List of Australian marine mammals
Encyclopedia
This is the list of marine mammals found in Australian waters. It is a sub-list of the list of mammals of Australia.
Balaenopteridae
- Minke WhaleMinke WhaleMinke whale , or lesser rorqual, is a name given to two species of marine mammal belonging to a clade within the suborder of baleen whales. The minke whale was given its official designation by Lacepède in 1804, who described a dwarf form of Balænoptera acuto-rostrata...
, Balaenoptera acutorostrata - Southern Minke Whale, Balaenoptera bonaerensis
- Sei WhaleSei WhaleThe sei whale , Balaenoptera borealis, is a baleen whale, the third-largest rorqual after the blue whale and the fin whale. It inhabits most oceans and adjoining seas, and prefers deep offshore waters. It avoids polar and tropical waters and semi-enclosed bodies of water...
, Balaenoptera borealis - Pygmy Bryde's Whale, Balaenoptera edeni
- Blue WhaleBlue WhaleThe blue whale is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales . At in length and or more in weight, it is the largest known animal to have ever existed....
, Balaenoptera musculus - Fin WhaleFin WhaleThe fin whale , also called the finback whale, razorback, or common rorqual, is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales. It is the second longest whale and the sixth largest living animal after the blue whale, bowhead whale, and right whales, growing to nearly 27 metres long...
, Balaenoptera physalus - Humpback WhaleHumpback WhaleThe humpback whale is a species of baleen whale. One of the larger rorqual species, adults range in length from and weigh approximately . The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with unusually long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is an acrobatic animal, often breaching and slapping the...
, Megaptera novaeangliae
Delphinidae
- Short-beaked Common DolphinShort-beaked Common DolphinThe short-beaked common dolphin is a species of common dolphin. It has a larger range than the long-beaked common dolphin , occurring throughout warm-temperate and tropical oceans, with the possible exception of the Indian Ocean...
, Delphinus delphis - Pygmy Killer WhalePygmy Killer WhaleThe pygmy killer whale is a small, rarely seen cetacean of the oceanic dolphin family . It derives its common name from sharing some physical characteristics with the orca It is the smallest species that has "whale" in its common name. In fact, "killer" may be more apt in the case of the pygmy...
, Feresa attenuata - Short-finned Pilot WhaleShort-finned Pilot WhaleThe Short-finned Pilot Whale is one of the two species of cetacean in the genus Globicephala. It is part of the oceanic dolphin family , though its behaviour is closer to that of the larger whales....
, Globicephala macrorhynchus - Long-finned Pilot WhaleLong-finned Pilot WhaleThe long-finned pilot whale is one of the two species of cetacean in the genus Globicephala. It belongs to the oceanic dolphin family , though its behavior is closer to that of the larger whales.-Description:...
, Globicephala melas - Risso's DolphinRisso's DolphinRisso's dolphin is the only species of dolphin in the genus Grampus.-Taxonomy:Risso's dolphin is named after Antoine Risso, whose description formed the basis of the first public description of the animal, by Georges Cuvier, in 1812...
, Grampus griseus - Fraser's DolphinFraser's DolphinFraser's Dolphin or Sarawak Dolphin is a cetacean in the family Delphinidae found in deep waters in the Pacific Ocean and to a lesser extent in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans.-Taxonomy:...
, Lagenodelphis hosei - Hourglass DolphinHourglass DolphinThe hourglass dolphin is a small dolphin in the family Delphinidae that inhabits Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters....
, Lagenorhynchus cruciger - Dusky DolphinDusky DolphinThe dusky dolphin is a dolphin found in coastal waters in the Southern Hemisphere. Its specific epithet is Latin for "dark" or "dim". It is very closely genetically related to the Pacific white-sided dolphin, but current scientific consensus is that they are distinct species...
, Lagenorhynchus obscurus - Southern Rightwhale Dolphin, Lissodelphis peronii
- Irrawaddy DolphinIrrawaddy dolphinThe Irrawaddy dolphin is a euryhaline species of oceanic dolphin found in discontinuous subpopulations near sea coasts and in estuaries and rivers in parts of the Bay of Bengal and Southeast Asia.-Etymology and taxonomic history:...
, Orcaella brevirostris - Australian Snubfin DolphinAustralian Snubfin DolphinThe Australian snubfin dolphin is a dolphin found off the northern coasts of Australia. It closely resembles the Irrawaddy dolphin and was not described as a separate species until 2005. The Australian snubfin is tri-coloured, while the Irrawaddy dolphin only has two colours on its skin...
