Dolphin vs. Fish — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on October 31, 2023
Dolphins are marine mammals with warm blood and lungs, while fish are cold-blooded vertebrates with gills for breathing underwater.
Difference Between Dolphin and Fish
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Dolphins belong to the family of mammals, meaning they breathe air, give birth to live young, and nurse their offspring. Fish, on the other hand, are a diverse group of aquatic animals that lay eggs and breathe through gills.
In terms of anatomy, dolphins have a streamlined body adapted for fast swimming, a blowhole for breathing, and a complex brain. Fish exhibit a vast range of body shapes, breathe through gills, and generally have a simpler brain structure.
Dolphins are known for their high intelligence, social behavior, and ability to communicate through a variety of sounds. Fish display varying levels of intelligence, with some species showing complex behaviors, but they do not possess the advanced communication skills of dolphins.
The respiratory system of dolphins involves lungs, requiring them to surface periodically to breathe air. Fish extract oxygen from water through their gills, allowing them to remain submerged indefinitely.
Dolphins are warm-blooded, maintaining a constant body temperature regardless of their environment. Fish are cold-blooded, meaning their body temperature changes with the temperature of their surroundings.
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Comparison Chart
Classification
Mammal
Vertebrate aquatic animal
Breathing
Lungs, breathe air
Gills, breathe underwater
Body Temperature
Warm-blooded
Cold-blooded
Reproduction
Live birth, nurse offspring
Mostly lay eggs
Intelligence
High, complex communication
Variable, simpler communication
Compare with Definitions
Dolphin
Dolphins are known for their playful behavior and agility.
Dolphins often ride the bow wave of ships.
Fish
Fish inhabit a wide range of aquatic environments.
The fish adapted to the cold, deep waters.
Dolphin
Dolphins are social animals, often living in pods.
A pod of dolphins worked together to herd fish.
Fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups.
Dolphin
A dolphin is a highly intelligent marine mammal.
We watched dolphins leap gracefully from the water.
Fish
A limbless cold-blooded vertebrate animal with gills and fins living wholly in water
The huge lakes are now devoid of fish
Dolphin
Dolphin is the common name of aquatic mammals within the infraorder Cetacea. The term dolphin usually refers to the extant families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), named Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), and Pontoporiidae (the brackish dolphins), and the extinct Lipotidae (baiji or Chinese river dolphin).
Fish
A person who is strange in a specified way
He is generally thought to be a bit of a cold fish
Dolphin
Any of various marine toothed whales of the family Delphinidae, having a beaklike snout, a curved dorsal fin, and a slender streamlined body.
Fish
A flat plate that is fixed on a beam or across a joint in order to give additional strength.
Dolphin
Any of several toothed whales inhabiting rivers and estuaries in South America and South Asia, having a long narrow beak, broad flippers, a flexible neck, and usually a reduced dorsal fin. A species native to the Yangtze River is thought to be extinct. Also called river dolphin.
Fish
Catch or try to catch fish, typically by using a net or hook and line
He was fishing for pike
I've told the girls we've gone fishing
Dolphin
See dolphinfish.
Fish
Search by groping or feeling for something concealed
He fished for his registration certificate and held it up to the policeman's torch
Dolphin
See pompano dolphinfish.
Fish
Mend or strengthen with a fish.
Dolphin
A buoy, pile, or group of piles used for mooring boats.
Fish
Join (rails in a railway track) with a fishplate.
Dolphin
A group of piles used as a fender, as at a dock or around a bridge pier.
Fish
Any of numerous cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates characteristically having fins, gills, and a streamlined body and including the bony fishes, such as catfishes and tunas, and the cartilaginous fishes, such as sharks and rays.
Dolphin
A carnivorous aquatic mammal in one of several families of order Cetacea, famed for its intelligence and occasional willingness to approach humans.
Fish
Any of various jawless aquatic craniates, including the lampreys and hagfishes.
Dolphin
Tursiops truncatus, (Atlantic bottlenose dolphin) the most well-known species.
Fish
The flesh of such animals used as food.
Dolphin
A fish, the mahi-mahi or dorado, Coryphaena hippurus, with a dorsal fin that runs the length of the body, also known for iridescent coloration.
