It is obviously common dolphin(dauphin) (Delphinus delphis) that know the former(ancient), because it is the shape the most spread in the Mediterranean Sea; other sorts, belonging to different kinds(genres) (Tursiops, Stellnella, etc.), also meet between Gibraltar and Asia Minor.

The taxonomy of dolphins(dauphins) begins only to clear up. For the record, we count at present seventy sorts of Odontocètes, among which some are very rare and known only by a very small number of copies. Certain forms are particularly gregarious; so; we observed in Black Sea the assemblings of common dolphins(dauphins) estimated at hundred thousand individuals. As for their area of distribution, she(it) is very vast. Practically, we meet dolphins(dauphins), in the broad sense, in all the seas. Some sorts, among which l4épaulard, are ubiquistes: we find them as well in the Arctic as in Antarctica and the tropical seas. Others, and it is the general case, limit themselves either to the cold seas (Béluga), or to the moderate, tropical and subtropical regions. But they are all of powerful rowers, capable of crossing(going through) vast oceanic areas(extents).

Dolphins(Dauphins) are of average or relatively small size. The most voluminous of them, Berardius bairdii, of the family of Ziphiidés, can reach(affect) 12 m of length; common dolphin(dauphin) measures on average 1.80 m, but can exceed 2 metres. As for Tursiops, its maximal length is of the order of 3.60 metres. To all Odontocètes, the male(mate) is always bigger than the female, while it is the opposite in the group of Mysticètes.

The tint(coloring) is characteristic of every sort, with however numerous individual variations; generally, the back is pushed and the clear stomach, but certain subjects are uniformly pigmented. White or whitish spots to exist on the head, the rostrum, the sides or, to Globicéphale, for example, which is of uniform colour, on the ventrale region. These spots can establish(constitute) a specific character. There is dolphin(dauphin) with white beak (Lagenorhynchus albirostris), both living in the North Sea.

All Odontocètes, thus all dolphins(dauphins), are carnivorous. Their teeth, of the type homodonte, are of forms conic and have for only function(office) to hold(retain) preys, and not to cut them or to crush them. The jaw of common dolphin(dauphin) can present more than two hundred teeth, what establishes(constitutes) a record to mammals, maritime or ground. The stomach is multilobé. The study of the stomach contents as well as the observations made on animals in captivity show that dolphins(dauphins) feed either on small coastal fishes, or of cephalopods or on shellfishes. Certain sorts are exclusively ichtyophages, the others consume indifferently fishes, mollusks and shellfishes; someone look for rather squids; only Delphinidé ‘ attacking(affecting) besides in the maritime mammals (seals, sea lions, dolphins(dauphins), porpoises, etc.) The Killer whale is. The migratory movements noticed at dolphins(dauphins) are probably bound(connected) in movement of their preys.