The Zoochat Photographic Guide To Cetaceans

Seeing the various mammal photographic guides that has been made in Zoochat, I would like to do a still missing one, for my favourite group of mammals: the cetaceans.

Cetaceans is a very famous order of mammals that currently are entirely adapted to aquatic life, tough many long-extinct species were amphibious. Unfortunately, cetacean diversity is extremely low in captivity, and observation of many species in the wild is also very difficult, as a result, the Zoochat Gallery is very far from complete as compared with the mammals represented in other threads.

As I'm not an admin or mod, I please ask admins for edit this thread when a photo of a taxon non illustrated before in the Gallery is uploaded.

 

ORDER CETACEA

SUBORDEN MYSTICETI
BALEEN WHALES
Fiveteen species in four Families: Balaenidae, Cetotheriidae (Pygmy right whales), Balaenopteridae (Rorquals) and Eschrichtiidae (Grey whales).

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BALAENIDAE
Four species in two genera.
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Balaena
One species

Bowhead whale Balaena mysticetus
Monotypic.

Photo of a replica by @Giant Eland at Toba Aquarium. No photos of alive specimens have been made in the gallery yet, tough there is also a photo of a skeleton.

 

Eubalaena
Three species


North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis
Monotypic.
No photos of this species have been uploaded to the Gallery yet.

North Pacific right whale Eubalaena japonica
Monotypic.
Taxonomic note: previous to 2000, it was considered conspecific with Eubalaena glacialis.
No photos of this species have been uploaded to the Gallery yet.

Southern right whale Eubalaena australis
Monotypic.
Photo of @DavidBrown in the wild at South African coast.

 

CETOTHERIIDAE
Pygmy right whale
Taxonomic note: Previously to 2002, this species was included in Neobalaenidae family. Neobalaenidae is a more restrictive taxon than Cetotheriidae and includes only the extant genus Caperea and the extinct Miocaperea, while Cetotheriidae sensu lato includes Neobalaeninae as a subfamily as well as other two subfamilies composed exclusively by extinct genus.
One species in one genera.

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Caperea
Pygmy right whale
One species

Pygmy right whale Caperea marginata
Monotypic.
Photo of a skull by @Crowthorne at Natural History Museum, London. No photos of alive specimens have been uploaded to the Gallery yet.

 

OK, I tought that a photo of a reconstruction was better for representation of the species than a photo of a skeleton.
Here is it:

Photo of @Mr Wrinkly at Toronto Zoo

 

ESCHRICHTIIDAE
Grey whales
One species in one genera.
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Eschrichtius
Grey whale
One species

Grey whale Eschrichtius robustus
Taxonomic note: The name Eschrichtius gibbosus have priority over Eschrichtius robustus, being described almost a century before, but Eschrichtius robustus is a nomen conservandum.
Monotypic.

Photo of @Giant Eland at SeaWorld San Diego. This is the only baleen whale (Mysticeti) that has been kept in a relatively long term in captivity.

 

@Kakapo I think you accidentally typed D instead of C in the title (photographid instead of photographic). Is it ok if I fix the title for you?

 

BALAENOPTERIDAE
Rorquals
Eight or nine species in two genera.

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Balaenoptera
Rorquals
Seven or eight species.

Fin whale Balaenoptera physalus
Two subspecies recognized,

Northern fin whale Balaenoptera physalus physalus
Photo of @Merintia taken in the wild in Viscay Bay.


Southern fin whale Balaenoptera physalus quoyi
No photos of this subspecies has been uploaded to the gallery yet.

Taxonomic note:
Some authors think that the northern subspecies must be split in Atlantic and Pacific subspecies, but then the Pacific taxon has not been named yet.
In 2004 was purposed also a third subspecies Balaenoptera physalus patachonica for a single individual smaller and darker than average, but the purpose was not widely accepted and have not genetic evidence.

Sei whale Balaenoptera borealis
No photos of this species has been uploaded to the Gallery yet.
Two subspecies recognized.

Northern sei whale Balaenoptera borealis borealis
Southern sei whale Balaenoptera borealis schlegelii

Bryde's whale Balaenoptera brydei
Taxonomic note: It has been widely considered as conspecific with Balaenoptera edeni.
Monotypic.
Photo by @Giant Eland in the wild off Cape Town, South Africa.


Eden's whale Balaenoptera edeni
Monotypic.
No photos of this species has been uploaded to the Gallery yet.

Omura's whale Balaenoptera omurai
Taxonomic note: Was described in 2003, previously being considered as conspecific with Balaenoptera edeni. The genus have eight species if we considere this species, and seven if we considere it as part of B. edeni.
Monotypic.
Photo of @devilfish at Phuket Aquarium (Thailand), showing a skeleton of this species and other marine theme. There are no photos of alive specimens in the Gallery yet.


