Preface and Acknowledgments

1: Introduction

The Need for This Guide

Marine Mammal Identification and How to Use This Guide

Notes on the Format of the Species Accounts

Notes on the Identification Keys

Request For Feedback from Users

2: Basic Marine Mammal Biology

What is a Marine Mammal?

Types of Marine Mammals

Basic Marine Mammal Biology

3: Taxonomic Groupings Above the Species Level

Cetacea—Whales, dolphins, and porpoises

Order Sirenia—Manatees and Dugongs

Order Carnivora—Carnivorous mammals (including pinnipeds, marine otters, and polar bear)

Pinnipedia—Seals, sea lions, and walruses

4: Cetaceans

North Atlantic Right Whale—Eubalaena glacialis (Müller, 1776)

North Pacific Right Whale—Eubalaena japonica (Lacépéde, 1818)

Southern Right Whale—Eubalaena australis (Desmoulins, 1822)

Bowhead Whale—Balaena mysticetus Linnaeus, 1758

Pygmy Right Whale—Caperea marginata (Gray, 1846)

Blue Whale—Balaenoptera musculus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Fin Whale—Balaenoptera physalus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Sei Whale—Balaenoptera borealis Lesson, 1828

Bryde’s Whale—Balaenoptera edeni Anderson, 1879

Omura’s Whale—Balaenoptera omurai Wada, Oishi, and Yamada, 2003

Common Minke Whale—Balaenoptera acutorostrata Lacépède, 1804

Antarctic Minke Whale—Balaenoptera bonaerensis Burmeister, 1867

Humpbaok Whale–Megaptera novaeangliae (Borowski, 1781)

Gray Whale— Eschrichtius robustus (Lilljeborg, 1861)

Sperm Whale—Physeter macrocephalus Linnaeus, 1758

Pygmy Sperm Whale—Kogia breviceps (Blainville, 1838)

Dwarf Sperm Whale—Kogia sima (Owen, 1866)

Baird’s Beaked Whale—Berardius bairdii Stejegar, 1883

Arnoux’s Beaked Whale—Berardius arnuxii Duvernoy, 1851

Cuvier’s Beaked Whale—Ziphius cavirostris G. Cuvier, 1823

Northern Bottlenose Whale—Hyperoodon ampullatus (Forster, 1770)

Southern Bottlenose Whale—Hyperoodon planifrons Flower, 1882

Shepherd’s Beaked Whale—Tasmacetus shepherdi Oliver, 1937

Blainville’s Beaked Whale—Mesoplodon densirostris (Blainville, 1817)

Gray’s Beaked Whale—Mesoplodon grayi von Haast, 1876

Ginkgo-toothed Beaked Whale—Mesoplodon ginkgodens Nishiwaki and Kamiya,1958

Deraniyagala’s Beaked Whale—Mesoplodon hotaula Deraniyagala, 1963

Hector’s Beaked Whale—Mesoplodon hectori (Gray, 1871)

Perrin’s Beaked Whale—Mesoplodon perrini Dalebout, Mead, Baker, and van Helden, 2002

Hubbs’ Beaked Whale—Mesoplodon carlhubbsi Moore, 1963

Pygmy Beaked Whale—Mesoplodon peruvianus Reyes, Mead, and Van Waerebeek, 1991

Sowerby’s Beaked Whale—Mesoplodon bidens (Sowerby, 1804)

Gervais’ Beaked Whale—Mesoplodon europaeus (Gervais, 1855)

True’s Beaked Whale—Mesoplodon mirus True, 1913

Strap-toothed Beaked Whale—Mesoplodon layardii (Gray, 1865)

Andrews’ Beaked Whale—Mesoplodon bowdoini Andrews, 1908

Stejneger’s Beaked Whale—Mesoplodon stejnegeri True, 1885

Spade-toothed Beaked Whale—Mesoplodon traversii (Gray, 1874)

Longman’s Beaked Whale—lndopacetus pacificus (Longman, 1926)

Narwhal — Monodon monoceros Linnaeus, 1758

Beluga Whale — Delphinapterus leucas (Pallas, 1776)

