A southern bottlenose whale examined in the Antarctic

Robert F Clarke

doi:10.5597/lajam00074

Abstract

This paper mainly concerns the dissection of a lactating female southern bottlenose whale Hyperoodon planifrons especially shot and worked up for the author in the Antarctic 61°09'S, 86°44'E on 10 March 1948. The skeleton is in the British Museum (Natural History). A comparison with what is known of the female northern bottlenose whale H. ampullatus shows no differences in morphometry, body colour, external characters, digestive system and reproductive system, parasites and the vertebral formula and the digital formula of the flipper. There remain acknowledged differences in the skull which may be reduced or perhaps even disappear when further comparisons are attempted between skulls from males and females of similar ages. There is also the confusion when identifying ziphiid whales at sea. These observations have suggested to the author that there may be only one Hyperoodon species with a continuous distribution north and south. But Dalebout et al. (2004), applying DNA sequencies in molecular taxonomy, have now shown that all 21 species of ziphiid whales are valid.

Highlights

The first report of the southern bottlenose whale, Hyperoodon planifrons (Flower, 1882) from Antarctic seas, or, from any part of the southern hemisphere, was made by Sir James Clark Ross (1847, vol I, p. 167) who on 22 December 1840 in 59°S 171°E sighted ‘a few bottlenosed whales’; at that time these were not recognised as a species separate from the northern bottlenose whale, Hyperoodon ampullatus (Forster, 1770)
Recent reviews by Arvy and Pilleri (1983), International Whaling Commission (1989) and Mead (1989) show that the southern bottlenose whale is widely distributed in the southern hemisphere: it extends from the ice-edge northwards at least to 20°S in the Southeast Indian Ocean off Australia where the skull of the type was found (Flower, 1882), to 34°S in the Southwest Indian Ocean off South Africa (Tietz, 1966; Nemoto et al, 1980) and again to 34o S in the Southwest Atlantic off Brazil (Gianuca and Castello, 1976), and to 33°S in the Southeast Pacific off Chile
The foregoing pages have shown that the present specimen of the female H. planifrons does not differ from what is known of the female H. ampullatus in morphometry, body colour, external characters, digestive system and reproductive system and parasites; and both species eat the same kind of food

Summary

Introduction

The first report of the southern bottlenose whale, Hyperoodon planifrons (Flower, 1882) from Antarctic seas, or, from any part of the southern hemisphere, was made by Sir James Clark Ross (1847, vol I, p. 167) who on 22 December 1840 in 59°S 171°E sighted ‘a few bottlenosed whales’; at that time these were not recognised as a species separate from the northern bottlenose whale, Hyperoodon ampullatus (Forster, 1770).Recent reviews by Arvy and Pilleri (1983), International Whaling Commission (1989) and Mead (1989) show that the southern bottlenose whale is widely distributed in the southern hemisphere: it extends from the ice-edge northwards at least to 20°S in the Southeast Indian Ocean off Australia where the skull of the type was found (Flower, 1882), to 34°S in the Southwest Indian Ocean off South Africa (Tietz, 1966; Nemoto et al, 1980) and again to 34o S in the Southwest Atlantic off Brazil (Gianuca and Castello, 1976), and to 33°S in the Southeast Pacific off Chile (R. Clarke, 1962). The first report of the southern bottlenose whale, Hyperoodon planifrons (Flower, 1882) from Antarctic seas, or, from any part of the southern hemisphere, was made by Sir James Clark Ross Recent reviews by Arvy and Pilleri (1983), International Whaling Commission (1989) and Mead (1989) show that the southern bottlenose whale is widely distributed in the southern hemisphere: it extends from the ice-edge northwards at least to 20°S in the Southeast Indian Ocean off Australia where the skull of the type was found (Flower, 1882), to 34°S in the Southwest Indian Ocean off South Africa (Tietz, 1966; Nemoto et al, 1980) and again to 34o S in the Southwest Atlantic off Brazil (Gianuca and Castello, 1976), and to 33°S in the Southeast Pacific off Chile The headquarters of the species are the Antarctic seas where it is reported to be abundant (Kasamatsu et al, 1988; Kasamatsu and Shigemune, 1989; Kasamatsu 1991; 1993; Ohsumi et al, 1995; Van Waerebeek et al 2004).

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion