The Senegal dolphin was a cryptid cetacean reported from the Atlantic Ocean coast of Senegal, known from sightings made by W. F. J. Mörzer Bruyns, who also reported the Alula whale, Greek dolphin, and Illigan dolphin. The Senegal dolphin resembled the cryptic Greek dolphin, but Mörzer Bruyns believed it could have been an Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis).
Description[]
The Senegal dolphin was short-bodied and "plump," with a short and stout snout, like the Greek dolphin, and a "smudgy brown" dorsal surface contrasting a dirty white underside. They gather in huge pods off Senegal, and are described as playful and friendly, sporting around near ships, and reaching speeds of up to eighteen knots.
Sightings[]
Mörzer Bruyns observed these dolphins off the Senegal coast, near Dakar. Vast pods regularly appeared in this region, usually containing between fifty and one hundred individuals, but "probably also in thousands". During the winter, the same area attracts pods of common dolphins (Delphinus delphis), which Mörzer Bruyns noted resemble the Senegal dolphin from a distance. Mörzer Bruyns also saw photographs of a Senegal dolphin, taken by Jean Cadenat, in an unnamed journal.