Delphinapterus leucas, Beluga : fisheries

Delphinapterus leucas   (Pallas, 1776)

Beluga

Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Delphinapterus leucas  AquaMaps  Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Delphinapterus leucas

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | CoL | ITIS | WoRMS

Mammalia | Cetartiodactyla | Monodontidae

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Pelagic; brackish; depth range 0 - 862 m (Ref. 122879).  Polar; 90°N - 0°S, 180°W - 180°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Northern Atlantic, Northern Pacific, the Arctic and Inland Waters. [IUCN 2010 (Ref. 84930): CR, C2a(ii).]

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm Max length : 550 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 1394); 410 cm TL (female); common length : 430 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 118436); common length :380 cm TL (female); max. published weight: 1.6 t (Ref. 1394)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Minimum depth from Ref. 117401. Death of this species can result from predation by polar bears and killer whales, ice entrapments and diseases. There are at least seven (7) stocks of belugas in the North American Arctic based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA markers (Ref. 118436). Found in shallow coastal waters, and occasionally moves into deep, offshore waters. In the summer, they aggregate in large numbers in shallow estuaries. They primarily feed on various species of fish, combined with a wide variety of mollusks and benthic invertebrates which are found on or near the bottom (Ref. 1394).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Jefferson, T.A., S. Leatherwood and M.A. Webber. 1993. (Ref. 1394)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 22 June 2017

CITES status (Ref. 108899)

Appendix II: International trade monitored

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Appendix II: Migratory species conserved through agreements

Threat to humans

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial
FAO - Fisheries: landings, species profile | FishSource | Sea Around Us

Tools

E-book | Field guide

More information

Trophic Ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Fecundity
Spawning
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Physiology
Oxygen consumption
Human Related
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
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Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Pictures
References
References

Internet sources

BHL | BOLD Systems | CISTI | DiscoverLife | FAO(Fisheries: species profile; publication : search) | Fishipedia | GenBank (genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | Gomexsi | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | PubMed | Tree of Life | Wikipedia (Go, Search) | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): -1.8 - 2.3, mean -0.7 (based on 12736 cells).
Resilience (Ref. 69278): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.06-0.35; tm=7).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 71543): Very high vulnerability (79 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766): Unknown.

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