Species Caperea marginata (J.E. Gray, 1846)

Museums

Regional Maps

• Balaena marginata Gray, J.E. 1846. On the cetaceous animals. pp. 13-53 in Richardson, J. & Gray, J.E. (eds). The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Erebus and Terror under the Command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross, R.N., F.R.S., during the years 1839 to 1843. Vol. 1 Mammalia, Birds 37 pls. London : E.W. Janson. [48].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH 339a, b, c 3 baleen plates, Swan River, WA.

 

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Hershkovitz, P. 1966. Catalog of living whales. Bulletin of the United States National Museum 246: viii 1-259 [184] (for extralimital synonymy)

 

Generic Combinations

• Caperea marginata (J.E. Gray, 1846).
• Neobalaena marginata (J.E. Gray, 1846).

 

Distribution

States

New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Southern circumglobal between 30º and 60ºS.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones

IMCRA

Central Western Shelf Transition (28), Central Western Shelf Province (29), Southwest Shelf Transition (30), Southwest Shelf Province (31), Spencer Gulf Shelf Province (33), Western Bass Strait Shelf Transition (34), Bass Strait Shelf Province (35), Tasmanian Shelf Province (36), Southeast Shelf Transition (37), Central Eastern Shelf Province (38), Northwest Province (4), Central Western Transition (5)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • 200 m bathymetric: Bass Strait, Central W coast, Lower E coast, Lower W coast, S Gulfs coast, SW coast, Tas. Coast

Ecological Descriptors

Continental shelf, oceanic, pelagic, predator.

 

General References

Aitken, P.F. 1971. Whales from the coast of South Australia. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 95: 95-103

Baker, A.N. 1985. Pygmy right whale Caperea marginata (Gray, 1846). pp. 345-354 in Ridgway, S.H. & Harrison, R.J. (eds). Handbook of Marine Mammals. Volume 3. The sirenians and baleen whales. London : Academic Press 362 pp.

Bannister, J.L., Kemper, C.M. & Warneke, R.M. 1996. The Action Plan for Australian Cetaceans. Canberra : Australian Nature Conservation Agency 242 pp.

Dawbin, W.H. & Cato, D.H. 1991. Sounds of the pygmy right whale (Caperea marginata). Marine Mammal Science 8: 213-219

Gaskin, D.E. 1972. Whales, Dolphins and Seals, with Special Reference to the New Zealand Region. London : Heinemann 200 pp.

Guiler, E.R. 1978. Whale strandings in Tasmania since 1945 with notes on some seal reports. Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 112: 189-213

Hale, H.M. 1964. Pigmy Right Whale (Caperea marginata) in South Australian waters, Part 2. Records of the South Australian Museum (Adelaide) 14: 679-694

Kemper, C., Dutton, J., Forster, B. & McGuire, R. 1997. Sightings and strandings of pygmy right whale Caperea marginata near Port Lincoln, South Australia and a review of other Australasian sightings. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 121: 79-82

Kemper, C.M. 2002. Distribution of the pygmy right whale Caperea marginata in the Australasian region. Marine Mammal Science 18: 99-111

Kemper, C.M. 2002. Pygmy right whale. pp. 1010-1012 in Perrin, W.F., Wursig, B. & Thewissen, J.G.M. (eds). Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals. San Diego : Academic Press.

Leatherwood, S. & Reeves, R.R. 1983. The Sierra Club Handbook of Whales and Dolphins. San Francisco : Sierra Club Books xviii 302 pp.

Matsuoke, K., Fujise, Y. & Pastene, L.A. 1996. A sighting of a large school of the pygmy right whale, Caperea marginata, in the southeast Indian Ocean. Marine Mammal Science 12: 594-597

Pavey, C.R. 1991. The occurrence of the pygmy right whale, Caperea marginata (Cetacea: Neobalaenidae), along the Australian coast. Australian Mammalogy 15: 1-6

Pirzi, R. & Anderson, G.R.V. 1997. Australia. Progress report on cetacean research, May 1995 to May 1996. In, Anon. (ed.). Forty-seventh Report of the International Whaling Commission. Cambridge : International Whaling Commission 1032 pp.

Warneke, R.M. 1983. Whale stranding — accident or design. Australian Natural History 21: 43-47

Watson, L. 1981. Sea Guide to Whales of the World. London : Hutchinson 302 pp.

 

Common Name References

ABRS 2001. Census of Australian Vertebrates. Australian Biological Resources Study. (Pygmy Right Whale)

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
11-Jun-2024		11-Jun-2024	MOVED
11-Jun-2024		11-Jun-2024	MOVED
16-Dec-2010		16-Oct-2013	MODIFIED
		12-Feb-2010	(import)