Hum Ecol (2008) 36:443447

DOI 10.1007/s10745-008-9174-5

Use of Tucuxi Dolphin Sotalia fluviatilis for Medicinal

and Magic/Religious Purposes in North of Brazil
Rmulo R. N. Alves & Ierec L. Rosa

Published online: 31 May 2008

# Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2008

Introduction
Sotalia fluviatilis (Gervais 1853) commonly known as the
tucuxi is one of the least known cetacean species. The main
threats that affect the species are directly related to habitat
degradation and loss. The rivers and lakes in which
freshwater cetaceans are found are subject to many, often
intensive, human activities that have caused extensive
habitat degradation and loss (WWF 2006). In Brazil, S.
fluviatilis is associated with highly productive and economically important ecosystems, such as mangroves, bays,
and estuaries. This creates a number of situations for
interactions between the species and activities related to
artisanal fisheries, including incidental captures and competition for common resources (Borobia 1989). The use of
S. fluviatilis obtained from bycatch as food or bait has been
amply recorded in Brazil (Siciliano 1994).
Dolphins are the subject of numerous myths and legends
in South America, and are an integral form of Amazonian
folklore. People believe that a person who kills a pink river
dolphin (Inia geofreensis) will not succeed in killing
anything else afterwards, and will always be punished.
There are also stories of dolphins taking paddles away from
lone canoeists, and also of dolphins helping people whose
boats have capsized by pushing them ashore. There are
R. R. N. Alves (*)
Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Estadual da Paraba,
Av. das Baranas, 351/Campus Universitrio, Bodocong,
58109-753 Campina Grande, Paraba, Brazil
e-mail: romulo_nobrega@yahoo.com.br
I. L. Rosa
Departamento de Sistemtica e Ecologia,
Universidade Federal da Paraba,
58051-900 Joo Pessoa, PB, Brazil
e-mail: ierecerosa@yahoo.com.br

even stories of fishermen training dolphins to help them

fish by steering fish towards them (Lamb 1967). Many
people purportedly believe that dolphins seduce girls and
are the father of all children of unknown paternity, and
some women name dolphins as legally responsible for their
illegitimate children. When women give birth to children
with spina bifida, they blame it on dolphins because the
defect leaves an opening in the head that resembles a
dolphin's blowhole (Morell 1997). Dolphins are often
believed to transform themselves in the early hours of the
night into handsome, young, tall, white men, who are
talented dancers, who, before dawn, jump into the water
and turn into dolphins again (Cravalho 1999). During their
transformation into humans, dolphins are believed to enter
households and paralyze their occupants. At such times,
they are said to engage in sexual intercourse with men or
women, depending on the gender of the dolphin. They
often return to the same household, and the victims become
ill, suffering from loss of appetite, body stiffness, and vocal
aberration. Some people are believed to die from it as a
consequence and their soul is taken to the bottom of the sea
to serve as the dolphin's consort (Cravalho 1999). To
defend themselves from a dolphin's attack people are
advised to draw a cross with garlic under their hammocks,
on the back of their neck, and on their foreheads, in the
belief that dolphins do not like garlic.
To a certain extent, such myths have given dolphins
some protection for many generations, and they are
generally left unmolested by the local people. As noted by
Culik (2004), freshwater dolphins have been protected by
such beliefs from Colombia to southern Brazil as well as in
the Amazon. Nevertheless, myths alone have not been
sufficient to preserve the dolphins.
Despite the lack of records of past or recent commercial
fisheries for Sotalia (IWC 2000), gill nets deployed in the

