Derived from an old diminutive of MARTIN. MAXWELL Scottish. From a place name meaning Mack's stream, from the name Mack, a short form of the Scandinavian name MAGNUS, combined with Old English wella stream ...
For the ray-finned fish known as common dolphin, see Mahi-mahi. The common dolphin is the name given to two species (and possibly a third) of dolphin making up the genus Delphinus. Prior to the mid-1990s, most taxonomists only recognised one species in this genus, the common dolphin Delphinus delphis.
The other three species -- the striped dolphin, pantropical spotted dolphin and Atlantic spotted dolphin -- are named for their distinctive body markings. A Touch of White Five of the six dolphin species in genus Lagenorhynchus occur in the Atlantic Ocean, where they inhabit polar to temperate waters. Often called white-sided dolphins, species of this genus have a defining short beak. The white-beaked dolphin, the largest species, is found in subpolar waters in the northern Atlantic. The Atlantic white-sided dolphin also inhabits the northern Atlantic Ocean but in temperate waters. Also in this genus are dusky dolphins, named for their dark backs. They are found along the Atlantic coast of South Africa and around the Falkland Islands of South America, where their range overlaps with that of Peale's dolphins, another Lagenorhynchus species.