Kogia breviceps

• 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; Kogiidae; Kogia; Kogia breviceps; cachalote; Sperm whale
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6600631; http://treatment.plazi.org/id/03F487DCFFC703022CFEF6737D7A8F91

1. Pygmy Sperm Whale Kogia breviceps French: Cachalot pygmée / German: Zwergpottwal / Spanish: Cachalote pigmeo Other common names: Lesser Cachalot, Lesser Sperm Whale, Short-headed Sperm Whale Taxonomy. Physeter breviceps de Blainville, 1838, South Africa, Western Cape Province, “rapportée des mers du cap de Bonne-Espérance” (= Cape of Good Hope). This species is monotypic. Distribution. Cosmopolitan in temperate and tropical waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans; concentrations of stranding records occur along E USA, South Africa, and New Zealand and to a lesser degree on French and Spanish coasts; precise at-sea distribution is unknown. Descriptive notes. Total length 270-420 cm; weight 342-680 kg. Condylobasal length of the skull of the Pygmy Sperm Whale is 39.1-46.9 cm. Juveniles ofshorter total length and body weight than the minima referenced here also strand. The Pygmy Sperm Whale is variable in color, but it is generally blackish-brown dorsally shading to cream on belly. Relative position of foramen magnum near midpoint ofskull height in the Pygmy Sperm Whale is well below midpoint ofskull height in the Dwarf Sperm Whale (K. sima); this characteristic has been reported to be diagnostic, but overlap in this feature has been noted in individuals from South African waters. Other diagnostic cranial characteristics include sagittal septum (broad, 2.3-8 cm, with gradually sloping sides in the Pygmy Sperm Whale and narrow, 6-14 mm, with near vertical sides in the Dwarfsperm Whale) and degree ofslope from dorsal rim ofcranial fossae (gradual in the Pygmy Sperm Whale and steep in the Dwarf Sperm Whale). Height ofthe dorsal fin is less than 5% of body length in the Pygmy Sperm Whale and is one of the principal external features used to separate it from the Dwarf Sperm Whale. In the Pygmy Sperm Whale, the distance between the snout and anterior insertion ofthe dorsal fin is greater than 50% oftotal body length. Lowerjaw of the Pygmy Sperm Whale has 12-16 (rarely 10-11) teeth on each side and generally ...