444

dolphins favored habitats clearly have the potential to

cause significant damage to these species at the population
level, as they have to cetaceans worldwide (Northridge and
Hofman 1999). As pointed by Martin et al.( 2004),
Amazonian dolphins selectively occur in areas known to
be favored for gill net deployment by local fishermen, and
this may explain why entanglement is apparently a common
cause of mortality. Additionally, some are deliberately
hunted for their meat and oil, which are used as fish bait
and as an emulsion to protect boats from water. They are
also occasionally hunted for their body parts, which are
used in traditional medicine.
S. fluviatilis is listed in Appendix I of the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and in
Appendix II of the Convention on Migratory species
(CMS), while Sotalia is considered as insufficiently
known by the IUCN (IUCN 2007). In Brazil, it is
protected under the Federal Law, which prohibits hunting
of any wildlife found in its territory for sale nationally or
internationally (Article 1 Law 5,197 January 3, 1967 and
Article 29 of Law 9,605 February 12, 1998). Despite laws
and treaties, use and trade of the species for medicinal and
magic/religious purposes persist in the country.
In Brazil, mainly in north, there is a market for the eyes,
teeth, and genital organs of the dolphins, which are used as
magical charms. The fat and oil of the skin also are used
commercially and in traditional medicine (Alves et al.
2007). Despite intensive use and commercialization, there
is a general lack of information, which renders difficult
evaluation of the magnitude and impact of the harvesting
and trade on the natural populations.
As part of broader study of medicinal and magic/
religious fauna in Brazil, this note reports aspects of the
use and commercialization of S. fluviatilis for medicinal
and magic/religious purposes in Northern Brazil. The study
was conducted in the City of Belm and in the fishing
community of Pesqueiro Beach, both located in the state of
Par. Human communities in the surveyed areas represent
both African and native populations.

Methods
Our study was carried from September to November 2005
in Belm and Pesqueiro Beach, in Par State, Brazil. Belm
is the capital and the largest city in Par (012721 S and
483016 W). Its population exceeds 1.3 million, making it
the tenth largest city in Brazil. Its metropolitan area has
approximately 2.01 million inhabitants. Belm has
hundreds of outdoor markets and shops selling agricultural
commodities, fish, and a wide range of Amazonian flora
and fauna. One of the regions most famous outdoor
markets is the Ver-O-Peso in the City of Belm, where

Hum Ecol (2008) 36:443447

fruit, fish, meat, herbs, medicinal products, and handicrafts

are sold (Shanley 2003).
Pesqueiro Beach is located in the Municipality of Soure,
on the eastern side of the Maraj Island, which is the largest
fluvial island in the world. Soure encompasses an area of
3,528.7 km2 with a population of 19,195 inhabitants. Cattle
ranching is Soures main economic activity, followed by subsistence fisheries and agriculture (Alves and Santana 2008).
Information on the use and commercialization of S.
fluviatilis for medicinal and magic/religious purposes was
obtained through semistructured interviews, complemented
by unstructured interviews (Huntington 2000), which were
conducted on a one-to-one basis. In the City of Belm,
information was collected through interviews with 38
merchants (19 men and 19 women). Of these, 15 were
owners of religious articles stores, and 23 sold herbs or
roots for medicinal purposes in open markets. In Pesqueiro
Beach, interviews were conducted with 41 inhabitants (23
men and 18 women). Knowledge about medicinal animals
is widespread in fishing communities, chiefly amongst the
elderly (Alves and Rosa 2006, 2007a). Information on the
medicinal use of products of S. fluviatilis in traditional
medicines was collected mainly from the elderly populations, who still retain the major portion of traditional
knowledge in their communities. Species identification was
done through photographs taken during interviews, and
with the aid of taxonomists familiar with the study areas
and with local vernacular names.

Results and Discussion

In Belm, interviewees (n=30) stated that they obtain
specimens or parts of S. fluviatilis through sellers that
periodically bring these products to them, or directly from
fishers that come from rural areas and accidentally captured
dolphins. Besides S. fluviatilis, 14 merchants interviewed in
the city of Belm mentioned products derived from the
Amazon River dolphin (Inia geofreensis) which are traded
for same purposes as S. fluviatilis. All interviewees at
Belm and Pesqueiro Beach reported that dolphins are
harpooned, or killed by blows to their heads while
entangled in nets. Incidental captures seem to be common,
as well as mortality due to collisions with boat engines.
Information on prices and volumes traded is summarized in
Table 1.
Of the 41 interviewees at Pesqueiro Beach, 36 (89%)
reported the use fat and oil of the skin, generally as an
ointment rubbed on a wound or sore place, or swallowed,
depending on the illness to be treated. According to the
interviewees in Belm city (n=15), the fat of S. fluviatilis is
used for treating four diseases: haemorrhoids, rheumatism,
arthrosis and arthritis, being administered in a similar way

Hum Ecol (2008) 36:443447

445

Table 1 Parts and products derived of Sotalia fluviatilis commercialized in Belm City, state of Para
Parts or products

