WoRMS

(of Balaena musculus Linnaeus, 1758) Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata [10th revised edition], vol. 1: 824 pp. Laurentius Salvius: Holmiae. , available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726886
page(s): 76 [details] Available for editors

[request]

Type data

Note Firth of Forth, Scotland, UK

From editor or global species database

Type locality Firth of Forth, Scotland, UK [details]

Descriptive notes

Distribution in all oceans

Distribution in all oceans [details]

Distribution Found in all oceans of the world. Antarctica/Southern Ocean; East Pacific; Eastern Atlantic Ocean; Indo-West Pacific;...

Distribution Found in all oceans of the world. Antarctica/Southern Ocean; East Pacific; Eastern Atlantic Ocean; Indo-West Pacific; Western Atlantic Ocean [details]

Taxonomic citation

Fordyce, E.; Perrin, W.F. (2024). World Cetacea Database. Balaenoptera musculus (Linnaeus, 1758). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=137090 on 2024-11-21

Taxonomic edit history

Date

action

2004-12-21 15:54:05Z

created

van der Land, Jacob

2008-08-20 11:25:36Z

checked

Perrin, William

Licensing

The webpage text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License

[taxonomic tree]

original description (of Balaena musculus Linnaeus, 1758) Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata [10th revised edition], vol. 1: 824 pp. Laurentius Salvius: Holmiae. , available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726886
page(s): 76 [details] Available for editors

[request]

basis of record van der Land, J. (2001). Tetrapoda, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 375-376 (look up in IMIS) [details]

additional source Carwardine, M., E. Hoyt, R. E. Fordyce and P. Gill. 1998. Whales, dolphins and porpoises. Time-Life Books. Nature Company Guides, USA. 288 p. [details]

additional source Mead, J. G.; Brownell, R. L. Jr. (2005). Cetacea. In Wilson, D.E. & D.M. Reeder (eds). Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed), Johns Hopkins University Press, 2,142 pp. 723--743., available online at http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/ [details]

additional source Rice, D. W. (1998). Marine mammals of the world. Systematics and distribution. Society for Marine Mammalogy Special Publication. 4., available online at http://www.marinemammalscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/MarineMammalsOfTheWorld.pdf [details]

additional source Hershkovitz, P. (1966). Catalog of Living Whales. Bulletin of the United States National Museum. (246): 1-259., available online at https://doi.org/10.5479/si.03629236.246 [details]

additional source Jefferson, T. A., M. A. Webber and R. L. Pitman. (2008). Marine mammals of the world. Academic Press, Amsterdam. [details]

additional source Perrin, W.F.; Würsig, B.; Thewissen, J.G.M. (2009). Encyclopedia of marine mammals. Second edition. Academic Press: London. ISBN 978-0-12-373553-9. xxix, 1316 pp. (look up in IMIS) [details]

additional source King, C.M.; Roberts, C.D.; Bell, B.D.; Fordyce, R.E.; Nicoll, R.S.; Worthy, T.H.; Paulin, C.D.; Hitchmough, R.A.; Keyes, I.W.; Baker, A.N.; Stewart, A.L.; Hiller, N.; McDowall, R.M.; Holdaway, R.N.; McPhee, R.P.; Schwarzhans, W.W.; Tennyson, A.J.D.; Rust, S.; Macadie, I. (2009). Phylum Chordata: lancelets, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals. in: Gordon, D.P. (Ed.) (2009). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity: 1. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia. pp. 431-554. [details]

ecology source Fioravanti, T.; Maio, N.; Latini, L.; Splendiani, A.; Guarino, F. M.; Mezzasalma, M.; Petraccioli, A.; Cozzi, B.; Mazzariol, S.; Centelleghe, C.; Sciancalepore, G.; Pietroluongo, G.; Podestà, M.; Caputo Barucchi, V. (2022). Nothing is as it seems: genetic analyses on stranded fin whales unveil the presence of a fin-blue whale hybrid in the Mediterranean Sea (Balaenopteridae). The European Zoological Journal. 89(1): 590-600., available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/24750263.2022.2063426 [details]

