Annotated List of the Marine Mammals of the World

Annotated List of the Marine Mammals of the World

Nomenclature based largely on

Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (eds.) (1993) Mammal Species of the World, Smithsonian Institution Press.
with additional information from

Carwardine, M. (1995) Whales, dolphins and porpoises, Dorling Kindersley Press

Whales and Dolphins

Balaena mysticetus Bowhead Whale
Also known as Great Polar Whale or Arctic Whale or Arctic Right Whale or Greenland Right Whale or Greenland Whale

Eubalaena australis Southern Right Whale
Also known as Black Right Whale or Right Whale

Eubalaena glacialis Northern Right Whale
Also known as Black Right Whale or Right Whale or Biscayan Right Whale

Eubalaena (glacialis) japonica Japanese Right Whale
Separation fron Northern Right Whale uncertain

Caperea marginata Pygmy Right Whale

Eschrichtius robustus Gray Whale
Also known as California Gray Whale or Devilfish or Mussel-digger or Scrag Whale

Balaenoptera acutorostrata Minke Whale
Also known as Pikehead or Little Piked Whale or Pike Whale or Little Finner or Sharp-headed Finner or Lesser Finback or Lesser Rorqual

Balaenoptera borealis Sei Whale
Also known as Pollack Whale or Coalfish Whale or Sardine Whale or Japan Finner or Rudolphi's Rorqual

Balaenoptera edeni Bryde's Whale
Also known as Tropical Whale

Balaenoptera musculus Blue Whale
Also known as Sulfur-bottom or Sibbald's Rorqual or Great Northern Rorqual

Balaenoptera physalus Fin Whale
Also known as Finback or Finner Or Common Rorqual or Razorback or Herring Whale

Megaptera novaengliae Humpback Whale

Kogia breviceps Pygmy Sperm Whale
Also known as Lesser Sperm Whale or Short-headed Sperm Whale or Lesser Cachalot

Kogia simus Dwarf Sperm Whale
Also known as Owen's Pygmy Sperm Whale

Physeter macrocephalus Sperm Whale
Also known as Great Sperm Whale or Cachalot

Delphinapterus leucas Beluga
Also known as Belukha or Sea Canary or White Whale

Monodon monoceros Narwhal
Also known as Narwhale

Berardius arnuxii Arnoux's Beaked Whale
Also known as Southern Four-toothed Whale or Southern Beaked Whale or New Zealand Beaked Whale or Southern Giant Bottlenose Whale or Southern Porpoise Whale

Berardius bairdii Baird's Beaked Whale
Also known as North Pacific Four-toothed Whale or Northern Four-toothed Whale or North Pacific Bottlenose Whale or Northern Giant Bottlenose Whale or Giant Four-toothed Whale

Hyperodon ampullatus Northern Bottlenose Whale
North Atlantic Bottlenosed Whale or Flathead or Bottlehead or Steephead

Hyperodon planifrons Southern Bottlenose Whale
Antarctic Bottlenosed Whale or Flathead

Mesoplodon species 'A' Unamed Beaked Whale

Mesoplodon bidens Sowerby's Beaked Whale
Also known as North Sea Beaked Whale

Mesoplodon bowdoini Andrews' Beaked Whale
Also known as Splay-toothed Beaked Whale or Bowdoin's Beaked Whale or Deepcrest Beaked Whale

Mesoplodon carlhubbsi Hubbs' Beaked Whale
Also known as Arch-beaked Whale

Mesoplodon densirostris Blainville's Beaked Whale
Also known as Atlantic Beaked Whale or Dense Beaked Whale or Tropical Beaked Whale

Mesoplodon europaeus Gervais' Beaked Whale
Also known as Gulf Stream Beaked Whale or European Beaked Whale or Antillean Beaked Whale.

Mesoplodon ginkgodens Ginko-toothed Beaked Whale
Also known as Japanese Beaked Whale or Ginko Beaked Whale.

Mesoplodon grayi Gray's Beaked Whale
Also known as Scamperdown Whale or Southern Beaked Whale.

Mesoplodon hectori Hector's Beaked Whale
Also known as New Zealand Beaked Whale or Skew-beaked Whale.

Mesoplodon layardii Strap-toothed Whale
Also known as Layard's Beaked Whale or Strap-tooth Beaked Whale.

Mesoplodon mirus True's Beaked Whale
Also known as Wonderful Beaked Whale.

Mesoplodon pacificus Longman's Beaked Whale
Also known as Pacific Beaked Whale or Indo-Pacific Beaked Whale.

Mesoplodon peruvianus Lesser Beaked Whale
Also known as Peruvian Beaked Whale or Pygmy Beaked Whale.

