Caperea marginata

• 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; Neobalaenidae; Caperea; Caperea marginata; Antarctic; Baleine; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctic Minke whale; Balaenoptera bonaerensis; baleen whales; minke whale
• Online Access: https://zenodo.org/record/6603964; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6603964

Pygmy Right Whale Caperea marginata French: Baleine pygmée / German: Zwergglattwal / Spanish: Ballena pigmea Other common names: \Vestern Australian Whale Taxonomy. Balaena marginata Gray, 1846, “Inhab. W. Australia.” This species is monotypic. Distribution. Southern Hemisphere, circumpolar, generally between 30° S and 55° S but can occur north to 19° S if cold currents are present. Descriptive notes. Total length 590- 650 cm; weight 2850-3863 kg. Female Pygmy Right Whales are slightly longer than males. In a sample of physically mature skeletons, females averaged 634 cm in length and males 610 cm. The smallest physically mature specimen (a male) was 590 cm. Weights of only five adult Pygmy Right Whales have been recorded. Flippers are 66-90 cm, dorsalfin is 21-35 cm, and flukes are 135-200 cm. Relative to body length, several external measurements increase in length as an individual grows from juvenile to adult: dorsal fin from ¢.3% to 5%, flippers from c.11% to 13%, and flukes from c.23% to 29%. Flukes have a distinct median notch that is 5-9 cm deep. Body of the adult Pygmy Right Whale is broad, giving it a bulky appearance. Flippers are small compared with other baleen whales and are slightly rounded at their tips. Relative to total body length of an adult Pygmy Right Whale, dorsal fin is situated ¢.65% of the way back from tip of rostrum. Newborns are c.200 cm in length at birth; the smallest stranded individual was 190 cm, and largest fetus had a 212cm body length. Pygmy Right Whales are medium to dark gray above and almost white below. There are several distinctive crescent-shaped, pale markings on and just behind the head. The one above the flipper is similar to the Antarctic Minke Whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis), but the Pygmy Right Whale has a gray flare running forward of the eye. The most distinctive external features of the Pygmy Right Whale are absence of throat grooves, arched jaw (similar to but not as marked as in the true right whale family, Balaenidae), very narrow rostrum when seen from ...