Blue whale Balaenoptera musculus
Three or four subspecies recognized.

Northern blue whale Balaenoptera musculus musculus
Photo of @Giant Eland in the wild at Long Beach, California, USA


Southern blue whale Balaenoptera musculus intermedia
No photos of this subspecies have been uploaded to the Gallery yet.

Pygmy blue whale Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda
Photo of @chrisroughley in the wild at Sri Lanka


Taxonomic note: Great Indian rorqual Balaenoptera musculus indica is probably consubspecific with Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda, and this subspecies is not widely accepted.

Common minke whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata
Monotypic.
Photo of @Giant Eland in the wild at Cape Cod, USA


Antarctic minke whale Balaenoptera bonaerensis
Monotypic.
Taxonomic note: Hybrids between both species of minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata and Balaenoptera bonaerensis) are fertile, so tough widely accepted as different species, maybe they should be merged again in a single species.
No photos of this species has been uploaded to the Gallery yet.

 

Ouch, certainly I missed that obvious typo! Feel free for fix it. Thanks!

 

Megaptera
Humpback whale
One species

Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae
Taxonomic note: the North Atlantic, North Pacific and Southern populations may be enough different to be considered as subspecies, but nothing is officially published about yet.
Monotypic.
Photo of @Hix in the wild near Niue island, Oceania

 

SUBORDEN ODONTOCETI
TOOTHED WHALES
Sixty-five to seventy-seven species depending on the taxonomy school choosed, in eigth or nine Families depending on the taxonomy school choosed: Physeteridae (Sperm whales), Kogiidae (Dwarf sperm whales), Platanistidae (River dolphins), Ziphiidae (Beaked whales), Pontoporiidae (La Plata dolphins)+Iniidae (tought they could be merged in same family), Delphinidae (oceanic dolphins), Phocoenidae (Porpoise) and Monodontidae.

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PHYSETERIDAE
Sperm whales
One species in one genera.
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Physeter
Sperm whale
One species

Sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus
Taxonomic note: During years was widely known as Physeter catodon. The name catodon was published earlier than macrocephalus in the same publication by the same author, and therefore should be prioritary over Physeter macrocephalus, however it's worldwide acepted nowadays Ph. macrocephalus as the valid name and Ph. catodon as a synonym.
Monotypic.
Photo of @Najade in the wild near Kaikoura, New Zealand

 

KOGIIDAE
Dwarf sperm whales
Taxonomic note: Sometimes merged with family Physeteridae. However, here we would treat them as two families in the same superfamily Physeteroidea.
Two species in one genera.
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Kogia
Dwarf sperm whales
Two species

Dwarf sperm whale Kogia sima
Taxonomic note: More widely known as Kogia simus, but the specific epithet is an adjective and therefore should be in concordance with the generic epithet that is femenine, so the correct nomenclature is Kogia sima.
Monotypic.
No photos of this species have been uploaded to the Gallery yet.

Pygmy sperm whale Kogia breviceps
No photos of this species have been uploaded to the Gallery yet.

 

PLATANISTIDAE
River dolphins
One or two species depending to taxonomic school choosen, in one genera.
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Platanista
South Asian river dolphin
One or two species depending to taxonomic school choosen.

South Asian river dolphin Platanista gangetica
Two subspecies recognized.

Gangetic dolphin Platanista gangetica gangetica
Photo of @Chlidonias at Tezpur, near Nameri National Park, Assam, India


Indus dolphin Platanista gangetica minor
Taxonomic note: Splited as a different species (Platanista minor) in the 1970s due to differences in skeleton and lipid composition and wide geographical separation from the Ganges population, however in 1998 it was merged again into P. gangetica due to lack of enough genetic differentiation.
No photos of this subspecies have been uploaded to the Gallery yet.

 

Nice work @Kakapo ! Keep it up!

 

ZIPHIIDAE
Beaked whales
Eighteen to twenty-three species depending to taxonomic school choosen, in six genera.
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Berardius
Giant beaked whales
Taxonomic note: A still unnamed taxon was described as new species in 2016, formally known as "'Karasu". It have no physical differences with the remaining of the genus, just genetic differences.
One or two species depending to taxonomic school choosen.

Baird's beaked whale Berardius bairdii
Two subspecies recognized.

Baird's beaked whale Berardius bairdii bairdii
Foto of @snowleopard of a skull displayed at Vancouver Aquarium, Canada. No photos of alive specimens have been uploaded to the Gallery yet.


Arnoux's beaked whale Berardius bairdii arnuxii
Taxonomic note: Widely accepted as a separate species, Berardius arnuxii. However, it's so similar that is physically impossible to distinguish between it and nominate subspecies, except by distribution (Berardius bairdii bairdii in Northern hemisphere and B. bairdii arnuxii in Southern hemisphere). The two taxa are also different genetically.
No photos of this subspecies have been uploaded to the Gallery yet.