Mesoplodon stejnegeri Stejneger's Beaked Whale
Also known as Saber-toothed Beaked Whale or Bering Sea Beaked Whale or North Pacific Beaked Whale.

Mesoplodon shepherdi Shepherd's Beaked Whale
Also known as Tasman Whale or Tasman Beaked Whale.

Ziphius cavirostris Cuvier's Beaked Whale
Also known as Cuvier's Whale or Goose-beaked Whale or Goosebeak Whale.

Feresa attenuata Pygmy Killer Whale
Also known as Slender Blackfish or Slender Pilot Whale.

Globicephala macrorhynchus Short-finned Pilot Whale
Also known as Pothead Whale (!) or Shortfin Pilot Whale or Pacific Pilot Whale.

Globicephala melas Long-finned Pilot Whale
[Formally Globicephala melaena]
Also known as Pothead Whale (!) or Caaing Whale or Longfin Pilot Whale or Atlantic Pilot Whale.

Orcinus orca Killer Whale
Also known as Orca or Great Killer Whale or Grampus.

Peponocephala electra Melon-headed Whale
Also known as Melonhead Whale or Many-toothed Blackfish or Electra Dolphin.

Pseudorca crassidens False Killer Whale
Also known as False Pilot Whale or Pseudorca.

Delphinus delphis Common Dolphin
D. d. delphis -- Short-beaked Common Dolphin
D. d. capensis -- Long-beaked Dolphin
Taxonomy very complex and many authors consider the Long and Short-beaked forms to be different species. Also known as Saddleback Dolphin or White-bellied Dolphin or Criss-cross Dolphin or Hourglass Dolphin or Cape Dolphin.

Lissodelphis borealis Northern Rightwhale Dolphin
Also known as Pacific Rightwhale Porpoise.

Lissodelphis peronii Southern Rightwhale Dolphin
Also known as Mealy-mouthed Porpoise.

Sotalia fluviatilis Tucuxi
Also known as Estuarine Dolphin.

Sousa teuszii Atlantic Hump-backed Dolphin
Also known as Atlantic Humpback Dolphin or Cameroon Dolphin.

Sousa chinensis Indo-pacific Hump-backed Dolphin
Closely related to Atlantic Hump-backed Dolphin and may form one species.
The name Speckled Dolphin given to animals west of Sumatra.

Stenella coeruleoalba Striped Dolphin
Also known as Euphrosyne Dolphin or Whitebelly or Blue-white Dolphin or Meyen's Dolphin or Gray's Dolphin or Streaker Dolphin.

Stenella clymene Clymene Dolphin
Also known as Short-snouted Spinner Dolphin or Helmet Dolphin or Senegal Dolphin

Stenella longirostris Long-snouted Spinner Dolphin
Also known as Longsnout or Spinner or Long-beaked Dolphin or Rollover.

Stenella attenuata Pantropical Spotted Dolphin
Also known as Spotted Dolphin or White-spotted Dolphin or Bridled Dolphin or Spotter or Spotted Porpoise or Slender-beaked Dolphin.

Stenella frontalis Atlantic Spotted Dolphin
Also known as Spotted Porpoise or Spotter or Bridled Dolphin or Gulf Stream Spotted Dolphin or Long-snouted Dolphin (formally Stenella plagiodon).

Steno bredanensis Rough-toothed Dolphin
Also known as Slopehead.

Tursiops truncatus Bottlenose Dolphin
Taxonomy complex. May involve several distinct species.
Also known as Gray Porpoise or Black Porpoise or Bottle-nosed Dolphin or Cowfish

Cephalorhynchus commersonii Commerson's Dolphin
Also known as Skunk dolphin or Piebald Dolphin or Black-and-white Dolphin or Jacobite or Puffing Pig.

Cephalorhynchus eutropia Black Dolphin
Also known as White-bellied Dolphin or Chilean Dolphin or Chilean Black Dolphin.

Cephalorhynchus heavisidii Heaviside's Dolphin
Also known as South African Dolphin or Benguela Dolphin.

Cephalorhynchus hectori Hector's Dolphin
Also known as Little Pied Dolphin or New Zealand Dolphin or New Zealand White-front Dolphin.

Grampus griseus Risso's Dolphin
Also known as Grampus or Gray Grampus or Gray Dolphin or White-head Grampus.

Lagenodelphis hosei Fraser's Dolphin
Also known as Sarawak Dolphin or Shortsnout Dolphin or Bornean Dolphin or White-bellied Dolphin or Fraser's Porpoise.