ecology source Looby, A.; Erbe, C.; Bravo, S.; Cox, K.; Davies, H. L.; Di Iorio, L.; Jézéquel, Y.; Juanes, F.; Martin, C. W.; Mooney, T. A.; Radford, C.; Reynolds, L. K.; Rice, A. N.; Riera, A.; Rountree, R.; Spriel, B.; Stanley, J.; Vela, S.; Parsons, M. J. G. (2023). Global inventory of species categorized by known underwater sonifery. Scientific Data. 10(1). (look up in IMIS), available online at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02745-4 [details]

Present

Present in aphia/obis/gbif/idigbio

Inaccurate

Introduced: alien

Containing type locality

From editor or global species database

Holotype None; based primarily on Balaena fistula duplici of Artedi, 1738. [details]

IUCN Red List Category Endangered (EN); Antarctic population Critically Endangered (CR) [details]

Morphology Distinguishing characteristics: colour slate blue to grayish blue and mottled with lighter spots, particularly on the back and shoulders. Underside often covered with microorganisms, giving the belly a yellowish tinge. dorsal fin short, only about 35 cm, and placed far back on the body. Upper jaw is the widest in the genus, and the rostrum is the bluntest. There are 50-90 throat grooves that extend from the chin to just beyond the navel. Average length is adult males is 25 m and females is 27m. Largest animal in the world. [details]

Type locality Firth of Forth, Scotland, UK [details]

Unreviewed

Diet euphausiids with some squid, amphipods, copepods, red crabs [details]

Dimensions Length: male 65 1/2' -101 1/2' (20-31 m), female 69-110' (21-33.6 m), at birth 19 1/2' + (5.9 m+) [details]

Distribution in all oceans [details]

Distribution Found in all oceans of the world. Antarctica/Southern Ocean; East Pacific; Eastern Atlantic Ocean; Indo-West Pacific; Western Atlantic Ocean [details]

Habitat offshore [details]

Habitat mostly offshore but also near the coast [details]

Predators None [details]

Reproduction Gestation is 11-12 months long with young born in warm, low latitude waters in the winter months after the adults return from their high latitude feeding grounds. Weaned: 7-8 months. Sexual maturity occurs at 8-9 years and young are produced every 2-3 years. [details]

Definitions

Language	Name
Afrikaans	blouwalvis	[details]
Aleut	omgoliaabugulikh	[details]
Catalan	balena blava	[details]
Chukot	tnmerken-uiiutakhvorkhrikh	[details]
Czech	plejtvák obrovský	[details]
Dutch	blauwe vinvis	[details]
English	sulphurbottom whaleSibbald's rorqualOstende whalegreat rorqualgreat northern rorqualgreat blue whalefinny whalecommon rorqualblue whaleblue rorqual	[details]
French	rorqual de Sibbaldrorqual bleubaleine jubartebaleine d'Ostendbaleine bleue	[details]
German	SchwefelbauchwalSchanelwalRiesenwalBlauwal	[details]
Icelandic	steypireydrhrefnahafreydur	[details]
Indonesian	paus birulaylan agi	[details]
Italian	balenottera azzura	[details]
Japanese	シロナガスクジラsiro nagasu kujira	[details]
Kalaallisut	tunnolik	[details]
Korean	daewang-gorae	[details]
Malagasy	trozona manga	[details]
Norwegian	rörqualheipe-reydurblaahval	[details]
Portuguese	baleia azul	[details]
Russian	sinii kitgoluboi kitbolshoi polosatikblyuval	[details]
Spanish	rorcual giganterorcual azulkilagran rorcalballena azulalfawarealfaguara	[details]
Swedish	muskel finnfiskjattenhvalblaval	[details]
Yupik languages	takyshkoktakerrkak	[details]