Magic religious use

Amount paid to
supplier (US$)

Sale price (US$)

Volume traded
(monthly)

Vagina

Attract sexual partners,

make money
Attract sexual partners,
make money
Amulets, attract sexual partners,
make money, improve business,
and to bring good luck
Attract sexual partners

US$ 2.3 to 9.0/whole

organ
US$ 1.4 to 4.5/whole
organ
US$ 0.5 to 2.3/unit

US$ 0.9 to 1.4 (a piece),

US$ 6.8 to 22.8 (whole organ)
US$ 0.9 to 1.4 (a piece),
US$ 18 to 27.2 (whole organ)
US$ 3.6 to 13.6/unit

3 to 4 units

Produced using a
penis or vagina

US$ 1.2 to 2.3 (10 ml)

20 to 300 bottles

Penis
Eye

Asseio (dolphin's
perfume)

to that described at Pesqueiro Beach. Dolphins teeth were

also reportedly used in a concoction for treating asthma,
after being sun-dried, grated and crushed to powder.
At Pesqueiro Beach (n=36 interviewees), oil and fat of
the tucuxi dolphin were prescribed for the treatment of 12
diseases (asthma, rheumatism, injuries caused by the spines
of the arraia (stingray) or other fish species, haemorrhoids,
inflammation, wounds, earache, erysipelas (an acute streptococcus bacterial infection of the dermis, resulting in
inflammation and characteristically extending into underlying fat tissue), athletes foot, arthritis (a group of conditions
where there is damage to the joints of the body), cancer and
swelling), while at Belm (n=30 interviewees) the oil and fat
were used for the treatment of three illnesses (haemorrhoids,
rheumatism and arthritis). The much higher number of
conditions quoted at Pesqueiro Beach suggests a broader
knowledge base, focused on the well-being of locals rather
than on trade.
In relation to magic/religious uses, on the other hand,
interviewees at Belem (n=15) provided information on
aspects such as forms of use, while at Pesqueiro Beach the
36 interviewees, despite recognizing the mythic nature of
the dolphin, did not provide detailed information on magic/
religious usesa reflection of links between some traders
and users with Afro-Brazilian religions at Belm. In fact,
two of the interviewees were pais-de-santo and one was a
me-de-santo, respectively, Afro-Brazilian priests and
priestesses of the Yoruba religion known as Candombl,
which according to Voeks (1997), take the role of herbalist,
folk healer, diviner and shaman, as well as that of magician
and sorcerer in Brazil.
Alves and Rosa (2006, 2007a) documented the use of
the fat of S. fluviatilis and S. guianensis for therapeutic
purposes in the states of Piau, Paraba and Maranho, and
these results suggest a geographic continuum in the use of
dolphins as medicine in fishing communities located in
coastal of Brazil, which needs to be further examined in the
context of their conservation and management.

1 to 4 units
10 to 50 units

Beyond their utilization as medicines, parts of S.

fluviatilis are traded for their purported magical/religious
attributes, being popular mainly among adepts of the AfroBrazilian religions. Dolphins products traded are: eyes,
teeth, brain, embryo, penis and vagina. Additionally, these
parts are also used in the preparation of purifying baths
which are indicated for attracting sexual partners. For the
baths, interviewees stated that the water of the
dolphin is prepared using parts of S. fluviatilis (vagina or
penis, according to gender of user) immersed in alcohol or
patchouly oil (Pogostemon sp.). The water also can be
produced using parts of dolphin (penis or vagina) and other
animal species. In one shop in the city of Belm, a
dolphins embryo and the crab Ucides cordatus were used
as ingredients for making the water. The extracts are
subsequently mixed with water during baths, or applied as a
perfume. According to interviewees (n=15), this procedure
will ensure that the user is successful in love-related
matters. Another product indicated to assure the user
success in love is the perfume do boto (dolphins
perfume), also called asseio do (a) boto (a), which is
produced using a penis or vagina of S. fluviatilis. This
product is either used as a perfume or rubbed on the genital
organ prior to intercourse, observing gender distinction:
women should use the product made with the sexual organ
of a female dolphin, while men should use the infusion
containing the sexual organ of a male dolphin.
Our results are in line with some previous studies which
have demonstrated that the dolphins sexual organs are
believed to have special powers. Women grate a dolphin
penis, mix it with talcum powder, and apply it to their vagina
to increase the pleasure they can give a man. A dolphin's
vagina that is grated and applied to a man's penis is believed
to have the same effect (Cravalho 1999). Dolphin parts, such
as eyeballs, genitalia and oil, are increasingly being sold as
aphrodisiacs or medicines throughout their range. This is
especially true in areas with a large influx of new settlers
(Smith 1996; Alves and Rosa 2007b).