, Orcaella heinsohni - OrcaOrcaThe killer whale , commonly referred to as the orca, and less commonly as the blackfish, is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family. Killer whales are found in all oceans, from the frigid Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas...
(Killer Whale), Orcinus orca - Melon-headed WhaleMelon-headed WhaleThe melon-headed whale is a cetacean of the oceanic dolphin family . It is closely related to the pygmy killer whale and pilot whale, and collectively these dolphin species are known by the common name blackfish. It is also related to the false killer whale...
, Peponocephala electra - False Killer WhaleFalse Killer WhaleThe False Killer Whale is a cetacean, and the third largest member of the oceanic dolphin family . It lives in temperate and tropical waters throughout the world. As its name implies, the False Killer Whale shares characteristics, such as appearance, with the more widely known Orca...
, Pseudorca crassidens - Indo-Pacific Hump-backed Dolphin, Sousa chinensis
- Pantropical Spotted DolphinPantropical Spotted DolphinThe Pantropical Spotted Dolphin is a species of dolphin found in all the world's temperate and tropical oceans. The species was beginning to come under threat due to the killing of millions of individuals in tuna purse seines...
, Stenella attenuata - Striped DolphinStriped DolphinThe Striped Dolphin is an extensively studied dolphin that is found in temperate and tropical waters of all the world's oceans.-Taxonomy:...
, Stenella coeruleoalba - Spinner DolphinSpinner DolphinThe Spinner Dolphin is a small dolphin found in off-shore tropical waters around the world. It is famous for its acrobatic displays in which they spin longitudinally along their axis as they leap through the air.-Taxonomy:...
, Stenella longirostris - Rough-toothed DolphinRough-toothed DolphinThe Rough-toothed dolphin is species of dolphin that can be found in deep warm and tropical waters around the world.The species was first described by Georges Cuvier in 1823...
, Steno bredanensis - Indo-Pacific Bottlenose DolphinIndo-Pacific Bottlenose DolphinThe Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin is a species of bottlenose dolphin. The Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin grows to long, and weigh up to . It lives in the waters around India, northern Australia, South China, the Red Sea, and the eastern coast of Africa. Its back is dark grey and its belly...
, Tursiops aduncus - Bottlenose DolphinBottlenose DolphinBottlenose dolphins, the genus Tursiops, are the most common and well-known members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Recent molecular studies show the genus contains two species, the common bottlenose dolphin and the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin , instead of one...
, Tursiops truncatus
Kogiidae
- Pygmy Sperm WhalePygmy Sperm WhaleThe Pygmy Sperm Whale is one of three species of toothed whale in the sperm whale family. They are not often sighted at sea, and most of what is known about them comes from the examination of stranded specimens.-Taxonomy:...
, Kogia breviceps - Dwarf Sperm WhaleDwarf Sperm WhaleThe Dwarf Sperm Whale is one of three species in the sperm whale family. They are not often sighted at sea. As such, most information is a result of the study of stranded carcasses.-Taxonomy:...
, Kogia simus
Ziphiidae
- Arnoux's Beaked Whale, Berardius arnuxii
- Southern Bottlenose WhaleSouthern bottlenose whaleThe Southern bottlenose whale is a species of whale, in the ziphiid family, one of two members of the Hyperoodon genus. The southern bottlenose has been rarely observed, was seldom hunted, and is probably the most abundant whale in Antarctic waters.-Physical description:It is fairly rotund and...
, Hyperoodon planifrons - Longman's Beaked WhaleLongman's Beaked WhaleThe tropical bottlenose whale , also known as the Indo-Pacific beaked whale and the Longman's beaked whale, was considered to be the world's rarest cetacean until recently, but the spade-toothed whale now holds that position. The species has had a long history riddled with misidentifications, which...
, Indopacetus pacificus - Andrews' beaked whaleAndrews' Beaked WhaleAndrews' beaked whale , sometimes known as the deep-crest beaked whale or splay-toothed whale, is one of the most poorly known members of a poorly known genus...
, Mesoplodon bowdoini - Blainville's Beaked WhaleBlainville's Beaked WhaleBlainville's beaked whale , or the dense-beaked whale, is the widest ranging mesoplodont whale and perhaps the most documented. Henri de Blainville first described the species in 1817 from a small piece of jaw—the heaviest bone he had ever come across—which resulted in the name densirostris...
, Mesoplodon densirostris - Ginkgo-toothed Beaked WhaleGinkgo-toothed Beaked WhaleThe ginkgo-toothed beaked whale is a poorly known species of whale even for a beaked whale, and was named for the unusual shape of its dual teeth...
