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WoRMS taxon details

Physeter catodon Linnaeus, 1758 
AphiaID: 137118

Classification: Biota > Animalia (Kingdom) > Chordata (Phylum) > Vertebrata (Subphylum) > Gnathostomata (Superclass) > Tetrapoda (Superclass) > Mammalia (Class) > Theria (Subclass) > Cetartiodactyla (Order) > Cetancodonta (Suborder) > Cetacea (Infraorder) > Odontoceti (Superfamily) > Physeteridae (Family) > Physeter (Genus)
Status unaccepted unaccepted (synonym)
Record
status
 Checked by Taxonomic Editor
Accepted name  Physeter macrocephalus Linnaeus, 1758
Rank Species
Parent Physeter Linnaeus, 1758
Sources  original description: Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentius Salvius: Holmiae. ii, 824 pp., available online at http://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/no_cache/dms/load/toc/?IDDOC=265100
page(s): 76 [details]


basis of record: van der Land, J. (2001). Tetrapoda, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 375-376 (look up in IMIS[details]

additional source: University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. Animal Diversity Web., available online at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/index.html [details]

additional source: ITIS database, available online at http://www.itis.gov [details]

context source (Deepsea): Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO. The Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS), available online at http://www.iobis.org/ [details]

Vernacular
Names
 
Language   Name 
Albanian kashaloti  [details]
Dutch potvis  [details]
English sperm whale  [details]
French grand cachalot  [details]
German Pottwal  [details]
Hebrew ראשתן  [details]
Italian capodoglio  [details]
Lithuanian kašalotas  [details]
Modern Greek (1453-) Φυσητήρας  [details]
Norwegian spermhval  [details]
Norwegian Bokmål kaskelott  [details]
Norwegian Bokmål kaskelotthval  [details]
Norwegian Bokmål spermasetthval  [details]
Norwegian Bokmål spermhval  [details]
Norwegian Nynorsk kaskelott  [details]
Norwegian Nynorsk kaskelottkval  [details]
Norwegian Nynorsk spermasettkval  [details]
Norwegian Nynorsk spermkval  [details]
Polish kaszalot (zwyczajny)  [details]
Russian кашало́т  [details]
Slovenian kit glavač  [details]
Spanish cachalote común  [details]
Swedish kaskelot  [details]
Turkish ispermecet balinası  [details]
Turkish ispermeçet balinası  [details]
Turkish kaşalot  [details]
Ukrainian Кашалот  [details]
All child
taxa

[hide all]
 
Subspecies Physeter catodon australis Tomilin, 1957 (nomen dubium)
Subspecies Physeter catodon catodon Tomilin, 1957 (nomen dubium)
Environment marine
Distribution Belgian Exclusive Economic Zone [details]
Comores [details]
Gulf of Maine [details]
Kenya [details]
Madagascar [details]
Mozambique [details]
North West Atlantic [details]
Portuguese Exclusive Economic Zone [details]
Reunion [details]
Seychelles [details]
Somalia [details]
Spanish Exclusive Economic Zone [details]
Tanzania [details]
United Kingdom Exclusive Economic Zone [details]
Westerschelde [details]
Wimereux (not certain[details]
Zeebrugge [details]
Links Marine Life Information Network - UK
To Barcode of Life (2 barcodes)
To Biodiversity Heritage Library (158 publications)
To GenBank (322 nucleotides; 593 proteins)
To PESI
To ITIS
Notes  Habitat: offshore  [details]

Predators: None [details]

Synonymy: Most workers now use P. macrocephalus for the sperm whale [details]

Taxonomy: Some workers prefer use of this name for the sperm whale, rather than P. macrocephalus, also described by Linnaeus (1758), based on their interpretation of Linnaeus' diagnoses of the two nominal species and belief that P. macrocephalus refers to the pilot whale Globicephala melas. However, most workers now consider both names to refer to the sperm whale, with P. macrocephalus having line priority on the page in Linnaeus' work. [details]
Images 
Physeter catodon - sperm whale
Physeter catodon - sperm whale
added on 2006-06-26 - author: Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) ()
qualitystatus: checked by Perrin, William on 2012-08-27 21:44:19

Van Beneden & Gervais (1880, pl. 18)
Van Beneden & Gervais (1880, pl. 18)
added on 2008-06-02 - author: Delahaye in Van Beneden & Gervais (1880)
scan provided by VLIZ - Wetenschatten
qualitystatus: checked by Perrin, William on 2009-04-18 00:26:10

Van Beneden & Gervais (1880, pl. 19)
Van Beneden & Gervais (1880, pl. 19)
added on 2008-06-03 - author: Delahaye in Van Beneden & Gervais (1880)
scan provided by VLIZ - Wetenschatten
qualitystatus: checked by Perrin, William on 2009-04-18 00:26:48

Van Beneden & Gervais (1880, pl. 20)
Van Beneden & Gervais (1880, pl. 20)
added on 2008-06-03 - author: Delahaye in Van Beneden & Gervais (1880)
scan provided by VLIZ - Wetenschatten
qualitystatus: checked by Perrin, William on 2009-04-18 00:26:38
LSID urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:137118
Taxonomic
Edit history
 
Date   action   by
2004-12-21 15:54:05Z  created  van der Land, Jacob
2005-03-29 08:12:19Z  changed  Claus, Simon
2008-08-20 11:25:36Z  checked  Perrin, William
2009-01-07 16:13:45Z  changed  Perrin, William
2009-03-11 12:36:54Z  changed  Perrin, William
2009-04-09 15:27:12Z  changed  Perrin, William
  
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  Citation: Perrin, W. (2013). Physeter catodon Linnaeus, 1758. In: Perrin, W.F. (2013) World Cetacea Database. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=137118 on 2013-05-23
  Creative Commons License The webpage text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License