446

Another very popular product derived from Sotalia is the

patu, a kind of amulet that is hung around the neck
glued on a piece of cloth, or kept in ones pocket or wallet.
Patus are square or rounded objects, usually made of
leather or some plastic material, containing animal parts
(such as pieces of snake skin or a dolphin eye). Parts of the
dolphins that are used in the patu are: eyes, or pieces of
the penis or vagina. Patus can be produced using one or
more animal parts derived from one or more species of
animal. For example, the same patu can contain a
dolphin eye and a dried seahorse (Hippocampus spp.).
According to the shop owners (n=15) where they are sold,
these amulets are very popular among customers seeking
good luck, love, or financial success.
The use of body parts of dolphins for their magical
power is clearly of some antiquity (Agassiz and Agassiz
1868; Cascudo 1972). A nineteenth-century source mentions that in spite of the respect they have for him as
sorcerer (who at will changes from dolphin to human and
from human to dolphin), still they kill him, to take out the
eyes, the teeth, and the penis, things to all of which they
attribute extraordinary virtues (Cascudo 1972). Beliefs
about dolphins apparently derive from African, European,
and indigenous cultures (Slater 1994), and Brazilian stories
of humans encountering enchanted dolphins have been told
for decades (Cravalho 1999).
Given the volumes traded, and the fact that we did not
carry analyses of the material traded in the two surveyed
localities, we cannot fully discount the possibility that
dolphin eyes were being replaced with other more readily
available products. Nevertheless, Soto and Lessa (2005),
examined a pair of eyes and one penis sold at the Ver-OPeso market, and concluded they indeed belonged to a
small species of dolphin, probably S. fluviatilis.
The demand for dolphin products in local markets may
impact S. fluviatilis populations. However the magnitude
of this impact needs to be further investigated and better
understood. The combination of direct catch, incidental
catch in trawl nets (bycatch), and habitat destruction has
placed dolphin populations at risk. The demand for dolphin
products for use in traditional medicine and for magic/
religious is an additional pressure and should be considered
in conservation and management strategies for those
species. River dolphins are flagship species for their
habitatscharismatic representatives of the biodiversity
within the complex ecosystems they inhabit (Karczmarski
2000; Walpole and Leader-Williams 2002; WWF 2006).
Efforts to safeguard these cetaceans will not only help save
many other species, but will directly contribute to human
development and survival by ensuring the availability of
adequate and clean freshwater (WWF 2006).
Zootherapy is intertwined with sociocultural and
religious beliefs that must be understood by those

Hum Ecol (2008) 36:443447

engaged in modern conservation and protection of

Brazils biodiversity; effective ways to include socioeconomic information and expertise in conservation are
needed. From a biological perspective, there is a need
to increase our understanding of the biology and ecology
of species commonly used as remedies to better assess
the impacts of harvesting them (for medicinal or other
purposes) on their wild populations. Medicinal species
whose conservation status is in question should receive
urgent attention, and aspects such as habitat loss and
alteration should be discussed in connection with present
and future medicinal uses (Alves and Pereira-Filho 2007;
Alves et al. 2007). As Anyinam (1995) remarked,
environmental degradation affects users of traditional
medicine both by limiting their access to the resources
traditionally used, and by diminishing the knowledge
base in their community upon which traditional medicine
is constructed.

Conclusion
Our results suggest that the use of the products or parts of
S. fluviatilis is widespread in Northern Brazil, both in urban
and rural areas, reflecting the cultural importance of the
species in the region. Conservation and management plans
are urgently required, but these will have to recognize the
cultural aspects of human communities that use dolphins
for food, medicines or for magic/religious purposes.
Understanding the socioeconomic aspects of use and trade
of dolphins is also important for the development of any
successful management plan. Given that this is the first
report on this subject, further investigations of this topic
may bring important additional information for the conservation of the species.

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