, Mesoplodon ginkgodens - Gray's Beaked WhaleGray's Beaked WhaleGray's beaked whale , sometimes known as Haast's beaked whale, the Scamperdown whale, or the southern beaked whale, is one of the better-known members of the genus Mesoplodon. The scientific name refers to John Edward Gray, a zoologist at the British Museum. This species is fairly gregarious and...
, Mesoplodon grayi - Hector's Beaked WhaleHector's Beaked WhaleHector's beaked whale , is a small mesoplodont living in the Southern Hemisphere. This whale is named after Sir James Hector, a founder of the colonial museum in Wellington, New Zealand...
, Mesoplodon hectori - Strap-toothed Whale, Mesoplodon layardii
- True's Beaked WhaleTrue's Beaked WhaleThe True's Beaked Whale is a medium sized whale in the Mesoplodont genus. The common name is in reference to Frederick W. True, a curator at the United States National Museum...
, Mesoplodon mirus - Shepherd's Beaked WhaleShepherd's Beaked WhaleShepherd's beaked whale , also commonly called Tasman's beaked whale or simply the Tasman whale, is a cetacean of the family Ziphidae. The whale has been little studied. Only four confirmed at sea sightings have been made and 42 strandings recorded . It was first known to science in 1937, being...
, Tasmacetus shepherdi - Cuvier's Beaked WhaleCuvier's Beaked WhaleCuvier's beaked whale is the most widely distributed of all the beaked whales. It is the only member of the genus Ziphius. Another common name for the species is goose-beaked whale because its head is said to be shaped like the beak of a goose. Georges Cuvier first described it in 1823 from part...
, Ziphius cavirostris
Otariidae
- New Zealand Fur SealNew Zealand Fur SealThe Australian fur seal , or New Zealand fur seal or southern fur seal, is a species of fur seal found around the south coast of Australia, the coast of the South Island of New Zealand, and some of the small islands to the south and east of there...
, Arctocephalus forsteri - Antarctic Fur SealAntarctic Fur SealThe Antarctic fur seal is one of eight seals in the genus Arctocephalus, and one of nine fur seals in the subfamily Arctocephalinae. As its name suggests, the Antarctic fur seal is distributed in Antarctic waters. Around 95% of the world population breeds at the Island of South Georgia...
, Arctocephalus gazella - Australian Fur Seal, Arctocephalus pusillus
- Subantarctic Fur SealSubantarctic Fur SealThe subantarctic fur seal is a fur seal found in the southern parts of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. It was first described by Gray in 1872 from a specimen recovered in northern Australia—hence the inappropriate tropicalis specific name.- Description :The subantarctic fur seal is...
, Arctocephalus tropicalis - Australian Sea LionAustralian Sea LionThe Australian Sea Lion , also known as the Australian Sea-lion or Australian Sealion, is a species of sea lion that breeds only on the south and west coasts of Australia...
, Neophoca cinerea - New Zealand Sea LionNew Zealand Sea LionThe New Zealand Sea Lion also known as Hooker's Sea Lion or Whakahao in Māori is a species of sea lion that breeds around the coast of New Zealand's South Island and Stewart Island/Rakiura to some extent, and to a greater extent around the New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands, especially the Auckland...
, Phocarctos hookeri
Phocidae
- Leopard SealLeopard SealThe leopard seal , also referred to as the sea leopard, is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic...
, Hydrurga leptonyx - Weddell SealWeddell SealThe Weddell seal , is a relatively large and abundant true seal with a circumpolar distribution surrounding Antarctica. Weddell seals have the most southerly distribution of any mammal, with a habitat that extends as far south as McMurdo Sound...
, Leptonychotes weddelli - Crabeater SealCrabeater SealThe crabeater seal, Lobodon carcinophagus, is a true seal with a circumpolar distribution around the coast of Antarctica. They are medium to large-sized , relatively slender and pale-colored, found primarily on the free floating pack ice that extends seasonally out from the Antarctic coast, which...
, Lobodon carcinophaga - Southern Elephant SealSouthern Elephant SealThe Southern Elephant Seal is one of the two extant species of elephant seal. It is both the most massive pinniped and member of the order Carnivora living today...
, Mirounga leonina - Ross SealRoss SealThe Ross seal is a true seal with a range confined entirely to the pack ice of Antarctica. It is the only species of the genus Ommatophoca. First described during James Clark Ross' British Antarctic Expedition in 1841, it is the smallest, least abundant and least well known of the Antarctic...
, Ommatophoca rossi
See also
- List of mammals of Australia
- List of monotremes and marsupials of Australia
- List of bats of Australia
- List of rodents of Australia
- List of placental mammals introduced to Australia