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Cetacean species exhibit a wide range of distribution patterns. The family Balaenidae includes one antitropical species group (Balaena spp.) and one circumpolar Arctic species ( B. mysticetus). The gray whale and the various species of balaenopterids are mostly latitudinal migrants in both hemispher...
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.654.523 http://fatlab.biology.dal.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Iverson_MM_Encyclopedia_2009.pdf |
| Summary: | Cetacean species exhibit a wide range of distribution patterns. The family Balaenidae includes one antitropical species group (Balaena spp.) and one circumpolar Arctic species ( B. mysticetus). The gray whale and the various species of balaenopterids are mostly latitudinal migrants in both hemispheres, although the Bryde’s-like whales ( Balaenoptera brydei, B. omurai, and B. edeni) are restricted to tropical and warm temperate waters, and some primarily migra-tory species include isolated populations that may be non-migratory (e.g., Megaptera novaeangliae in the northern Indian Ocean). In addition to the widespread common minke whale ( Balaenoptera acutorostrata), the Southern Hemisphere also contains an endemic species of minke whale ( B. bonaerensis). Similarly, the Southern Hemisphere is also home to two distinct forms (considered subspe-cies at present) of blue whale ( B. musculus). In both of these cases, it is not known if the two southern forms represent divergent line- |
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