Australian Snubfin Dolphin — Orcaella heinsohni Beasley, Robertson, and Arnold, 2005

Irrawaddy Dolphin — Orcaella brevirostris (Owen in Gray, 1866)

Killer Whale — Orcinus orca (Linnaeus, 1758)

Short-finned Pilot Whale—Globicephala macrorhynchus Gray, 1846

Long-finned Pilot Whale — Globicephala melas (Traill, 1809)

False Killer Whale—Pseudorca crassidens (Owen, 1846)

Pygmy Killer Whale—Feresa attenuata Gray, 1874

Melon-headed Whale—Peponocephala electra (Gray, 1846)

Risso’s Dolphin—Grampus griseus (G. Cuvier, 1812)

Tucuxi—Sotalia fluviatilis (Gervais and Deville in Gervais, 1853)

Guiana Dolphin—Sotalia guianensis (Van Bénéden, 1864)

Rough-toothed Dolphin—Steno bredanensis (G. Cuvier in Lesson, 1828)

Atlantic Humpback Dolphin—Sousa teuszii (Kükenthal, 1892)

Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin— Sousa chinensis (Osbeck, 1765)

Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphin— Sousa plumbea (G. Cuvier, 1829)

Australian Humpback Dolphin— Sousa sahulensis Jefferson and Rosenbaum, 2014

Common Bottlenose Dolphin—Tursiops truncatus (Montagu, 1821)

Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin—Tursiops aduncus (Ehrenberg, 1833)

Pantropical Spotted Dolphin—Stenella attenuata (Gray, 1846)

Atlantic Spotted Dolphin—Stenella frontalis (G. Cuvier, 1829)

Spinner Dolphin — Stenella longirostris (Gray, 1828)

Clymene Dolphin—Stenella clymene (Gray, 1850)

Striped Dolphin— Stenella coeruleoalba (Meyen, 1833)

Short-beaked Common Dolphin—Delphinus delphis Linnaeus, 1758

Long-beaked Common Dolphin—Delphinus capensis Gray, 1828

Fraser’s DoIphin—Lagenodelphis hosei Fraser, 1956

White-beaked Dolphin— Lagenorhynchus albirostris (Gray, 1846)

Atlantic White-sided Dolphin—Lagenorhynchus acutus (Gray, 1828)

Pacific White-sided DoIphin— Lagenorhynchus obliquidens Gill, 1865

Dusky Dolphin— Lagenorhynchus obscurus (Gray, 1828)

Hourglass Dolphin—Lagenorhynchus cruciger (Quoy and Gaimard, 1824)

Peale’s Dolphin—Lagenorhynchus australis (Peale, 1848)

Northern Right Whale Dolphin—Lissodelphis borealis (Peale, 1848)

Southern Right Whale Dolphin—Lissodelphis peronii (Lacépède, 1804)

Commerson’s Dolphin—Cephalorhynchus commersonii (Lacépède, 1804)

Heaviside’s Dolphin—Cephalorhynchus heavisidii (Gray, 1828)

Hector’s Dolphin—Cephalorhynchus hectori (Van Beneden, 1881)

Chilean Dolphin—Cephalorhynchus eutropia (Gray, 1846)

Dall’s Porpoise—Phocoenoides dalli (True, 1885)

Harbor Porpoise—Phocoena phocoena (Linnaeus, 1758)

Spectacled Porpoise—Phocoena dioptrica Lahille, 1912

Burmeister’s Porpoise—Phocoena spinipinnis Burmeister, 1865

Vaquita—Phocoena sinus Norris and McFarland, 1958

Indo-Pacific Finless Porpoise—Neophocaena phocaenoides (G. Cuvier, 1829)

Narrow-ridged Finless Porpoise—Neophocaena asiaeorientalis (Pilleri and Gihr, 1972)

South Asian River Dolphin— Platanista gangetica (Lebeck, 1801)

Amazon River Dolphin—Inia geoffrensis (Blainville, 1817)

Franciscana— Pontoporia blainvillei (Gervais and d’Orbigny, 1844)

