[4] The Clymene dolphin was first formally described by John Edward Gray in 1846, although, unusually, he did not assign it its current name until four years later, in 1850.

[7] Until this time, because Clymenes are relatively remote and were regarded as very similar to the more accessible spinners, they were never heavily studied.

[5] The basic color of the Clymene dolphin is "cetacean neapolitan"; it occurs in three shaded layers, the underside being white.

Next, a strip of light grey runs from just above the beak, round either side of the eye back to the tail stock, where the band thickens.

[11] Clymene dolphins spend most of their lives in waters over 100 m (330 ft) in depth, but occasionally move into shallower, coastal regions.

[12] They feed on squid and small schooling fish,[7][13] hunting either at night, or in mesopelagic waters where there is only limited light.

[5][14] Clymene dolphins are also highly vocal, making short whistles in a range of 6–19 kHz.

[2] The West African population of the Clymene dolphin is listed in Appendix II[18] of the convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), since it has an unfavorable conservation status or would benefit significantly from international co-operation organized by tailored agreements.

The Clymene dolphin is covered by the Memorandum of Understanding Concerning the Conservation of the Manatee and Small Cetaceans of Western Africa and Macaronesia.