Deraniyagala's beaked whale (atoll beaked whale)
Mesoplodon hotaula
Recently resurrected: described from Sri Lanka in 1963, later sunk into M. ginkgodens, and reinstated as a valid species on genetic evidence (Dalebout et al. 2007, 2014).
- English
- Deraniyagala's beaked whale (atoll beaked whale)
- Scientific
- Mesoplodon hotaula
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- Group
- Beaked whales
- Maximum size
- Probably about 4-5 m (known from very few specimens)
- Depth and habitat
- Deep waters around tropical atolls and islands
- IUCN status
- DD · Data DeficientData Deficient (DD), assessed 2020
Description
One of the least-known whales in the world, known from a handful of stranded specimens from Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Kiribati and a few other tropical Indo-Pacific islands. It closely resembles the ginkgo-toothed beaked whale and is told apart mainly by genetics and skull details. Its behaviour and appearance at sea are essentially undocumented.
In the Maldives
Recorded in the Maldives from a single stranded mature male. The Maldives is one of very few places the species is known from. No photograph of this species is available on Wikimedia Commons.
Sources
- sealifebase.se /summary/Mesoplodon-hotaula.html
- mammalwatching.com /wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Maldives-cetaceans-review-2012.pdf
- mrc.gov.mv /assets/Uploads/2005-Observations-of-cetaceans-in-the-Maldives-1990-20
Dhivehi name source: No Dhivehi name found in the cetacean literature reviewed (Anderson 2005; Anderson et al. 2012), FishBase/SeaLifeBase or Dhivehi Wikipedia.