5: Pinnipeds

Northern Fur Seal—Callorhinus ursinus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Antarctic Fur Seal—Arctocephalus gazella (Peters, 1875)

Juan Fernandez and Guadalupe Fur Seals—Arctocephalus philippii (Peters, 1866)

Galapagos Fur Seal—Arctocephalus galapagoensis Heller, 1904

South American Fur Seal—Arctocephalus australis (Zimmerman, 1783)

New Zealand Fur Seal-Arctocephalus forsteri (Lesson, 1828)

Subantarctic Fur Seal—Arctocephalus tropicalis (Gray, 1872)

Cape and Australian Fur Seals—Arctocephalus pusillus (Schreber, 1775)

Steller Sea Lion—Eumetopias jubatus (Schreber, 1776)

California Sea Lion—Zalophus californianus (Lesson, 1828)

Galapagos Sea Lion—Zalophus wollebaeki Sivertsen, 1953

South Amreican Sea Lion—Otaria flacescens (Shaw, 1800)

Australian Sea Lion—Neophoca cinerea (Peron, 1816)

New Zealand Sea Lion—Phocarctos hookeri (Gray, 1844)

Walrus—Odobenus rosmarus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Hawaiian Monk SeaI—Neomonachus schauinslandi Matschie. 1905

Mediterranean Monk Seal—Monachus monachus (Hermann, 1779)

Ross Seal—Ommatophoca rossii Gray, 1844

Crabeater Seal—Lobodon carcinophaga (Hombron and Jacquinot, 1842)

Leopard Seal—Hydrurga leptonyx (Blainville, 1820)

Weddell Seal—Leptonychotes weddellii (Lesson, 1826)

Southern Elephant Seal—Mirounga leonina (Linnaeus, 1758)

Northern Elephant Seal—Mirounga angustirostris (Gill, 1866)

Bearded Seal—Erignathus barbatus (Erxleben, 1777)

Hooded Seal—Cystophora cristata (Erxleben, 1777)

Gray Seal—Halichoerus grypus (Fabricius, 1791)

Ribbon Seal—Histriophoca fasciata (Zimmerman, 1783)

Harp Seal—Pagophilus groenlandicus (Erxleben, 1777)

Harbor Seal—Phoca vitulina Linnaeus, 1758

Spotted SeaI—Phoca largha (Pallas, 1811)

Ringed SeaI—Pusa hispida (Schreber, 1775)

Baikal Seal—Pusa sibirica (Gmelin, 1788)

Caspian Seal—Pusa caspica (Gmelin, 1788)

6: Sirenians

West Indian Manatee — Trichechus manatus Linnaeus, 1758

African Manatee—Trichechus senegalensis Link, 1795

Amazonian Manatee—Trichechus inunguis (Natterer, 1883)

Dugong—Dugong dugon (Müller, 1776)

7: Otters & Polar Bear

Sea Otter—Enhydra lutris (Linneaus, 1758)

Marine Otter—Lontra felina (Molina, 1782)

Polar Bear—Ursus maritimus Phipps, 1774

8: Extinct Species

Baiji—Lipotes vexillifer Miller, 1918

Japanese Sea Lion—Zalophus japonicus (Peters, 1866)

Caribbean Monk Seal?—?Neomonachus tropicalis (Gray, 1850)

Steller’s Sea Cow—Hydrodamalis gigas (Zimmerman, 1780)

9: Identification Keys

General Notes on the Use of the Keys

A Key to Identification of Cetaceans of the World, Based on External Appearance

B Key to Identification of Cetaceans of the World, Based on Skull Morphology

C Key to Identification of Baleen Whales of the World, Based on Baleen Plates

D Key to Identification of Pinnipeds of the World, Based on External Appearance

E Key to Identification of Pinnipeds of the World, Based on Skull Morphology

F Key to Identification of Sirenians of the World, Based on External Appearance and Distribution

G Key to Identification of Sirenians of the World, Based on Skull Morphology

10: Sources for More Information

Index—Common Names

Index—Scientific Names

Photo Credit Suplementary Information