Sato's beaked whale
| Sato's beaked whale Temporal range: Middle Miocene to present,
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| Illustration of Berardius minimus (black scale bar is 1 metre [3.3 ft]) | |
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| Size compared to an average human | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Family: | Ziphiidae |
| Genus: | Berardius |
| Species: | B. minimus
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| Binomial name | |
| Berardius minimus Yamada, Kitamura & Matsuishi, 2019
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Sato's beaked whale (Berardius minimus; Japanese: Kurotsuchi-kujira) is a little-known species of four-toothed whale, a type of beaked whale.[3]
Description
[edit]Sato's beaked whale is one of the poorly distinguished species in the genus Berardius. It was distinguished from Arnoux's and Baird's beaked whale in 2019 on the basis of mtDNA differences.[4][5] It generally has a short beak (~4% body length). While other four-toothed whales are generally grey with long linear scars, kurotsuchi-kujira usually have few linear scars, so that the dark, smooth skin contrasts highly with round, white scars of about 5 cm diameter, most likely from cookiecutter shark bites.[5] The common name for Berardius minimus is in recognition of Hal Sato, a Hokkaido-based researcher whose photographs of the whales helped to distinguish this species from other beaked whales (note the image credit in Figure 1 and Figure 2 from the Yamada et. al. paper [5]).[6][7]
Distribution
[edit]The species' distribution, based on genetic samples from strandings only, is believed to include the southern Sea of Okhotsk north of Hokkaido, the Commander Islands, and the southeastern Bering Sea.[5]
Conservation
[edit]Although very little is known about the ecology and populations of Sato's beaked whale, the IUCN has assigned the species a classification of Near threatened based on its estimated low population numbers.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Brownell Jr., R.L. (2020). "Berardius minimus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T178756893A178756918. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T178756893A178756918.en. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
- ^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
- ^ "Berardius minimus Yamada, Kitamura & Matsuishi in Yamada, Kitamura, Abe, Tajima, Matsuda, Mead & Matsuishi, 2019". Catalogue of Life. Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
- ^ Morin, P. A.; Scott Baker, C.; Brewer, R. S.; Burdin, A. M.; Dalebout, M. L.; Dines, J. P.; Fedutin, I.; Filatova, O.; Hoyt, E.; Jung, J.-L.; Lauf, M.; Potter, C. W.; Richard, G.; Ridgway, M.; Robertson, K. M.; Wade, P. R. (2016). "Genetic structure of the beaked whale genus Berardius in the North Pacific, with genetic evidence for a new species". Marine Mammal Science. 33: 96–111. doi:10.1111/mms.12345. S2CID 88899974.
- ^ a b c d Yamada, T.K.; Kitamura, S.; Abe, S.; Tajima, Y.; Matsuda, A.; Mead, J.G.; Matsuishi, T.F. (2019). "Description of a new species of beaked whale (Berardius) found in the North Pacific". Scientific Reports. 9 (1): 12723. Bibcode:2019NatSR...912723Y. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-46703-w. PMC 6717206. PMID 31471538.
- ^ Bidal, Devon. "Scientists Had Never Seen This Elusive Whale Alive—Until Now". Hakai Magazine. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
- ^ Hathaway, Rozi. "An Illustrated Tribute to the Sato's Beaked Whale". Hakai Magazine. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
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