Chilean blue whale
| Chilean blue whale | |
|---|---|
| |
| Skeleton of a Chilean blue whale at the Chilean National Museum of Natural History in Santiago de Chile, Chile | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Family: | Balaenopteridae |
| Genus: | Balaenoptera |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: | B. m. chilensis
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| Trinomial name | |
| Balaenoptera musculus chilensis Khalaf, 2020
| |
The Chilean blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus chilensis) is one of the five blue whale subspecies. It lives off the coast of Chile and the Southeast Pacific Ocean, and has an average length of 23.5 meters (77 feet). It has been a newly described subspecies since May 2020.
Blue whale subspecies[edit]
There are five distinct subspecies of blue whales: the Northern blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus musculus) of the North Atlantic and North Pacific, the Antarctic blue whale (B. m. intermedia) of the Antarctic Zone and Southern Ocean, the pygmy blue whale (B. m. brevicauda) found in the Indian Ocean and southwestern South Pacific Ocean around Australia, the Northern Indian Ocean blue whale (B. m. indica) found in the Northern Indian Ocean, and the Chilean blue whale (B. m. chilensis) found off Chile and the southeastern Pacific Ocean.
Chilean subspecies[edit]
The Chilean blue whale (B. m. chilensis) is intermediate in size between pygmy blue whales and Antarctic blue whales. The Chilean subspecies is recognized as a distinct subspecies taking into account body measurements (maximum length, mean length at sexual maturity, ratio of length to width of baleen plates, maximum width of the rostrum (snout), snout-eye dimensions, length of the tail region, fluke-anus length), geographical segregation, acoustic call types, mtDNA and microsatellite genetic evidence (nuclear and mitochondrial markers), which is substantially different from Antarctic blue whales and pygmy blue whales.
Size[edit]
The mean length of sexually mature Chilean blue whales is 23.5 meters (77 feet), which is intermediate in size between pygmy blue whales with mean length 21 meters (68 feet), and Antarctic blue whales with mean length 26 meters (85 feet).
Distribution[edit]
The Chilean subspecies lives in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, particularly in the Gulf of Corcovado (off the island of Chiloé) in Chile, and lower latitude regions which include Peru, the Galápagos Islands and the southern parts of the Tropical Eastern Pacific. The Gulf of Corcovado to the north of Guaitecas Archipelago is "arguably the largest feeding and nursing ground for blue whales [...] in the entire Southern Hemisphere".[1] All of this makes Guaitecas Archipelago a privileged place for whale watching.[1]
Etymology (Derivation of the scientific name)[edit]
The Chilean blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus chilensis Khalaf, 2020) was named by the Palestinian-German zoologist Norman Ali Khalaf-von Jaffa in May 2020. The genus name Balaenoptera is a combination of two Latin words, Balaena (whale) and pteron (having a dorsal fin). The specific Latin name musculus have two meanings (muscle) and (little mouse). The Swedish biologist and taxonomist Carl Linnaeus, who named the species in 1758, is thought to have known the dual meaning, and may have used it as a bit of irony. The subspecific Latin name chilensis is for the Republic of (Chile), where this subspecies of blue whale is living in its waters.
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Guala Catalan, Cesar; Hucke-Gaete, Rodrigo; Ruiz Troemel, Jorge (2011). "Whale-Watching Opportunities in Northern Patagonia, Chile". Pacific News. 35.
- Khalaf-Prinz Sakerfalke von Jaffa, Norman Ali (2020). The Chilean Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus chilensis Khalaf, 2020): A New Subspecies from Chile. Gazelle: The Palestinian Biological Bulletin. ISSN 0178 – 6288. Volume 38, Number 185, 01 May 2020, pp. 40-63.
External links[edit]
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