[4] The species was beginning to come under threat due to the killing of millions of individuals in tuna purse seines.

Spots are key defining characteristics in adults, though immature individuals are generally uniformly colored[4] and susceptible to confusion with the bottlenose dolphin.

[4][7][8] This species has a long, thin beak and a falcate dorsal fin, which is the thinnest among dolphins.

[9] The pantropical spotted dolphin is very active and is prone to making large, splashy leaps from the sea.

The pantropical spotted dolphin is the most common cetacean species observed within the Agoa Sanctuary, located in the Lesser Antilles in the eastern Caribbean.

[7][8] Because it is common within the sanctuary it is considered a resident species; however, no research has been carried out to estimate its population status and movement patterns between islands.

The pantropical spotted dolphin's propensity for associating with tuna, particularly in the eastern Pacific, has in recent history been a very real danger.

Instead of reducing numbers through direct mortalities, fishing activities have disrupted the reproductive output of the northeastern pantropical spotted dolphin.

[12] Tuna fishermen follow pantropical spotted dolphins in order to find and catch fish.

[2] Another threat to this species is gillnet fisheries in Australia, North Pacific (central and northern areas), Peru, Ecuador, Japan, and Philippines.

[2] Trawls in West Africa and long-lining in the Central Atlantic likewise pose significant threats to these species.

There is a large-mesh pelagic driftnet fishery of eastern Taiwan where a large number of dolphin killings are suspected.

[2] The eastern tropical Pacific and Southeast Asian populations of the pantropical spotted dolphin are listed in Appendix II[17] of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).

As the pantropical spotted dolphin can be divided into three subspecies, studies of these distinct populations would be needed to assess conservation efforts.

[20] The U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act lists the northeastern and coastal stocks as “Depleted.”[21] Dolphin deaths have greatly decreased since the establishment of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC).

Although the US and international fishing agencies have reduced dolphin bycatch significantly, the northeastern subpopulation is not showing strong signs of recovery.

[14] This lack of recovery of the subpopulations of the pantropical spotted dolphins could be due to the following reasons: calf separation, orphaning, fishery stress, under-reported mortality, and ecosystem change.