Megaptera novaeangliae

(Borowski, 1781)

Humpback Whale

Aerial view. Formerly in order Cetacea. Also as Bunch Whale, Hump Whale, Hunchback Whale.
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Location:Atlantic Ocean, NWDate taken:Jan 1, 1980Description:Aerial view. Formerly in order Cetacea. Also as Bunch Whale, Hump Whale, Hunchback Whale.

Distribution :

Panoceanic

Image courtesy of the ASM Mammal Images Library · MIL ID: 575

Taxonomy

Subclass: Theria
Infraclass: Placentalia
Magnorder: Boreoeutheria
Superorder: Laurasiatheria
Order: Artiodactyla
Suborder: Cetacea
Infraorder: Mysticeti
Superfamily: Balaenopteroidea
Family: Balaenopteridae
Genus: Megaptera

Species status

Living
Found in the wild
Listed in MSW3 2005

Authority citation

Borowski, G.H. 1781. Gemeinnüzzige Naturgeschichte des Thierreichs. Gottlieb August Lange, Berlin, 196 pp.

Authority publication link

https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/28342454

Original name as described

Balaena Novae Angliae

Other common names

Bunch Whale · Hump Whale · Hunchback Whale

Type material

lost (number not known)

Type kind

nonexistent

Type locality

"de la nouvelle Angleterre, " (coast of New England, USA).

Biogeographic realm

Marine

Country distribution

American Samoa · Angola · Anguilla · Antarctica · Antigua and Barbuda · Argentina · Aruba · Australia · Azores · Bahamas · Bahrain · Barbados · Belgium · Belize · Benin · Bermuda · Bonaire · Brazil · British Virgin Islands · Brunei · Cameroon · Canada · Canary Islands · Cape Verde · Cayman Islands · Chile · China · Christmas Island · Cocos Islands · Colombia · Comoros · Cook Islands · Costa Rica · Cote d'Ivoire · Cuba · Curaçao · Democratic Republic of the Congo · Denmark · Djibouti · Dominica · Dominican Republic · East Timor · Ecuador · Egypt · El Salvador · Equatorial Guinea · Falkland Islands · Fiji · France · French Guiana · French Polynesia · Gabon · Galápagos Islands · Gambia · Germany · Ghana · Greenland · Grenada · Guadeloupe · Guam · Guatemala · Guinea · Guinea-Bissau · Guyana · Honduras · Iceland · India · Indonesia · Iran · Iraq · Ireland · Israel · Jamaica · Japan · Jordan · Kenya · Kiribati · Kuwait · Liberia · Madagascar · Madeira · Malaysia · Maldives · Marshall Islands · Martinique · Mauritania · Mauritius · Mayotte · Mexico · Micronesia · Montserrat · Morocco · Mozambique · Namibia · Nauru · Netherlands · New Caledonia · New Zealand · Nicaragua · Nigeria · Niue · Norfolk Island · North Korea · Northern Marianas · Norway · Oman · Pakistan · Palau · Panama · Papua New Guinea · Peru · Philippines · Pitcairn · Portugal · Prince Edward Islands · Puerto Rico · Qatar · Republic of the Congo · Russia · Réunion · Saba · Saint Barthélemy · Saint Helena · Saint Kitts and Nevis · Saint Lucia · Saint Vincent and the Grenadines · Samoa · Saudi Arabia · Senegal · Seychelles · Sierra Leone · Singapore · Sint Eustatius · Sint Maarten · Solomon Islands · Somalia · South Africa · South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands · South Korea · Spain · Sri Lanka · Suriname · Sweden · São Tomé and Príncipe · Taiwan · Tanzania · Togo · Tokelau · Tonga · Trinidad and Tobago · Turks and Caicos Islands · Tuvalu · United Arab Emirates · United Kingdom · United States · United States Virgin Islands · Uruguay · Vanuatu · Venezuela · Vietnam · Wallis and Futuna · Yemen

Subregion distribution

USA(AK, CA, CT, HI, MA, ME, NH, OR, RI, WA, DE?, FL?, MD?, NC?, NJ?, NY?, TX?, VA?)

Taxonomy notes

genetic data places the species paraphyletically within Balaenoptera, indicating that Megaptera is either included within the genus, or Balaenoptera should be split into multiple genera

Taxonomy notes citation

McGowen, M.R., Tsagkogeorga, G., Álvarez-Carretero, S., Reis, M. dos, Struebig, M., Deaville, R., Jepson, P.D., Jarman, S., Polanowski, A., Morin, P.A. and Rossiter, S.J. 2020. Phylogenomic resolution of the cetacean tree of life using target sequence capture. Systematic Biology 69(3):479-501. doi:10.1093/sysbio/syz068

IUCN Red List status

Least Concern

Species Permalink

https://mammaldiversity.org/taxon/1006405

Country distribution map

The map below provides a general overview. Most species inhabit only specific regions within countries. Hover over the highlighted regions to see the country name.

