What Is The Scientific Name Of Blue Whale? (ANSWER)
SCIENTIFIC NAME OF BLUE WHALE – In this topic, we are going to know and identify the scientific name of blue whale.
It is a marine mammal which belongs to the rorqual family Balaenopteridae.
It has a maximum confirmed length of 29.9 meters or 98 feet and weighs at about 173 tonnes. It is the largest animal which is known to have ever existed
It falls under the Endangered category in the IUCN Red List and the Endangered Species Act.
They have long, slender mottled grayish-blue bodies which appears blue underwater, hence the name.
The whale also has a broad, flat head, which appears U-shaped from above, 270–395 entirely black baleen plates on each side of their upper jaw, 60 to 88 throat pleats (folds) that are expendable, long, slender flippers; a falcate dorsal fin positioned far back toward the tail; a thick tail stock; and a massive, slender fluke.
Answer
The binomial name of blue whale is Balaenoptera musculus.
Balaenoptera is a genus of the rorqual family Balaenopteridae. It is a combination of the Latin word baleena or “whale” in English, and the Greek word pteron or ‘fin’.
The specific epithet musculus, on the other hand, is from the Latin term mūs or “mouse” and the diminutive suffix “-culus“, giving it the meaning “little mouse“.
There are five subspecies of this whale, namely:
- Balaenoptera musculus musculus | North Atlantic and North Pacific
- Balaenoptera musculus intermedia | Southern Ocean
- Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda | Indian Ocean and South Pacific Ocean
- Balaenoptera musculus indica | Northern Indian Ocean
- Unknown Balaenoptera musculus subspecies| waters off Chile