Review of strandings of Delphinus delphis and Stenella coeruleoalba (Mammalia: Cetacea, Delphinidae) in the Netherlands between 1850 and 2005

This article presents an annotated list of all known strandings of common dolphins Delphinus delphis Linnaeus, 1758 and striped dolphins Stenella coeruleoalba (Meyen, 1833) from the coast of The Netherlands. Between circa 1850 and 2005, 50 well documented reports and 36 insufficiently documented reports of a dead common dolphin and five well-documented reports of a dead, and two records of a living striped dolphin have become known. All well documented cases are either documented by skeletons and/or skulls or other remains kept in natural history collections, or by photographs or drawings of the stranded dolphin. The insufficiently documented cases are only known from verbal or written description by the finder. All skeletal material, specimens preserved in spirit, drawings, autopsy reports and photographs were examined by the author.