CaRMS taxon details
original description
(of ) Pallas, P. S. (1776). Reise durch verschiedene Provinzen des Russischen Reichs. Vol. 3. <em>Kayserliche Academie der Wissenschaften, St. Petersburg.</em> 1-454., available online at https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN330048503 [details] 
basis of record
van der Land, J. (2001). Tetrapoda, <B><I>in</I></B>: Costello, M.J. <i>et al.</i> (Ed.) (2001). <i>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,</i> 50: pp. 375-376 (look up in IMIS) [details]
additional source
Carwardine, M., E. Hoyt, R. E. Fordyce and P. Gill. 1998. Whales, dolphins and porpoises. Time-Life Books. Nature Company Guides, USA. 288 p. [details]
additional source
Animal Diversity Web. <em>University of Michigan Museum of Zoology.</em> , available online at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/index.html [details]
additional source
Mead, J. G.; Brownell, R. L. Jr. (2005). Cetacea. <em>In Wilson, D.E. & D.M. Reeder (eds). Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed), Johns Hopkins University Press, 2,142 pp.</em> 723--743., available online at http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/ [details]
additional source
Rice, D. W. (1998). Marine mammals of the world. Systematics and distribution. <em>Society for Marine Mammalogy Special Publication.</em> 4., available online at http://www.marinemammalscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/MarineMammalsOfTheWorld.pdf [details]
additional source
Hershkovitz, P. (1966). Catalog of Living Whales. <em>Bulletin of the United States National Museum.</em> (246): 1-259., available online at https://doi.org/10.5479/si.03629236.246 [details]
additional source
Jefferson, T. A., M. A. Webber and R. L. Pitman. (2008). Marine mammals of the world. Academic Press, Amsterdam. [details]
additional source
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, available online at http://www.iucnredlist.org [details]
additional source
Perrin, W.F.; Würsig, B.; Thewissen, J.G.M. (2009). Encyclopedia of marine mammals. Second edition. Academic Press: London. ISBN 978-0-12-373553-9. xxix, 1316 pp. (look up in IMIS) [details]
additional source
Leatherwood, S., R. R. Reeves, W. F. Perrin and W. E. Evans. (1982). Whales, dolphins, and porpoises of the eastern North Pacific and adjacent Arctic waters. A guide to their identification. NOAA Technical Report NMFS Circular 444. 245pp. [details]
additional source
Stewart, B. E. and R. E. A. Stewart. (1989). Delphinapterus leucas. Mammalian Species 336:1--8. [details]
additional source
Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). , available online at http://www.itis.gov [details]
ecology source
Looby, A.; Erbe, C.; Bravo, S.; Cox, K.; Davies, H. L.; Di Iorio, L.; Jézéquel, Y.; Juanes, F.; Martin, C. W.; Mooney, T. A.; Radford, C.; Reynolds, L. K.; Rice, A. N.; Riera, A.; Rountree, R.; Spriel, B.; Stanley, J.; Vela, S.; Parsons, M. J. G. (2023). Global inventory of species categorized by known underwater sonifery. <em>Scientific Data.</em> 10(1). (look up in IMIS), available online at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02745-4 [details] 
From editor or global species database
Holotype None preserved. Name based on freshly harpooned animals. [details]
IUCN Red List Category subpopulation Cook Inlet beluga whale : Critically Endangered (CR) [details]
IUCN Red List Category Near Threatened (NT) [details]
Importance Belugas have been hunted for centuries for a variety of products. Beluga meat has been used to feed humans and domestic animals, the blubber used in making soap, lubricants, and margarine, and the fat of the head as a high quality lubricant. The skin has been tanned to make boots and laces. Current use is for aboriginal subsistence. [details]
Morphology Distinguishing characteristics: Belugas are white-colored whales with a fusiform body shape and a large melon on the head. This melon is thought by some to focus echolocation tones, although this is in question. The melon can also be used as an indicator of health (poorly nourished belugas have low flat melons while well fed individuals have round melons) and of emotional state--agressive individuals raise their melons forward. There are no dorsal fins. Thirty-eight teeth are present. Males are larger than females. [details]
Reproduction Calving occurs between April and September. Gestation is one year. Weaned in 1.5-2years. [details]
Type locality Mouth of Ob River, northeastern Siberia, Russian Federation [details]Unreviewed
Diet large variety of fish, various crustaceans and other bottom living invertebrates [details]
Dimensions Length: male 12-18' (3.7-5.5 m), female 10-13 1/2' (3-4.1 m), at birth 5'+ (1.5 m +); Weight: 500-1500 kg [details]
Distribution Subarctic area [details]
Distribution East Pacific; Eastern Atlantic Ocean, Europe and Northern Asia (excluding China); Indo-West Pacific; Western Atlantic Ocean [details]
Habitat inshore including estuaries and rivers in summer, sometimes offshore [details]
Habitat mostly coastal, also in estuaries and rivers [details]
Predators None [details]
From editor or global species database
Unreviewed
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