Balaenoptera brydei
Ø. Olsen, 1912
Bryde's Whale
Distribution :
Worldwide: warm-temperate to tropical waters. Distributional records sometimes confused with B. borealis, edeni, and ricei.
Image courtesy of the ASM Mammal Images Library · MIL ID: 2423
Taxonomy
| Subclass | : Theria |
| Infraclass | : Placentalia |
| Magnorder | : Boreoeutheria |
| Superorder | : Laurasiatheria |
| Order | : Artiodactyla |
| Suborder | : Cetacea |
| Infraorder | : Mysticeti |
| Superfamily | : Balaenopteroidea |
| Family | : Balaenopteridae |
| Genus | : Balaenoptera |
Species status
Authority citation
Tidens Tegn, 12 Nov. 1912 (Norwegian newspaper)
Original name as described
Balaenoptera brydei
Other common names
Ordinary Bryde's Whale · Large Bryde's Whale
Type locality
Saldanha Bay, South Africa.
Biogeographic realm
Marine
Country distribution
American Samoa · Angola · Anguilla · Antigua and Barbuda · Argentina · Aruba · Australia · Bahamas · Bahrain · Bangladesh · Barbados · Belize · Benin · Bermuda · Bonaire · Brazil · British Virgin Islands · Cambodia · Cameroon · Cape Verde · Cayman Islands · Chile · China · Christmas Island · Colombia · Comoros · Cook Islands · Costa Rica · Cote d'Ivoire · Cuba · Curaçao · Democratic Republic of the Congo · Djibouti · Dominica · Dominican Republic · East Timor · Ecuador · El Salvador · Equatorial Guinea · Eritrea · Fiji · French Guiana · French Polynesia · Gabon · Gambia · Ghana · Grenada · Guadeloupe · Guam · Guatemala · Guinea · Guinea-Bissau · Guyana · Haiti · Honduras · India · Indonesia · Iran · Iraq · Jamaica · Japan · Kenya · Kiribati · Kuwait · Liberia · Madagascar · Malaysia · Maldives · Marshall Islands · Martinique · Mauritania · Mauritius · Mexico · Micronesia · Montserrat · Morocco · Mozambique · Myanmar · Namibia · Nauru · New Caledonia · New Zealand · Nicaragua · Nigeria · Niue · North Korea · Northern Marianas · Oman · Pakistan · Palau · Panama · Papua New Guinea · Peru · Philippines · Pitcairn · Puerto Rico · Qatar · Republic of the Congo · Réunion · Saba · Saint Barthélemy · 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 · South Africa · South Korea · Spain · Sri Lanka · São Tomé and Príncipe · Taiwan · Tanzania · Thailand · Togo · Tonga · Trinidad and Tobago · Turks and Caicos Islands · Tuvalu · United Arab Emirates · United States · United States Virgin Islands · Uruguay · Vanuatu · Venezuela · Vietnam · Wallis and Futuna · Yemen
Subregion distribution
USA(CA, HI)
Taxonomy notes
split from B. edeni, although this taxonomic arrangement has not been accepted by some researchers given that there is ongoing nomenclatural controversy associated with the holotype of B. brydei
Taxonomy notes citation
Rosel, P.E., Wilcox, L.A., Yamada, T.K. and Mullin, K.D. 2021. A new species of baleen whale (Balaenoptera) from the Gulf of Mexico, with a review of its geographic distribution. Marine Mammal Science 37(2):577-610. doi:10.1111/mms.12776 · Lin, Y. T., Hui, F., Han, W., Li, Y. X., Heung, B. Y. W., How, C. M., ... & Qiu, J. W. (2025). Chromosome-Level Genome Assembly of Eden's Whale Clarifies the Taxonomy and Speciation of Bryde's Whale Complex. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 42(10), msaf234. · Davis, R.W. 2026. Rice's Whale: Considerations for Identifying New Cetacean Species. Marine Mammal Science 42(1):e70112. · Paynee, D., Bloomer, P., Penry, G., Elwen, S., Natoli, A., Dhanalakshmy, V., Cardoso, T. and Vermeulen, E. 2026. Unravelling taxonomic complexity in elusive cetaceans: Mitogenome insights into evolutionary history and cryptic diversity of Bryde's whales. Ecology and Evolution 16(5):e73614. doi:10.1002/ece3.73614
IUCN Red List status
Not Evaluated
Species Permalink
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: 1 name and synonym.
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