Species Peponocephala electra (J.E. Gray, 1846)

Museums

Regional Maps

• Lagenorhynchus electra 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. [35].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH 359a. 1844.10.5.3 skull, unknown locality.

 

Generic Combinations

• Peponocephala electra (J.E. Gray, 1846).

 

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Circumglobal in tropical waters.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IMCRA

Central Eastern Province (12), Tasman Basin Province (13), Lord Howe Province (14), Central Eastern Transition (15), Kenn Transition (16), Kenn Province (17), Northeast Province (18), Northeast Transition (19), Timor Province (2), Cape Province (20), Northwest Shelf Transition (26), Northwest Shelf Province (27), Central Western Shelf Transition (28), Central Western Shelf Province (29), Northwest Transition (3), Central Eastern Shelf Province (38), Central Eastern Shelf Transition (39), Northwest Province (4), Northeast Shelf Province (40), Northeast Shelf Transition (41), Central Western Transition (5)

Ecological Descriptors

Gregarious, oceanic, pelagic, predator.

Extra Ecological Information

Diet consists of cephalopods and small fish.

 

General References

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

Bryden, M.M. 1978. Whales and whaling in Queensland waters. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland 89: v-xviii

Bryden, M.M., Harrison, R.J. & Lear, R.J. 1978. Some aspects of the biology of Peponocephala electra (Cetacea: Delphinidae) 1. General and reproductive biology. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 28: 703-715

Bryden M.M., Dawbin, W.H., Heinsohn, G.E. & Brown, D.H. 1977. Melon-headed whale, Peponocephala electra, on the east coast of Australia. Journal of Mammalogy 58: 180-187

Dawbin, W.H., Noble, B.A. & Fraser, F.C. 1970. Observations on the electra dolphin Peponocephala electra. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Zool. 20: 173-201

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

Nishiwaki, M. & Norris, K.S. 1966. A new genus, Peponocephala, for the odontocete cetacean species Electra electra. Science Reports of the Whales Research Institute Tokyo 20: 95-100

 

Common Name References

ABRS 2001. Census of Australian Vertebrates. Australian Biological Resources Study. (Melon-headed 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)