Balaenoptera physalus   (Linnaeus, 1758)

Fin whale

Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
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Balaenoptera physalus  AquaMaps  Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Balaenoptera physalus

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

Mammalia | Cetartiodactyla | Balaenopteridae

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

Pelagic; oceanodromous (Ref. 75906); depth range 0 - 230 m (Ref. 1005).  Tropical; 90°N - 90°S, 180°W - 180°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Circumglobal except the Arctic: Balaenoptera physalus physalus: Svalbard, Barents Sea, North Carolina, Portugal, Cantabrian Sea, Newfoundland, Gulf of Mexico, Greater Antilles, Faroe Islands, Norway, Canary Islands, Sea of Okhotsk, Kuril Islands, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, Gulf of Alaska, Sea of Japan, Japan, Taiwan, Ogasawara, Hawaii, California, Baja California, Gulf of California; Balaenoptera physalus quoyi: Ross Ice Shelf, Brazil, Gabon, Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Madagascar, Western Australia, New Zealand, Colombia, Peru, Chile (Ref. 1522).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm Max length : 2,700 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 1394); max. published weight: 75.0 t (Ref. 1394)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

The largest of the fin whales. Seen near shore, most commonly where deep water approaches the coast. Feeds on small invertebrates, schooling fishes, and squid. They are active lunge feeders (Ref. 1394). They are preyed upon by great white sharks (Ref. 32140). Following depletion of blue whale stocks, whalers shifted their attention to fin whales. Populations everywhere were substantially reduced. At present the worldwide population does not seem to appear in any immediate danger (Ref. 1394). Minimum depth from Ref. 116169.

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 2024-1)

  Vulnerable (VU) (A1d); Date assessed: 04 February 2018

CITES status (Ref. 108899)

Appendix I: International trade banned

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Appendix I & II: Endangered 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
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Ecology
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Length-length
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Maturity
Fecundity
Spawning
Eggs
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Distribution
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Human Related
Aquaculture profile
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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): 0.2 - 4.6, mean 1.5 (based on 25596 cells).
Resilience (Ref. 69278): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.25-0.27; tm=17.5).
Vulnerability (Ref. 71543): Very high vulnerability (76 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766): Unknown.

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