzzing’, in which an adult directs a rapid stream of low-pitched clicks at the genital area of another, usually a calf.2012, Caspar Henderson, The Book of Barely Imagined Beings, Granta Books, published 2013, page 59:

Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis)

pantropical spotted dolphin (Stenella attenuata)

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.