 

Hyperoodon
Bottlenose whales
Two species recognized.

Northern bottlenose whale Hyperoodon ampullatus
Monotypic.
Photo of @Maguari taken in the wild at Bay of Biscay (Atlantic northeast) in the ferry from Portsmouth to Santander.


Southern bottlenose whale Hyperoodon planifrons
Monotypic.
No photos of this species have been uploaded to the Gallery yet.

 

Mesoplodon
Mesoplodont whales
Thirteen to fiveteen species recognized depending to taxonomy school choosen.

Sowerby's beaked whale Mesoplodon bidens
Monotypic.
No photos of this species have been uploaded to the Gallery yet.

Blainville's beaked whale Mesoplodon densirostris
Monotypic.
Photo by @Chlidonias at National Zoological Museum of China, of a taxidermy specimen. This is one of the very few examples of real taxidermy specimens exhibited in a museum, almost every museum shows lifesized realistic replicas instead, because the fatty skin of cetaceans is very difficult to preserve dry.
No photos of alive specimens have been uploaded to the Gallery yet.


Gervais' beaked whale Mesoplodon europaeus
Monotypic.
No photos of this species have been uploaded to the Gallery yet.

Strap-toothed whale Mesoplodon layardii
Monotypic.
Photo by @Crowthorne at Natural History Museum, London, UK showing a skull (the bigger one) together with a Gangetic dolphin skull. No photos of alive specimens have been uploaded to the Gallery yet.


Hector's beaked whale Mesoplodon hectori
Two subspecies, tough usually recogized as different species.

Hector's beaked whale Mesoplodon hectori hectori
No photos of this subspecies have been uploaded to the Gallery yet.

Perrins' beaked whale Mesoplodon hectori perrini
Taxonomic note: Usually is considered as a different species. It was discovered very recently (2002) by individuals beached in California, far out of the previously known range of the species (Southern Hemisphere), and they were assigned to Mesoplodon hectori until they was DNA sequenced showing that they are a different taxa. It's not possible to distinguish it from Mesoplodon hectori hectori without barcoding.
No photos of this subspecies have been uploaded to the Gallery yet.

Spade-toothed whale Mesoplodon traversii
Monotypic.
No photos of this species have been uploaded to the Gallery yet (and probably will never be, as this is regarded as "the lesser known (extant) large mammal of the world"

Gray's beaked whale Mesoplodon grayi
Monotypic.
No photos of this species have been uploaded to the Gallery yet.

Stejneger's beaked whale Mesoplodon stejnegeri
Monotypic.
No photos of this species have been uploaded to the Gallery yet.

Andrews' beaked whale Mesoplodon bowdoini
Monotypic.
No photos of this species have been uploaded to the Gallery yet.

Hubbs' beaked whale Mesoplodon carlhubbsi
Taxonomic note: When discovered, it was confused with the previous species, but in 1963 it was reassigned as a new species.
Monotypic.
No photos of this species have been uploaded to the Gallery yet.

True's beaked whale Mesoplodon mirus
Monotypic, but two different populations (Atlantic and Indian Oceans) could represent two different, yet undescribed, subspecies.
No photos of this species have been uploaded to the Gallery yet.

Ginkgo-toothed beaked whale Mesoplodon ginkgodens
Two subspecies, tough usually recogized as different species.

Ginkgo-toothed beaked whale Mesoplodon ginkgodens ginkgodens
No photos of this subspecies have been uploaded to the Gallery yet.

Deraniyagala's beaked whale Mesoplodon ginkgodens hotaula
Taxonomic note: Usually recogized as a different species (Mesoplodon hotaula), but it's morphologically identical with Mesoplodon ginkgodens ginkgodens and the only differences are in DNA, and the genetic distance is considerably smaller than in other pairs of species of Mesoplodon.
No photos of this subspecies have been uploaded to the Gallery yet.

Pygmy beaked whale Mesoplodon peruvianus
Monotypic.
No photos of this species have been uploaded to the Gallery yet.

 

Tasmacetus
Shepherd's beaked whale
Taxonomic note: formerly included in Mesoplodon, but teeth are very different, more dolphin-like. In fact is in a different subfamily (Ziphiinae)
One species recognized.

Shepherd's beaked whale Tasmacetus shepherdi
Monotypic.
No photos of this species have been uploaded to the Gallery yet.

 

Ziphius
Cuvier's beaked whale
One species recognized.

Cuvier's beaked whale Ziphius cavirostris
Monotypic.
No photos of this species have been uploaded to the Gallery yet.