The teeth can be used to identify families and even age cetaceans once they have passed away.
Top left and middle, lumbar vertebrae from a harbour porpoise and pilot whale respectively, and top right, thoracic vertebra from a pilot whale.
With 37 members, the delphinid family is the largest and most diverse of all the odontocete families.
Taxonomy
Whales, dolphins and porpoises belong to the Order Cetacea. The following taxonomy provides the most complete and up-to-date* reference in terms of current research in the field of cetacean classification. The list provides common (vernacular) names, scientific names and the names of subspecies where these have been described. A number of the subspecies below have not yet been named, and in such cases these are simply referred to as subsp. in the list. The common names assigned for these animals are typically based upon their distribution.
The links below are directed to a detailed fact sheet for those cetacean species most commonly found in the Moray Firth study area.
Order CETACEA (87 species)
Suborder MYSTICETI: The Baleen (Moustached) Whales (14 species)
Baleen whales are filter feeders which sieve food from the seawater with baleen – hair-fringed plates made from keratin (the same material as our fingernails). The minke whale is the most common of the baleen whales in the Moray Firth, although other mysticete species recorded in these waters include the fin whale, sei whale and the humpback whale.
Family Balaenidae. Right whales
| Eubalaena glacialis | North Atlantic right whale | |
| 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 (8 species)
Subfamily Megapterinae
| Megaptera novaengliae | Humpback whale |
Subfamily Balaenopterinae
| Balaenoptera acutorostrata | Minke whale |
B. a. acutorostrata Atlantic minke Whale |
| Balaenoptera bonarensis | Antarctic minke whale | |
|
Balaenoptera edeni |
Eden’s whale | |
|
Balaenoptera brydei |
Bryde’s whale | |
|
Balaenoptera borealis |
Sei whale |
B. b. borealis Northern sei whale |
| Balaenoptera physalis | Fin whale |
B. p. physalus Northern 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 |
Suborder ODONTOCETI: The Toothed Whales (73 species)
This group contains the beaked whales (Ziphiidae), the freshwater river dolphins, the beluga and narwhal (Monodontidae), the dolphin species (Delphinidae), the 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. Sperm whales sporadically occur in this area of the North Sea, but the individuals entering this shallow Scottish firth usually become stranded on the beaches.
Family Physeteridae. Sperm whale
| Physeter macrocephalus | Sperm whale |
Family Kogiidae. Pygmy sperm whales
| Kogia breviceps | Pygmy sperm whale | |
| Kogia simia | Dwarf sperm whale |
Family Ziphiidae. Beaked whales (21 species)
| Ziphius cavirostris | Cuvier’s beaked whale | |
| 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 | Northern bottlenose whale | |
| Hyperoodon planifrons | Southern bottlenose whale | |
|
Mesoplodon hectori |
Hector’s beaked whale | |
|
Mesoplodon mirus |
True’s beaked whale | |
|
Mesoplodon europaeus |
Gervais’ beaked whale | |
|
Mesoplodon bidens |
Sowerby’s beaked whale | |
|
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 |
Family Platanistidae. Indian river-dolphin
| Platanista gangetica | Indian river-dolphin |
P. g. minor Indus 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 |
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 (37 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 |
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 |
|
Stenella clymene |
Clymene dolphin | |
|
Stenella coeruleoalba |
Striped dolphin | |
|
Delphinus delphis |
Short-beaked common dolphin | |
|
Delphinus capensis |
Long-beaked common dolphin | |
|
Delphinus tropicalis |
Arabian common dolphin | |
|
Lagenodelphis hosei |
Fraser’s dolphin | |
|
Lagenorhynchus albirostris |
White-beaked dolphin | |
|
Lagenorhynchus acutus |
Atlantic whitesided dolphin | |
|
Lagenorhynchus obliquidens |
Pacific whitesided dolphin | |
|
Lagenorhynchus obscurus |
Dusky dolphin |
L. o. fitzroyi South American dusky dolphin |
|
Lagenorhynchus australis |
Blackchinned dolphin | |
|
Lagenorhynchus cruciger |
Hourglass dolphin | |
|
Lissodelphis borealis |
Northern right-whale dolphin | |
|
Lissodelphis peronii |
Southern right-whale dolphin | |
|
Grampus griseus |
Risso’s Dolphin | |
|
Peponocephala electra |
Melonheaded whale | |
|
Feresa attenuata |
Pygmy killer whale | |
|
Pseudorca crassidens |
False killer whale | |
|
Orcinus orca |
Killer whale | |
|
Globicephala melas |
Long-finned pilot whale | |
|
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 | Harbour porpoise | 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 |
* Rice, D.W. (1998). Marine Mammals of the World. Systematics and Distribution. Special Publication No.4. The Society for Marine Mammalogy.
International Whaling Commission (2001). Annex U. Report of the Working Group on Nomenclature. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management.3: 363 - 365.
Hoezel (Ed.) (2001). Marine Mammal Biology: An Evolutionary Approach. Blackwell Science Ltd. Oxford.
