Species sheet · The Edible Ocean
Short-beaked common dolphin
It wears an hourglass on its flank, and it knows.
- Nothing to cook here
Protected species
It is eaten in some cultures. It is also a protected species, and we have no wish to encourage that.
- In French
- Dauphin commun
- Scientific name
- Delphinus delphis
- Status
- Protected species
- In the water
- Temperate and warm open water in every ocean, down to 280 metres, sometimes in vast groups.
- Season & buying
- A marine mammal, fully protected across Europe.
- Common length
- ~200 cm
- How to identify it
- Ochre and grey hourglass on the flank
Slender elongated beak
Pointed triangular dorsal fin
On the plate
Eaten in a few countries, never in Europe.
Avoid: Eating it at all. It is a protected species and we have no wish to encourage that.
The ochre hourglass is unique to each animal, like a fingerprint, and biologists use it to recognise the same dolphins from one year to the next.