Lagenorhynchus acutus Atlantic White-sided Dolphin
Also known as Jumper or Spinger or Lag or Atlantic White-sided Porpoise.

Lagenorhynchus albirostris White-beaked Dolphin
Also known as White-nosed Dolphin or Squidhound or White-beaked Porpoise

Lagenorhynchus australis Peale's Dolphin
Also known as Blackchin Dolphin or Peale's Black-chinned Dolphin or Southern Dolphin or Peal's Porpoise

Lagenorhynchus cruciger Hourglass Dolphin
Also known as Wilson's Dolphin or Southern White-sided Dolphin

Lagenorhynchus obliquidens Pacific White-sided Dolphin
Also known as Lag or Pacific Striped Dolphin or White-striped Dolphin or Hook-finned Porpoise

Lagenorhynchus obscurus Dusky Dolphin
Also known as Fitzroy's Dolphin

Orcaella brevirostris Irrawaddy Dolphin
Also known as Snubfin Dolphin

Inia geoffrensis Boto
Also known as Amazon River Dolphin or Pink Porpoise or Pink Dolphin

Lipotes vexilliferBaiji
Also known as Yangtze River Dolphin or Beiji or Pei C'hi or Whitefin Dolphin or Whiteflag Dolphin or Chinese River Dolphin

Platanista minor Indus River Dolphin
Also known as Indus Susu or Blind River Dolphin or Side-swimming Dolphin.

Platanista ??? Ganges River Dolphin
Also known as Ganges Susu or Gangetic Dolphin or Blind River Dolphin or Side-swimming Dolphin.

Potoporia blainvilleir Franciscana
Also known as La Plata Dolphin.

Neophocaena ohocaenoides Finless Porpoise
Also known as Black Porpoise (!) or Black Finless Porpoise or Jiangzhu.

Australophocaena dioptrica Spectacled Porpoise
[Formally Phocoena dioptrica]

Phocoena phocoena Harbor Porpoise
Also known as Puffing Pig or Common Porpoise.

Phocoena sinus Vaquita
Also known as Cochito or Gulf of California Porpoise.

Phocoena spinipinnis Burmeister's Porpoise
Also known as Black Porpoise (!).

Phocoenoides dalli Dall's Porpoise
Also known as Spray Porpoise or True's Porpoise or White-flanked Porpoise.

Pinipeds - Fur Seals, Sealions, Walrus and Seals

Arctocephalus australis South American Fur Seal

Arctocephalus forsteri New Zealand Fur Seal

Arctocephalus gazella Antarctic Fur Seal

Arctocephalus philippi Juan Fernandez Fur Seal (ENDANGERED)

Arctocephalus pusillus South African Fur Seal

Arctocephalus townsendi Guadaloupe Fur Seal (ENDANGERED)

Arctocephalus galapagoensis Galapagos Fur Seal

Arctocephalus tropicalis Subantarctic Fur Seal

Callorhinus ursinus Northern Fur Seal
Also known as Pribilof or Alaskan Fur Seal

Neophoca cinerea Australian Sealion

Phocarctos hookeri New Zealand Sealion

Otaria byronia South American Sealion

Zalophus californianus Californian Sealion

Eumetopias jubatus Steller's Sealion

Odobenus rosmarus Walrus

Cystophora cristata Hooded Seal

Erignathus barbatus Bearded Seal

Halichoerus grypus Gray Seal

Hydrurga leptonyx Leopard Seal

Leopard Seals are aggressive hunters and are often found near penguin colonies or roosts. The long, almost serpentine, hea shape and enormous gape line is highly distinctive.

Leptonychotes weddellii Weddell Seal

Lobodon carcinophagus Crabeater Seal

Two Crabeater Seals rest on an iceflow. The red stain comes from the Antarctic krill which form a major part of their diet.

Mirounga angustirostris Northern Elephant Seal

Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seal

Monachus monachus Mediterranean Monk Seal (ENDANGERED)

Monachus schauinslandi Hawaiian Monk Seal (ENDANGERED)

Monachus tropicalis West Indian Monk Seal

Ommatophoca rossii Ross' Seal

Phoca caspica Caspian Seal

Phoca fasciata Ribbon Seal

Phoca groenlandica Harp Seal

Phoca hispida Ringed Seal
includes P. h. saimaa -- Saimaa Seal (ENDANGERED)

Phoca largha Larga Seal
Formally considered conspecific with Common Seal

Phoca sibirica Baikal Seal

Phoca vitulina Common Seal
Also known as Harbor Seal

Seacows or Sirenians

Dugong dugon Dugong

Dugong gigas Steller's Seacow (PRESUMED EXTINCT)

Trichechus manatus Manatee