What do river dolphins eat? A detailed analysis of river dolphin feeding habits

The scientific name of the river dolphin is the freshwater dolphin, and it is larger in size than the ocean dolphin; they can grow up to 3 m long. Unlike ocean dolphins, their heads can rotate 90 degrees, which gives them an advantage in complex river channels. They are the mammals most friendly to humans. Let us take a look below at what river dolphins eat!

What do river dolphins eat?

River dolphins mainly feed on freshwater shrimp, crabs, fry, mussels, insect larvae, cladocerans, and the stems and leaves of plants. They are naturally fierce, and from the long-toothed stage of the juvenile fish all the way to adulthood, they will bite each other. Sometimes, like ocean dolphins, they collectively chase schools of fish to improve feeding efficiency. Their jaws have sensitive hairs, which are said to be tactile organs for hunting crustaceans in the mud.

Common misunderstandings about the name "river dolphin"

Modern animal taxonomy has already clearly defined that the pufferfish (hetun) and the river dolphin (hetun) are actually two different classes of aquatic animals, though they are usually mistaken for one. The pufferfish is the collective name for fish of the class Actinopterygii, order Tetraodontiformes, family Tetraodontidae, distributed in coastal waters and river estuaries; the internal organs and blood of some species are highly toxic (called "tetrodotoxin"). The river dolphin, by contrast, is the collective name for animals of the class Mammalia, family Platanistidae, including the baiji and others; they mainly live in rivers, and their abdominal organs are non-toxic. Note that the "river dolphin" discussed here does not refer to the toxic pufferfish (that is, the pufferfish), but rather is the collective name for freshwater dolphins (a type of aquatic mammal), to which the well-known ocean dolphin exactly corresponds. The ocean dolphin is not called a "dolphin fish," because it is not a fish, but a mammal.

Species and distribution of river dolphins

1. Amazon river dolphin: The Amazon river dolphin is also called the Amazon freshwater dolphin, pink river dolphin, pink freshwater dolphin, etc. It is a species unique to the Amazon and Orinoco river basins and is the largest freshwater dolphin. It usually hunts shrimp, crabs, and small fish on the river bottom, and occasionally can also catch smaller turtles.

2. Baiji: The baiji is also called the white-fin whale, white fin, white flag, white clip, green fin, river horse, Chinese river dolphin, Yangtze river dolphin, and Yangtze river dolphin, etc. It is a freshwater cetacean unique to China and is found only in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. In the 1980s, for various reasons, the baiji population dropped sharply; by 2002 it was estimated that fewer than 50 remained. It is known as the "giant panda in the water," is listed as a national first-class wild protected animal, and is also one of the 12 most endangered animals in the world.

3. Ganges river dolphin: The Ganges river dolphin is a freshwater dolphin living in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan, divided into the Indus subspecies and the Ganges subspecies. At present, only about 2,000 to 6,000 remain worldwide. The Brahmaputra River section within India is the area with the densest population of Ganges river dolphins, with about 240 to 300 Ganges river dolphins. It is a very rare and precious aquatic animal.

4. La Plata dolphin: The La Plata dolphin is also called the La Plata river dolphin (Franciscana, as called in Argentina and Uruguay), Toninha (as called by Brazilians), Cachimbo, La Plata river dolphin, etc. It is distributed in southeastern South America and the Atlantic Ocean.