Kogia sima (Owen, 1866) —Dwarf Sperm Whale

Physeter (Euphyseter) simus Owen, 1866 p.30; Type locality- Andhra Pradesh, India.

Kogia simus: Kuroda, 1938 p.13; Kim et al., 2000 p.73.

K. sima: Kim, 2004 p.230 .

Range: Although no record exists in Korea, stranded dwarf sperm whales have been reported along the west coast of Japan near Korea (200 km from Busan; National Museum of Nature and Science 2009). The species is expected to inhabit waters of the East Sea along the coast of Korea (Kim 2004; Fig. 83).

Remarks: The dwarf sperm whale has sometimes been designated erroneously under ‘ Kogia simus ’. The scientific name is here corrected to K. sima for agreement with Latin gender (Rice 1998). Although K. sima is considered monotypic, mtDNA analysis suggested two reproductively isolated clades between the Indo-Pacific and Atlantic oceans (Chivers et al. 2005).