Mesoplodon europaeus

(P. Gervais, 1855)

Gervais's Beaked Whale

Taxonomy

Subclass : Theria
Infraclass : Placentalia
Magnorder : Boreoeutheria
Superorder : Laurasiatheria
Order : Artiodactyla
Suborder : Whippomorpha
Infraorder : Cetacea
Parvorder : Odontoceti
Superfamily : Ziphioidea
Family : Ziphiidae
Genus : Mesoplodon

Species status

Living
Found in the wild
Listed in MSW3 2005

Authority citation

Gervais, P. 1855. Histoire naturelle des mammifères. II. Carnivores, proboscidiens, jumentés, bisulques, édentés, marsupiaux, monotrèmes, phoques, sirénides et cétacés. L. Curmer, Paris, 341 pp.

Authority publication link

https://books.google.com/books?id=booJSyMC3TwC

Original name as described

Dioplodon europaeus

Other common names

European Beaked Whale · Gulf Stream Beaked Whale

Type material

lost (number not known)

Type kind

holotype

Type locality

English Channel, "qui provient d'un individu harponné dans la Manche."

Biogeographic realm

Marine

Country distribution

Bahamas · Brazil · Cape Verde · Cuba · France · Guinea-Bissau · Ireland · Italy · Jamaica · Mauritania · Saint Helena · Spain · Canary Islands · Trinidad and Tobago · United Kingdom · United States · Ascension · Angola? · Anguilla? · Antigua and Barbuda? · Aruba? · Barbados? · Belize? · Benin? · Bermuda? · Bonaire? · Sint Eustatius? · Saba? · Cameroon? · Colombia? · Republic of the Congo? · Democratic Republic of the Congo? · Costa Rica? · Curaçao? · Cote d'Ivoire? · Dominica? · Dominican Republic? · Equatorial Guinea? · French Guiana? · Gabon? · Gambia? · Ghana? · Grenada? · Guadeloupe? · Guatemala? · Guinea? · Guyana? · Haiti? · Honduras? · Liberia? · Martinique? · Montserrat? · Morocco? · Nicaragua? · Nigeria? · Panama? · Portugal? · Puerto Rico? · Saint Kitts and Nevis? · Saint Lucia? · Sint Maarten? · Saint Vincent and the Grenadines? · São Tomé and Príncipe? · Senegal? · Sierra Leone? · Suriname? · Togo? · Uruguay? · Venezuela? · British Virgin Islands? · United States Virgin Islands?

Subregion distribution

USA(FL,GA,AL,MS,TX,NC,LA?,SC?,MA?)

Distribution notes

Mostly found in deeper water but one of most common species stranded in Western North Atlantic, present year-round off of Cape Hatteras, NC,USA. Have been found as far north as Cape Cod, MA, USA.

Distribution references

Waring, G.T., Josephson, E., Maze-Foley, K. and Rosel, P.E. 2009. U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico marine mammal stock assessments--2009. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-NE-213. 528p. McLellan, W.A., McAlarney, R.J., Cummings, E.W., Read, A.J., Paxton, C.G.M., Bell, J.T. and Pabst, D.A. (2018), Distribution and abundance of beaked whales (Family Ziphiidae) Off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, U.S.A.. Mar Mam Sci, 34: 997-1017.

IUCN Red List status

Least Concern

Species Permalink

https://www.mammaldiversity.org/taxon/1006473

Country distribution map

The map below provides a general overview. Most species inhabit only specific regions within countries. Known distribution is shown in green and predicted distribution is in yellow. 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. If the list is long, scroll down to see more.

Dioplodon europaeus

(P. Gervais, 1855)

Family

Ziphiidae

Root name

europaeus

Validity status

species

Nomenclatural status

available

Type

lost (number not known)

Type kind

holotype

Authority page

320

Authority publication

Paris

Dioplodon gervaisi

(Eudes-Deslongchamps, 1866)

Family

Ziphiidae

Root name

gervaisi

Validity status

synonym

Nomenclatural status

nomen_novum

Type

lost (number not known)

Type kind

holotype

Authority page

176, 177

Authority page URI

https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/9723145 https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/9723146

Authority publication

Bulletin de la Société Linnéenne de Normandie

Name usages

Mead & Brownell (2005) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/9684)

Mesoplodon europaeus

Corbet & J. Edwards Hill, 1980

Family

Ziphiidae

Root name

europaeus

Validity status

synonym

Nomenclatural status

name_combination

Authority page

112

Authority publication

London

Name usages

  1. Corbet & Hill (1980:112) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/63069)
  2. Honacki, Kinman & Koeppl (1982:301) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/63071)
  3. Mead & Brownell (2005) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/9684)
  4. O'Brien, Menninger & Nash (2006:556) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/7321)
  5. Mittermeier & Wilson (2014:357) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/67175)
  6. Mammal Diversity Database (2018:ID #13245) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/67336)
  7. Mammal Diversity Database (2019:ID #13245) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/67337)
  8. Mammal Diversity Database (2024, https://www.mammaldiversity.org/taxon/1006473) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/67250)
  9. Schmidly, Bradley, Yancey & Bradley (2024:63) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/67259)
  10. International Union for the Conservation of Nature (2024, https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/13245/50365198) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/67246)

Dioplodon europaeus

(P. Gervais, 1852)

Family

Ziphiidae

Root name

europaeus

Validity status

synonym

Nomenclatural status

nomen_nudum

Authority page

pl. 40 (p. 12)

Authority page URI

https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/27348550

Authority publication

Paris

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