Maui’s dolphins are marine mammals. Like all mammals, those that live in the sea and on land (and including humans), they:
• feed their young with milk
• are born alive, rather than developing in an egg
• have warm blood and need to retain heat
• have four limbs (dolphin flippers developed from limbs)
• are intelligent
• have efficient hearts
• breathe air using lungs
Not a fish
Fish aren’t mammals. One way Maui’s and other marine dolphins differ from fish is that their tails move up and down to propel them along. A fish’s tail moves from side-to-side.
What’s in a name?
The Maui's dolphin used to be called the North Island Hector's dolphin. In 2002, a New Zealand marine scientist, Dr Alan Baker, used genetic and skeletal differences to show that Maui’s dolphins are not identical to the Hector’s dolphins that live around the South Island.
They were recognised as a subspecies, and given their own name. The common name is Maui’s dolphin, after the Māori name for the North Island – te Ika a Maui. Another Māori name for Maui’s dolphins is popoto.
The scientific name now given to Maui’s is Cephalorhynchus hectori maui, and its South Island cousin, the Hector’s dolphin, is Cephalorhynchus hectori hectori. The proper species name for both of them together is Cephalorhynchus hectori.
Where do they live?
Find out where Maui’s live, their ecology and the threats they face.
Read about their close cousin, the Hector’s dolphin, that lives around the South Island coast.
Photos and graphics © WWF or used with permission. Text available under a Creative Commons licence.
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