Eubalaena japonica

• Main Authors: Russell A. Mittermeier, Don E. Wilson
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Lynx Edicions 2014
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Chordata; Mammalia; Cetacea; Balaenidae; Eubalaena; Eubalaena japonica; Balaena japonica; Bering Sea; Nordkaper; North Atlantic; North Atlantic right whale; North Pacific right whale; Alaska
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6595827; http://treatment.plazi.org/id/03A187BA202BFF8BFF20C611FC862896

2. North Pacific Right Whale Eubalaena japonica French: Baleine du Japon / German: Pazifik-Nordkaper / Spanish: Ballena franca del Pacifico Other common names: Japanese Whale, North-west Whale, Pacific Right Whale Taxonomy. Balaena japonica Lacépède, 1818, “du Japon” (=Japan). This species is monotypic. Distribution. Cold-temperate waters of the N Pacific, from Bonin Is (27° N, 142° E) and Ryukyu Is N to Yellow Sea, Sea ofJapan, Sea of Okhotsk, Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska; occasionally reaching tip of Baja California, Mexico, to the S of E Pacific in winter. Except on their N summer grounds, only a few sightings in the E Pacific Ocean during the past 50 years. Descriptive notes. Total length can exceed 1700 cm; weight exceeding ¢.80,000 kg. The North Pacific Right Whale is sexually dimorphic, with females growing slightly larger than males. It can grow somewhat larger but is similar to the North Atlantic Right Whale (E. glacialis) in external morphology and color. The North Pacific Right Whale is mostly black. Often,it has a small white area ventrally at the navel. In some individuals, this white coloration may form a much larger patch and may even extend laterally onto sides of the body. Some individuals are completely black. As with the North Atlantic Right Whale, the North Pacific Right Whale is stout and stocky. Maximum girth is approximately 75% of total body length, with its large head one-third of body length. Blowhole openings are widely separated and angle slightly to the sides. Spout is V-shaped and can reach up to 5 m. Rostrum is narrow, elongate, and arched. Approximately 200-270 thin baleen plates, each ¢.300 cm long, hang from each side of upperjaw. Baleen is gray-brown to black and is fringed with long, fine, grayish bristles. Eyes are located above apex of mouth. Patterns of callosities vary among individuals, but they are distributed in generally consistent locations, including behind blowhole, along rostrum, above eyes, along mandibles, and on chin. Hair may grow from areas with callosities. ...