Balaenoptera acutorostrata Lacépède, 1804

Jo, Yeong-Seok, Baccus, John T. & Koprowski, John L., 2018, Mammals of Korea: a review of their taxonomy, distribution and conservation status, Zootaxa 4522 (1), pp. 1-216 : 115-116

Balaenoptera acutorostrata Lacépède, 1804 —Common Minke Whale

Balaenoptera acuto-rostrata Lacépède, 1804 p.134 ; Type locality- France; Kuroda, 1938 p.11.

B. acutorostrata: Won, 1958 p.433 ; Won, 1967 p.78; Won, 1968 p.240; Kim et al., 2000 p.60; Kim, 2004 p.222.

Range: Balaenoptera acutorostrata consistently inhabits the East Sea and Yellow Sea ( Fig. 75 ). Observations peak in spring followed by autumn, during migration. This species swims primarily in the mid-Yellow Sea and continental shelf of the East Sea but rarely comes into the coastal waters of Korea.

Remarks: The subspecies B. a. scammoni Deméré, 1986 was assigned to the population living in the North Pacific Ocean. However, the population of B. acutorostrata in the East Sea between Korea and Japan might represent a new subspecies ( Archer et al. 2013).

Conservation status: All populations of this species are included in CITES Appendix I (except the population in the waters of West Greenland is included in Appendix II).

Figures

FIGURE 75. Range map of Balaenoptera acutorostrata in Korea.