Longman beaked whale

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Longman beaked whale
School of Longman's Beaked Whales

School of Longman's Beaked Whales

Systematics
Superordinate : Laurasiatheria
Order : Whales (cetacea)
Subordination : Toothed whales (Odontoceti)
Family : Beaked whales (Ziphiidae)
Genre : Indopacetus
Type : Longman beaked whale
Scientific name of the  genus
Indopacetus
Moore , 1968
Scientific name of the  species
Indopacetus pacificus
( Longman , 1926)

The Longman's beaked whale ( Indopacetus pacificus ), sometimes with the ambiguous name Pacific beaked whale , is a species of whale from the family of the beaked whales (Ziphiidae).

This whale species is one of the least known of its family and for a long time was only known from two skull finds (1882 on the coast of Queensland , Australia and 1955 in Somalia ). The zoologist Longman described the species in 1926 on the basis of the first skull find, since then it has borne his common name. There were sightings off the Seychelles from the 1980s, in 2002 a complete specimen was first washed up in Japan , and in 2003 another in the Philippines . In November 2013, eight animals were washed ashore in New Caledonia, far from their assumed and known habitat. Four of the animals perished. From these finds one deduces a distribution area that includes the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific .

The size of this whale species is estimated to be around seven meters. The fact that such a large animal could remain undetected for so long is attributed on the one hand to a habitat on the high seas, which is typical of all beaked whale species. On the other hand, it is possible that sighted animals were mistaken for black or two-toothed whales .

Longman beaked whales have a long snout, slightly arched forehead, slender, large flippers, and a triangular, far-back fin . The coloring of these animals varies from light to dark gray. From the stomach contents of a stranded animal, it is concluded that its diet consists primarily of squid .

Apart from that, nothing is known about the way of life of these animals.

literature

  • Marel L. Dalebout, Graham R. Ross, C. Scott Baker, R. Charles Anderson, Peter B. Best, Victor G. Cockcroft, Harvey L. Hinsz, Victor Peddemors, Robert L. Pitman: Appearance, Distribution, and Genetic Distinctiveness of Longman's Beaked Whale, Indopacetus pacificus . In: Marine Mammal Science , Vol. 19 (2003), Issue 3, pp. 421-461, ISSN  0824-0469 , ( PDF ).

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