Ganges river dolphin

갠지스강돌고래

The Ganges river dolphin is a freshwater dolphin with a very long, thin beak and tiny, nearly useless eyes. In muddy rivers it finds food by echolocation and often swims on its side. It is the national aquatic animal of India.

See it on the 3D globe →

At a glance

Class: Mammals
Lives in: Ganges River near Patna, India
Diet: Fish eater
Conservation status: Endangered (IUCN EN)
Habitat: rivers & lakes

Quick answers

Where does the Ganges river dolphin live?

It lives in rivers & lakes. On the globe you can find it near Ganges River near Patna, India.

What does the Ganges river dolphin eat?

Its diet: fish eater.

Is the Ganges river dolphin endangered?

It is listed as Endangered (IUCN EN).

The Ganges river dolphin is a freshwater dolphin that lives in the Ganges and related rivers of India, Nepal and Bangladesh. It has a long, thin snout with sharp teeth and a rounded belly. Its tan, brown or grey body is about 2.2 to 2.6 metres long.

Its eyes are small and it cannot see well in the cloudy river water. Instead it uses a large rounded forehead, called a melon, for echolocation, which means sending out sounds and listening to the echoes to find fish. The Government of India has named it the national aquatic animal, and it is the official animal of the city of Guwahati. Local names include shushuk, xihu and uttum.

How does it find its way?

In muddy rivers sight is not much use, so the dolphin 'sees' with sound. It makes clicks and listens to the echoes that bounce off fish, riverbanks and other objects. Its flippers and tail flukes are large and broad, and its dorsal fin is a low rectangular ridge. Our card also says it often swims on its side while hunting.

Where did its name and family come from?

The species was first described in 1801, from an animal caught near Calcutta, now Kolkata. It was long grouped with the Indus river dolphin, and scientists have gone back and forth about whether they are one species or two. Studies of genes, divergence time and skull shape now support two separate species that split about 550,000 years ago. The oldest dolphin of this species known from fossils is about 12,000 years old. Wild ones live up to roughly 30 years.

Fun facts

It is almost blind and finds its way in muddy rivers by echolocation; it is India's national aquatic animal.
It is India's national aquatic animal.
It has tiny eyes and navigates by echolocation.
Its ancestors split from the Indus river dolphin about 550,000 years ago.