Fish
(Informal) A person, especially one considered deficient in something
A poor fish.
Dolphin
(heraldry) A depiction of a fish, with a broad indented fin, usually embowed.
Fish
To catch or try to catch fish.
Dolphin
The dauphin, eldest son of the kings of France.
Fish
To look for something by feeling one's way; grope
Fished in both pockets for a coin.
Dolphin
(history) A mass of iron or lead hung from the yardarm, in readiness to be dropped through the deck and the hull of an enemy's vessel to sink it.
Fish
To seek something in a sly or indirect way
Fish for compliments.
Dolphin
(nautical) A kind of wreath or strap of plaited cordage.
Fish
To catch or try to catch (fish).
Dolphin
(nautical) A spar or buoy held by an anchor and furnished with a ring to which ships may fasten their cables.
Fish
To catch or try to catch fish in
Fish mountain streams.
Dolphin
(nautical) A mooring post on a wharf or beach.
Fish
To catch or pull as if fishing
Deftly fished the corn out of the boiling water.
Dolphin
(nautical) A permanent fender designed to protect a heavy boat or coastal structure from the impact of large floating objects such as ice or floating logs.
Fish
(countable) A cold-blooded vertebrate animal that lives in water, moving with the help of fins and breathing with gills.
Salmon is a fish.
The fishmonger sells fishes from all over the world.
Ichthyologists study the fish of the world.
We have many fish in our aquarium.
Dolphin
One of the handles above the trunnions by which a gun was lifted.
Fish
Any animal (or any vertebrate) that lives exclusively in water.
Dolphin
(nautical) A man-made semi submerged maritime structure, usually installed to provide a fixed structure for temporary mooring, to prevent ships from drifting to shallow water or to serve as base for navigational aids.
Fish
(Newfoundland) Cod; codfish.
Dolphin
A cetacean of the genus Delphinus and allied genera (esp. Delphinus delphis); the true dolphin.
Fish
(uncountable) The flesh of the fish used as food.
The seafood pasta had lots of fish but not enough pasta.
Though Lena is a vegetarian, she doesn't have any problem with eating fish.
Dolphin
The Coryphæna hippuris, a fish of about five feet in length, celebrated for its surprising changes of color when dying. It is the fish commonly known as the dolphin. The term is also applied to the related Coryphaena equisetis. Called also dolphinfish and (especially in Hawaii) mahimahi. See also dolphinfish and Coryphænoid.
Fish
(uncountable) A card game in which the object is to obtain cards in pairs or sets of four (depending on the variation), by asking the other players for cards of a particular rank.
Dolphin
A mass of iron or lead hung from the yardarm, in readiness to be dropped on the deck of an enemy's vessel.
Fish
A woman.
Dolphin
A kind of wreath or strap of plaited cordage.
Fish
An easy victim for swindling.
Dolphin
In old ordnance, one of the handles above the trunnions by which a cannon was lifted.
Fish
A bad poker player. Compare shark (a good poker player).
Dolphin
Large slender food and game fish widely distributed in warm seas (especially around Hawaii)
Fish
A makeshift overlapping longitudinal brace, originally shaped roughly like a fish, used to temporarily repair or extend a spar or mast of a ship.
Dolphin
Any of various small toothed whales with a beaklike snout; larger than porpoises
Fish
(nautical) A purchase used to fish the anchor.
Dolphin
Dolphin refers to any of the species in the family Delphinidae.
The bottlenose dolphin is known for its friendly nature.
Fish
A torpedo self-propelled explosive device.
Dolphin
Dolphins use echolocation for hunting and navigating.
The dolphin emitted clicks to locate its prey in murky waters.
Fish
(zoology) A paraphyletic grouping of the following extant taxonomic groups:
Fish
Class Myxini, the hagfish (no vertebrae)
Fish
Class Petromyzontida, the lampreys (no jaw)
Fish
Within infraphylum Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates (also including Tetrapoda))
Fish
(cartomancy) The thirty-fourth Lenormand card.
Fish
(prison slang) A new (usually vulnerable) prisoner.
