Cephalorhynchus is a genus in the dolphin family Delphinidae.
It consists of six species:
The species have similar physical featuresâÂÂthey are small, generally playful, blunt-nosed dolphinsâÂÂbut they are found in distinct geographical locations.
A phylogenetic analysis in 2006 indicated the two species traditionally assigned to the genus Lagenorhynchus, the hourglass dolphin L. cruciger and Peale's dolphin L. australis are actually phylogenetically nested among the species of Cephalorhynchus, and they suggested that these two species should be transferred to the genus Cephalorhynchus. Some acoustic and morphological data support this arrangement, at least with respect to Peale's dolphin. In 2025 those two species were transferred to Cephalorhynchus.
According to a study in 1971, the Cephalorhynchus species are the only dolphins that do not whistle (no acoustic data are available for the hourglass dolphin). Peale's dolphin also shared with several Cephalorhynchus species the possession of a distinct white "armpit" marking behind the pectoral fin.