Balaenoptera acutorostrata Lacépède 1804

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Cetacea, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 723-743 : 724

Balaenoptera acutorostrata Lacépède 1804

Balaenoptera acutorostrata Lacépède 1804 , Hist. Nat. Cetacees: 134.

Type Locality: France, "pris aux environs de la rade de Cherbourg", Mancha.

Vernacular Names: Common Minke Whale.

Synonyms: Balaenoptera davidsoni Cope 1872 ; Balaenoptera minima (Rapp 1837) ; Balaenoptera rostrata (Fabricius 1780) .

Distribution: Worldwide: arctic to tropical waters.

Conservation: CITES – Appendix I (except the population of West Greenland, which is Appendix II); IUCN – Lower Risk (nt).

Discussion: Reviewed by Stewart and Leatherwood (1985). Two forms have been described from SW Pacific waters ( Arnold et al., 1987). May represent two or three species ( Wada and Numachi, 1991). Deméré (1986) reassigned Eschrichtius davidsonii (Cope 1872) to Balaenoptera , making B. davidson i Scammon 1872 a junior synonym and erecting Balaenoptera acutorostrata scammoni Deméré, 1986 as a substitute. Rice (1998:70) recognized B. a. scammoni (Scammon’s Minke Whale) and another un-named subspecies in the southern hemisphere (B. a. subsp.; Dwarf Minke Whale). We recognize that there are probably others, like the population in the Sea of Japan.