Names and synonyms

Present and past (if available) associated names to the species. Click on a name to view its details.

Total: 56 names and synonyms.

Balaena boops

O. Fabricius, 1780

Family

Balaenopteridae

Root name

boops

Validity status

synonym

Nomenclatural status

preoccupied

Type locality

Greenland.

Authority page

36

Authority publication

Copenhagen

Name usages

Jackson & Groves (2015:332) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/34474)

Balaena Novae Angliae

Borowski, 1781

Family

Balaenopteridae

Root name

novaeangliae

Validity status

species

Nomenclatural status

available

Type

lost (number not known)

Type kind

nonexistent

Original type locality

Sein Aufenthalt ist an den Küsten von Neuengland

Type locality

United States.

Authority page

21

Authority page URI

https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/28342454

Authority publication

Berlin

Name usages

Link (1795:111, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/46272987) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/35635)
Jackson & Groves (2015:332) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/34474)

Balaena Nodosa

J. P. Bonnaterre, 1789

Family

Balaenopteridae

Root name

nodosa

Validity status

synonym

Nomenclatural status

available

Type locality

United States.

Authority page

5

Authority publication

Paris

Name usages

Fischer (1814:xxii, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/29130083) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/12226)
Schinz (1821:433, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/51529194) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/37604)
Desmarest (1822:527, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/39521971) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/36189)
Lesson (1827:425, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/54207892) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/36839)
Fischer (1829:523) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/59856)
Mead & Brownell (2005) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/9684)
Jackson & Groves (2015:332) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/34474)

Balaena nodose:

Tiedemann, 1808

Family

Balaenopteridae

Root name

nodose

Validity status

synonym

Nomenclatural status

incorrectsubsequentspelling

Authority page

371

Authority publication

Landshut

Baleinoptère Poeskop

Desmoulins, 1822

Family

Balaenopteridae

Root name

poeskop

Validity status

synonym

Nomenclatural status

notintendedasascientific_name

Original type locality

au cap de Bonne-Espérance

Authority page

164

Authority page URI

https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/25672128

Authority publication

Dictionnaire Classique d'Histoire Naturelle

balænoptera australis

Lesson, 1828

Family

Balaenopteridae

Root name

australis

Validity status

synonym

Nomenclatural status

available

Original type locality

au cap de Bonne-Espérance

Type locality

South Africa: Western Cape: 34°21′29″S, 18°28′19″E.

Authority page

372, 442

Authority page URI

https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/61811816 https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/61811886

Authority publication

Paris

Name usages

Lesson (1828:372, 442, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/61811816, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/61811886) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/68835)
Jackson & Groves (2015:333) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/34474)

Balaena Lalandii

J. B. Fischer, 1829

Family

Balaenopteridae

Root name

lalandii

Validity status

synonym

Nomenclatural status

available

Original type locality

Velox, rarissimia in oceano promontorium B. Spei alluente

Type locality

South Africa: Western Cape: 34°21′29″S, 18°28′19″E.

Authority page

525

Authority publication

Stuttgart

Name usages

Fischer (1829:525) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/59856)
Mead & Brownell (2005) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/9684)
Jackson & Groves (2015:334) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/34474)

Balaena longimana

Rudolphi, 1832

Family

Balaenopteridae

Root name

longimana

Validity status

synonym

Nomenclatural status

available

Type

ZMB (number not known)

Type kind

holotype

Original type locality

an der Elbmündung bei Vogelsand

Type locality

Germany: Lower Saxony.

Authority page

133

Authority page URI

https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/29685301

Authority publication

Abhandlungen der Königlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin

Name usages

Mead & Brownell (2005) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/9684)
Jackson & Groves (2015:332) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/34474)

Balaenoptera Capensis

A. Smith, 1834

Family

Balaenopteridae

Root name

capensis

Validity status

synonym

Nomenclatural status

available

Original type locality

Inhabits the seas about the Cape of Good Hope

Type locality

South Africa: Western Cape: 34°21′29″S, 18°28′19″E.

Authority page

242

Authority page URI

https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15968360

Authority publication

South African Quarterly Journal

Name usages

Jackson & Groves (2015:334) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/34474)

Rorqualus antarcticus

F. Cuvier, 1836

Family

Balaenopteridae

Root name

antarctica

Validity status

synonym

Nomenclatural status

available

Original type locality

entre la pointe du cap de Bonne-Espérance et Hout-Baie, à l'embouchure de la rivière de Slangtrop

Type locality

South Africa: Western Cape.

Authority page

347

Authority publication

Paris

Name usages

Cuvier (1836:347) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/72905)
Jackson & Groves (2015:334) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/34474)

46 more names and synonyms available — use the desktop version to see them all.

Please send any edits, corrections, or unfilled data (including full citations) to mammaldiversity [at] gmail [dot] com.