Fish
A male homosexual; a gay man.
Fish
A period of time spent fishing.
The fish at the lake didn't prove successful.
Fish
An instance of seeking something.
Merely two fishes for information told the whole story.
Fish
(obsolete) A counter, used in various games.
Fish
(intransitive) To hunt fish or other aquatic animals in a body of water.
We went fishing for crabs by the pier.
She went to the river to fish for trout.
Fish
(transitive) To search (a body of water) for something other than fish.
They fished the surrounding lakes for the dead body.
Fish
To use as bait when fishing.
Fish
(intransitive) To (attempt to) find or get hold of an object by searching among other objects.
Why are you fishing through my things?
He was fishing for the keys in his pocket.
Fish
To talk to people in an attempt to get them to say something, or seek to obtain something by artifice.
The detective visited the local pubs fishing around for more information.
The actors loitered at the door, fishing for compliments.
Fish
Of a batsman, to attempt to hit a ball outside off stump and miss it.
Fish
To repair (a spar or mast) by fastening a beam or other long object (often called a fish) over the damaged part (see Noun above).
Fish
To hoist the flukes of.
Fish
A counter, used in various games.
Fish
A name loosely applied in popular usage to many animals of diverse characteristics, living in the water.
Fish
An oviparous, vertebrate animal usually having fins and a covering scales or plates. It breathes by means of gills, and lives almost entirely in the water. See Pisces.
Fish
The twelfth sign of the zodiac; Pisces.
Fish
The flesh of fish, used as food.
Fish
A purchase used to fish the anchor.
Fish
To attempt to catch fish; to be employed in taking fish, by any means, as by angling or drawing a net.
Fish
To seek to obtain by artifice, or indirectly to seek to draw forth; as, to fish for compliments.
Any other fishing question.
Fish
To catch; to draw out or up; as, to fish up an anchor.
Fish
To search by raking or sweeping.
Fish
To try with a fishing rod; to catch fish in; as, to fish a stream.
Fish
Any of various mostly cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates usually having scales and breathing through gills;
The shark is a large fish
In the livingroom there was a tank of colorful fish
Fish
The flesh of fish used as food;
In Japan most fish is eaten raw
After the scare about foot-and-mouth disease a lot of people started eating fish instead of meat
They have a chef who specializes in fish
Fish
(astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Pisces
Fish
The twelfth sign of the zodiac; the sun is in this sign from about February 19 to March 20
Fish
Seek indirectly;
Fish for compliments
Fish
Catch or try to catch fish or shellfish;
I like to go fishing on weekends
Fish
Fish are aquatic animals that breathe through gills.
The fish swam swiftly through the coral reef.
Fish
Fish typically have scales and fins for swimming.
The colorful fish glided past us.
Fish
Many fish species lay eggs in the water.
The fish scattered their eggs among the seaweeds.
Fish
Fish are an important food source for humans.
He caught a large fish for dinner.
Common Curiosities
What is a fish?
A fish is an aquatic animal with gills, usually having fins and scales.
Are dolphins warm-blooded?
Yes, dolphins are warm-blooded mammals.
How do fish breathe?
Fish breathe underwater through their gills.
What is a dolphin?
A dolphin is a marine mammal known for its intelligence and social behavior.
Do dolphins breathe air?
Yes, dolphins breathe air through their blowhole.
How do dolphins communicate?
Dolphins communicate using a variety of sounds and body language.
Can fish communicate?
Fish communicate, but in simpler ways, often through body movements and chemical signals.
Are fish cold-blooded?
Yes, fish are cold-blooded animals.
Do dolphins live in groups?
Many dolphin species live in social groups called pods.
What do dolphins eat?
Dolphins mainly eat fish and squid.
What do fish eat?
Fish diets vary widely, including plankton, plants, and other fish.
Can dolphins use echolocation?
Yes, dolphins use echolocation to navigate and hunt.
Do all fish lay eggs?
Most fish lay eggs, but some, like sharks, give birth to live young.
Do fish live in groups?
Some fish live in groups or schools, while others are solitary.
Do dolphins have scales?
No, dolphins do not have scales; they have smooth skin.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
