Whales, dolphins and porpoises belong to the Order Cetacea. The following taxonomic reference provides the most complete and up-to-date classification in the current taxonomy. The list provides common vernacular names, scientific names and the names of sub-species, where these have been described. A number of the sub-species listed below have not yet been named, and in such cases these are simply referred to herein as subsp. The common names assigned for these animals are typically centred around the geographic distribution of the species'.
The links below are directed to a detailed fact file for those species commonly recorded in the CRRU Moray Firth study area.
Order CETACEA (90 species)
Suborder MYSTICETI: The baleen (moustached) whales (15 species)
Baleen whales are filter feeders which sieve food from the seawater with baleen (hair-fringed plates made from keratin). The minke whale is the most common of the baleen whales in the Moray Firth, although other mysticete species such as fin, sei and humpback whales are also intermittently recorded in these waters.
Family Balaenidae: Right whales
Eubalaena glacialis | |
Eubalaena australis | Southern right whale |
Eubalaena japonica | North Pacific right whale |
Balaena mysticetus | Bowhead whale |
Family Neobalaenidae: Pygmy right whale
Caperea marginata | Pygmy right whale |
Family Eschrichtiidae: Gray whale
Eschrichtius robustus | Gray whale |
Family Balaenopteridae: Rorqual whales (9 species)
Balaenoptera acutorostrata | B. a. acutorostrata Atlantic minke Whale B. a. scammoni North Pacific minke Whale B. a. subsp. Dwarf minke Whale | |
Balaenoptera bonarensis | Antarctic minke whale | |
Balaenoptera edeni | Eden's whale | |
Balaenoptera brydei | Bryde's whale | |
Balaenoptera ricei | Rice's whale | |
Balaenoptera borealis | B. b. borealis Northern sei whale B. b. schlegllii Southern sei whale | |
Balaenoptera physalis | B. p. physalus Northern fin whale B.p. quoyi Southern fin whale | |
Balaenoptera musculus | Blue whale | B. m. musculus Northern blue whale B. m. indica Indian Ocean blue whale B. m. brevicauda Pygmy blue whale B. m. intermedia Southern blue whale |
Megatera novaengliae |
Suborder ODONTOCETI: The toothed whales (75 species)
This group contains the beaked whales (Ziphiidae), freshwater river dolphins, the beluga and narwhal (Monodontidae), the delphinids (Delphinidae), porpoises (Phocoenidae) and the sperm and pygmy sperm whales (Physeteridae and Kogiidae). Of the beaked whales, only the Northern bottlenose, Sowerby's beaked whale and the Cuvier's beaked whale have been recorded in the Moray Firth to date. Sperm whales further sporadically occur in this area of the North Sea, but the individuals entering this shallow Scottish firth usually become stranded.
Family Physeteridae: Sperm whale
Physeter macrocephalus |
Family Kogiidae: Pygmy sperm whales
Kogia breviceps | Pygmy sperm whale |
Kogia simia | Dwarf sperm whale |
Family Ziphiidae: Beaked whales (21 species)
Ziphius cavirostris | |
Berardius arnuxii | Arnoux's beaked whale |
Berardius bairdii | North Pacific bottlenose whale |
Tasmacetus shepherdi | Tasman beaked whale |
Subfamily Hyperoodontidae
Indopacetus pacificus | Indo-Pacific beaked whale |
Hyperoodon ampullatus | |
Hyperoodon planifrons | Southern bottlenose whale |
Mesoplodon hectori | Hector's beaked whale |
Mesoplodon mirus | True's beaked whale |
Mesoplodon europaeus | Gervais' beaked whale |
Mesoplodon bidens | |
Mesoplodon grayi | Gray's beaked whale |
Mesoplodon peruvianus | Pygmy beaked whale |
Mesoplodon bowdoini | Andrew's beaked whale |
Mesoplodon bahamondi | Bahamonde's beaked whale |
Mesoplodon carlhubbsi | Hubb's beaked whale |
Mesoplodon gingkgodens | Ginko-toothed beaked whale |
Mesoplodon stejnegeri | Stejneger's beaked whale |
