Species Mesoplodon grayi Von Haast, 1876

Museums

Regional Maps

• Mesoplodon grayi von Haast, J. 1876. On a new ziphioid whale. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1876: 7-13 [9].

  Type data:

   
  Syntype(s) BMNH, Waitangi Beach, Chatham Is., N.Z.; CMNZ 3 skulls, Waitangi Beach, Chatham Is., N.Z.

  Secondary source:

   Hershkovitz, P. 1966. Catalog of living whales. Bulletin of the United States National Museum 246: viii 1-259.

 

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Hershkovitz, P. 1966. Catalog of living whales. Bulletin of the United States National Museum 246: viii 1-259 [130] (in synonymy of B. arnuxii, Duvernoy, 1851; see also for extralimital synonymy)

 

Distribution

States

South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Southern Hemisphere circumglobal in cold temperate waters.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IMCRA

Tasmania Province (10), Southeast Transition (11), Central Eastern Province (12), Tasman Basin Province (13), Tasmanian Shelf Province (36), Central Western Province (6), Southwest Transition (7), Southern Province (8), West Tasmania Transition (9)

Ecological Descriptors

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

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

Dalebout, M.L., Russell, K.G., Little, M.J. & Ensor, P. 2004. Observations of live Gray's beaked whales (Mesoplodon grayi) in Mahurangi Harbour, North Islands, New Zealand, with a summary of at-sea sightings. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 34: 347-356

Gale, N.J., Dalebout, M.L. & Bannister, J. 2002. Genetic identification and biological observation of two free-swimming beaked whales: Hector's beaked whale (Mesoplodon hectori, Gray, 1871), and Gray's beaked whale (Mesoplodon grayi), Von Haast, 1876). Marine Mammal Science 18: 544-551

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

Glauert, L. 1947. The genus Mesoplodon in Western Australian seas. The Australian Zoologist 11: 73-75

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

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

Mead, J.G. 1989. Beaked whales of the genus Mesoplodon. pp. 349-430 in Ridgway, S.H. & Harrison, R.J. (eds). Handbook of Marine Mammals. Volume 4. River dolphins and the larger toothed whales. London : Academic Press 442 pp.

National Audubon Society 2002. Guide to Marine Mammals of the World. New York : Chanticleer Press.

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. (Gray's Beaked 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-Dec-2010	MODIFIED
		12-Feb-2010	(import)