Clymene Dolphin vs Dwarf nettle

Stenella clymene compared with Urtica urens

Key Differences

Clymene Dolphin is Least Concern while Dwarf nettle is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Clymene Dolphin	Dwarf nettle
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Mammalia (Mammals)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Cetacea (Whales & Dolphins)	Rosales (Roses & Allies)
Family	Delphinidae (Oceanic Dolphins)	Urticaceae
Genus	Stenella	Urtica
Species	Stenella clymene	Urtica urens

Conservation Status

Clymene Dolphin

LC — Least Concern

Dwarf nettle

VU — Vulnerable

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Clymene Dolphin	Dwarf nettle
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Clymene Dolphin

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Range

Distributed across Norway and Venezuela.

Dwarf nettle

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, and flooded grasslands and savannas, among 12 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Eswatini, Namibia, South Africa), Asia (Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar), Europe (19 countries), North America (Canada, Cuba, United States), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia), and South America (7 countries). Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Clymene Dolphin

The Clymene dolphin, Stenella clymene, is a small cetacean endemic to the tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean, ranging from the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea south along both the western and eastern Atlantic margins to approximately 20 degrees south latitude. Often called the short-snouted spinner dolphin, it is the only known naturally occurring cetacean hybrid species, believed to have originated through hybridization between the spinner dolphin (S. longirostris) and the striped dolphin (S. coeruleoalba). Clymene dolphins are acrobatic and frequently perform spinning leaps similar to but less elaborate than their spinner relatives. They travel in schools typically ranging from 10 to several hundred individuals, sometimes associating with other dolphin species. The species inhabits deep offshore pelagic waters and is rarely observed close to coastlines. It feeds primarily on fish and cephalopods, foraging at night when mesopelagic prey move into shallower waters. Clymene dolphins measure approximately 1.7–2 meters in length and display a distinctive tripartite pattern of dark cape, lighter grey flanks, and white or pale yellow belly. The species is assessed as Least Concern by the IUCN due to its relatively wide range and no evidence of major population-level threats.