Mesoplodon layardii | Layard's beaked whale |
Mesoplodon densirostris | Blainville's beaked whale |
Mesoplodon eueu | Ramari's beaked whale |
Family Platanistidae: Indian river-dolphin
Platanista gangetica | Indian river-dolphin | P. g. minor Indus river-dolphin P. g. gangetica Ganges river-dolphin |
Family Iniidae: Amazon river-dolphin
Inia geoffrensis | Amazon river-dolphin | I. g. humboldtiana Orinoco river-dolphin I. g. geoffrensis Amazon river-dolphin I. g. boliviensis Rio Madeira river-dolphin |
Inia araguaiaensis | Araguaian river dolphin |
Family Lipotidae: Chinese river-dolphin
Lipotes vexillifer | Yangtse river-dolphin |
Family Pontoporiidae: La Plata dolphin
Pontoporia blainvillei | La Plata dolphin |
Family Monodontidae: Beluga and narwhal
Monodon monocerus | Narwhal |
Delphinapterus leucas | Beluga |
Family Delphinidae: Dolphins (38 species)
Cephalorhynchus commersonii | Commerson's dolphin | |
Cephalorhynchus eutropia | Chilean dolphin | |
Cephalorhynchus heavisidii | Heaviside's dolphin | |
Cephalorhynchus hectori | Hector's dolphin | |
Stena bredanensis | Rough-toothed dolphin | |
Sousa teuszi | Atlantic Humpback dolphin | |
Sousa plumbea | Indian humpback dolphin | |
Sousa chinensis | Pacific humpback dolphin | |
Sotalia fluviatilis | Tucuxi | S. f. guianensis Atlantic coast Tucuxi S. f. fluviatilis Amazon river tucuxi |
Tursiops truncatus | ||
Tursiops truncatus nuuanu | Eastern Tropical Pacific bottlenose dolphin | |
Tursiops aduncus | Indian Ocean bottlenose dolphin | |
Stenella attenuata | Pantropical spotted dolphin | S. a. graffmani Eastern Pacific coastal spotted Dolphin S. a. subsp. Hawaiian spotted dolphin S. a. subsp. Eastern Pacific offshore spotted dolphin |
Stenella frontalis | Atlantic spotted dolphin | |
Stenella longirostris | Spinner dolphin | S. l. longirostris Cosmopolitan spinner dolphin S. l. orientalis Tropical Pacific spinner dolphin S. l. centroamericana Central American spinner dolphin |
Stenella clymene | Clymene dolphin | |
Stenella coeruleoalba | ||
Delphinus delphis | ||
Delphinus capensis | Long-beaked common dolphin | |
Delphinus tropicalis | Arabian common dolphin | |
Lagenodelphis hosei | Fraser's dolphin | |
Lagenorhynchus albirostris | ||
Lagenorhynchus acutus | ||
Lagenorhynchus obliquidens | Pacific whitesided dolphin | |
Lagenorhynchus obscurus | Dusky dolphin | L. o. fitzroyi South American dusky Dolphin L. o. obscurus South African dusky Dolphin L. o. subsp. New Zealand dusky dolphin |
Lagenorhynchus australis | Blackchinned dolphin | |
Lagenorhynchus cruciger | Hourglass dolphin | |
Lissodelphis borealis | Northern right-whale dolphin | |
Lissodelphis peronii | Southern right-whale dolphin | |
Grampus griseus | ||
Peponocephala electra | Melonheaded whale | |
Feresa attenuata | Pygmy killer whale | |
Pseudorca crassidens | False killer whale | |
Orcinus orca | ||
Globicephala melas | ||
Globicephala macrorhyncus | Short-finned pilot whale | |
Orcaella brevirostris | Irrawaddy dolphin | |
Orcaella heinsohni | Australian snubfin dolphin |
Family Phocoenidae. Porpoises (6 species)
Neophocaena phocaenoides | Finless porpoise | N. p. phocaenoides Indo-Pacific finless porpoise N. p. sunameri Chinese finless porpoise N. p. asiaorientalis Yangtse finless porpoise |
Phocoena phocoena | P. p. phocoena North Atlantic harbour Porpoise P. p. subsp. Western North Pacific harbour Porpoise P. p. vomerina Eastern North Pacific harbour Porpoise | |
Phocoena sinus | Golfa de California porpoise or Vaquita | |
Austrophocaena dioptrica | Spectacled porpoise | |
Phocoena spinipinnis | Black porpoise or Burmeister's porpoise | |
Phocoenoides dalli | Dall's porpoise | P. d. dalli North Pacific Dall's porpoise P. d. truei West Pacific Dall's porpoise |