Mesoplodon stejnegeri (Stejneger's beaked whale) | INFORMATION

Scientific Classification

Rank	Scientific Name
Kingdom	Animalia animals
Phylum	Chordata chordates
Subphylum	Vertebrata vertebrates
Class	Mammalia mammals
Order	Cetacea dolphins, porpoises, and whales
Family	Ziphiidae beaked whales
Genus	Mesoplodon beaked whales
Species	Mesoplodon stejnegeri Stejneger's beaked whale

By Rebecca Ann Csomos

Geographic Range

Mesoplodon stejnegeri ranges from the Bering Sea to California and Japan, inhabiting only the cool temperate waters of the Northern Pacific Ocean.

Biogeographic Regions
pacific ocean
- native

Habitat

Stejneger's beaked whales, Mesoplodon stejnegeri , inhabit the deep waters of the ocean far from the shorelines. These animals are rarely seen at sea. They prefer a habitat with cool water. Mesoplodon stejnegeri has been observed living sympatrically with Hubb's beaked whales where the ranges of the two species overlap off the coast of northern Japan to Oregon and British Columbia.

Habitat Regions
temperate
saltwater or marine

Aquatic Biomes
pelagic

Physical Description

Mesoplodon stejnegeri ranges in length from 3 to 7 m, although they are generally longer than 5.3 m. Females are normally longer than males, and the crania of females are larger than those of males.

Both sexes are uniformly gray to black, with light pale countershading ventrally, although males tend to be more uniformly dark.

Mesoplodon stejnegeri is distinguished from other Mesoplodons by tooth shape and position. Members of this species have two large, exposed, tusk-like teeth on the lower jaw (Nowak 1999). These teeth are also distinctively larger in males.

Scarring, which is present on most M. stejnegeri , results from intraspecific fighting over mates, and is inflicted by the teeth while the mouth is closed (Ridgway and Harrison 1989).

Other Physical Features
endothermic
homoiothermic
bilateral symmetry

Sexual Dimorphism
female larger
male more colorful
ornamentation

Reproduction

Nothing is known about the reproduction of M. stejnegeri , although it is speculated that litter size is one and parturition occurs in the spring and summer.

Key Reproductive Features
iteroparous
seasonal breeding
gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
sexual
fertilization
viviparous

Although parental investment in this species has not been documented, because these animals are mammals we can infer that females provide a great deal of parental care. They are likely to provide their young with protection as well as food, in the form of milk, until the calves are able to care for themselves.

Parental Investment
pre-fertilization
- provisioning
- protecting
  - female
pre-hatching/birth
- provisioning
  - female
- protecting
  - female
pre-weaning/fledging
- provisioning
  - female
- protecting
  - female
pre-independence
- protecting
  - female

Behavior

These beaked whales are deep divers. They swim at 3 to 4 knots on average, with maximum speeds reaching 6 knots. This species usually swims in pods containing 2 to 6 individuals, although groups of 5 to 15 individuals have been observed. Within these social pods, individual whales vary in size, sex, and age. They swim abreast in the pods, touching one another, and they surface and submerge simultaneously. A common pattern of several shallow dives followed by a longer dive of about 10 to 15 minutes has been noted. Also while in these pods, members of this species take 2 to 3 low blows in unison, which are proceeded by sounds described as "roars, lowing and sobbing groans."

Communication and Perception

Perception Channels
tactile
chemical

Food Habits

Mesoplodon stejnegeri feeds primarily on deep-water squid. The diet includes both cephalopods and fish. A school of salmon was observed being chased by M. stejnegeri off the coast of Japan, and this species is sometimes trapped in salmon driftnets.

Primary Diet
carnivore
- molluscivore

Animal Foods
fish
mollusks

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

The meat of M. stejnegeri is considered palatable when cooked, but the Makah Indians of Washington reported cases of diarrhea after eating the blubber and flesh. Commercial fisheries, primarily in Japan, take a small number of M. stejnegeri yearly.

Positive Impacts
food

Conservation Status

These whales are a conservation concern. They are listed as Appendix II by CITES, and Data deficient by IUCN.

Additional Links

Encyclopedia of Life

Contributors

Nancy Shefferly (editor), Animal Diversity Web.

Rebecca Ann Csomos (author), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Phil Myers (editor), Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

Pacific Ocean

body of water between the southern ocean (above 60 degrees south latitude), Australia, Asia, and the western hemisphere. This is the world's largest ocean, covering about 28% of the world's surface.

World Map

native range: the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

temperate: that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).

saltwater or marine: mainly lives in oceans, seas, or other bodies of salt water.

pelagic: An aquatic biome consisting of the open ocean, far from land, does not include sea bottom (benthic zone).

endothermic: animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.

bilateral symmetry: having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

sexual ornamentation: one of the sexes (usually males) has special physical structures used in courting the other sex or fighting the same sex. For example: antlers, elongated tails, special spurs.

iteroparous: offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).

seasonal breeding: breeding is confined to a particular season

sexual: reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

fertilization: union of egg and spermatozoan

viviparous: reproduction in which fertilization and development take place within the female body and the developing embryo derives nourishment from the female.

natatorial: specialized for swimming

diurnal

active during the day, 2. lasting for one day.

motile: having the capacity to move from one place to another.

nomadic: generally wanders from place to place, usually within a well-defined range.

social: associates with others of its species; forms social groups.

food: A substance that provides both nutrients and energy to a living thing.

carnivore: an animal that mainly eats meat

molluscivore: eats mollusks, members of Phylum Mollusca

tactile: uses touch to communicate

chemical: uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

References

Jefferson, T., S. Leatherwood, M. Webber. 1993. Marine Mammals of the World . Rome: United Nations Environment Programme.

Loughlin, T., M. Perez. 13 December 1985. Mesoplodon stejnegeri. Mammalian Species , No. 250: pp. 1-6.

Nowak, R. 1999. Walker's Mammals of the World, 6th Edition . Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Ridgway, S., S. Harrison. 1989. Handbook of Marine Mammals, Volume 4: River Dolphins and the Larger Toothed Whales . New York: Academic Press.