Species Balaenoptera acutorostrata Lacépède, 1804

Museums

Regional Maps

• Balaenoptera acutorostrata Lacépède, B.G.É. 1804. Histoire Naturelle des Cétacées.dediée à Anne-Caroline La Cepède: par le Citoyen La Cepède. Paris : Chez Plassan, Imprimeur-Libraire xxxiii 329 pp. [134] [as Balaenoptera acuto-rostrata, replacement name for Balaena rostrata Fabricius, 1780].

  Type data:

   Status unknown, (none in existence), Cherbourg, France.

  Secondary source:

   Hershkovitz, P. 1966. Catalog of living whales. Bulletin of the United States National Museum 246: viii 1-259.
• Balaena rostrata Fabricius, O. 1780. Fauna Groenlandica. Systematice sistens, Animalia Groenlandiae occidentalis hactenus indagata, quad Nomen specificum, triviale, vernaculumque Synonyma Auctorum plurium, Descriptionem, Locum, Victum, Generationem, Mores, Usum, Capturamque singuli, pront detegendi Occasio fuit, maximaque Parte secundum proprias Observationes. Havniae & Lipsiae : Heineck & Faber 452 pp., 1 pl. [40] [junior homonym of Balaena rostrata Müller, 1776; see True, F.W. 1898. The nomenclature of the whalebone whales of the tenth edition of Linnaeus's. Systema Naturae. Proc. U.S. Natl. Mus. 21: 617–635 [634]].

  Type data:

   Status unknown, BMNH 45679 skull, N Atlantic (Greenland seas).

  Secondary source:

   True, F.W. 1898. The nomenclature of the whalebone whales of the tenth edition of Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 21: 617-635; Hershkovitz, P. 1966. Catalog of living whales. Bulletin of the United States National Museum 246: viii 1-259.

 

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Clayton et al. (2006) give the general distribution of this species.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IMCRA

Tasmania Province (10), Southeast Transition (11), 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), Norfolk Island Province (21), Macquarie Island Province (24), Northwest Shelf Province (27), Central Western Shelf Province (29), Southwest Shelf Transition (30), Southwest Shelf Province (31), Great Australian Bight Shelf Transition (32), 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), Central Eastern Shelf Transition (39), Northwest Province (4), Northeast Shelf Province (40), Central Western Transition (5), Central Western Province (6), Southwest Transition (7), Southern Province (8), West Tasmania Transition (9)

Ecological Descriptors

Migratory, oceanic province, pelagic, planktivore.

 

General References

Anon. 1978. Southern Hemisphere Baleen Whales. pp. 54-56 in [Committee] (ed.). Mammals in the Seas. FAO Fisheries Series 5(1). Rome : FAO/UN.

Arnold, P. 1997. Occurrence of dwarf minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) on the northern Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Report of the International Whaling Commission 47: 419-424

Arnold, P.W., Birtles, R.A., Dunstand, A., Lukoschek, V. & Matthews, M. 2005. Colour patterns of the dwarf minke whales Balaenoptera acutorostrata sensu lato: description, cladistic analysis and taxonomic implicatons. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 51: 277-307

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

Birtles, A., Arnold, P. & Dunstan, A. 2002. Commercial swim programs with dwarf minke whales on the northern Great Barrier Reef, Australia: some characteristics of the encounters with management implications. Australian Mammalogy 24: 23-38

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

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

Gedamske, J., Costa, D. & Dunstan, A. 2001. Localisation and visual verification of complex minke whale vocalisation. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 109: 3038-3047

Kasamatsu, F., Nishiwaki, S. & Ishikawa, H. 1995. Breeding areas and southbound migrations of southern minke whales Balaenoptera acutorostrata. Marine Ecology Progress Series 119: 1-10

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

Ling, J.K. & Aitken, P.F. 1981. Marine mammals in South Australia. in, S.A. Year Book, 1981. Adelaide : Australian Bureau of Statistics 10 pp.

Stewart, B.S. & Leatherwood, S. 1985. Minke whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata Lacépède, 1804. pp. 91-136 in Ridgway, S.H. & Harrison, R.J. (eds). Handbook of Marine Mammals. Volume 3. The sirenians and baleen whales. London : Academic Press 362 pp.

Valentine, P.S., Birtles, R.A., Curnock, M.I., Arnold, P.W. & Dunstan, A.J. 2004. Getting closer to whales — passenger expectations and experiences, and the management of swim with dwarf minke whale interactions in the Great Barrier Reef. Tourism Management 25: 647-655

 

Common Name References

ABRS 2001. Census of Australian Vertebrates. Australian Biological Resources Study. (Dwarf Minke 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)