Megaptera novaeangliae (Borowski 1781)
- Dataset
- Mammals of Korea: a review of their taxonomy, distribution and conservation status
- Rank
- SPECIES
Classification
- kingdom
- Animalia
- phylum
- Chordata
- class
- Mammalia
- order
- Cetacea
- family
- Balaenopteridae
- genus
- Megaptera
- species
- Megaptera novaeangliae
discussion
Remarks: Previously, North Korea and South Korea had different scientific names for this species, M. nodosa and M. novaeangliae, respectively (Won 1967, 1968). A recent study based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA resulted in the recognition of the single species M. novaeangliae and three subspecies: M. n. kuzira (Gray, 1850) for the North Pacific Ocean (including Korea), M. n. novaeangliae (Borowski, 1781) for the North Atlantic Ocean and M. n. australis (Lesson, 1828) for the Southern Hemisphere (Jackson et al. 2014). Divergence time estimates indicated that the North Pacific Ocean subspecies was the earliest offshoot, rising ~ 175,000 years ago (Jackson et al. 2014). Conservation status: Megaptera novaeangliae has been a Protected Marine Species in South Korea since 2007. The Red Data Book of North Korea classified this species as ‘ Vulnerable’ (MAB National Committee of DPR Korea 2002). CITES lists this species on Appendix I.
distribution
Range: Humpback whales inhabit coastal waters. The first record of M. novaeangliae in Korea occurred in 1911 in the waters off Ulsan (Andrews 1916). During the Japanese invasion (1910 – 1945), fishermen caught 128 humpback whales in the Korean waters; since 1958, only 13 were captured (Park 1987). More recently, observations of humpback whales have regularly been made in waters southeast of Korea (Kim 2004; Fig. 80).
Name
- Synonyms
- Balaena nodosa Bonnaterre 1789
- Balaena novae subsp. angliae Borowski 1781
- Megaptera kuzira Gray 1850
- Megaptera nodosa : Kuroda 1938
- Megaptera nodosa subsp. nodosa Won 1968
- Megaptera novaeangliae subsp. kuzira Jackson 2014
- Megaptera versabilis Cope 1869
- Homonyms
- Megaptera novaeangliae (Borowski 1781)