FIRST RECORD OF SOWERBY'S BEAKED WHALE
FROM AZORESFRANCISCO REINER*

The Odontocete species Mesoplodon bidens (Sowerby, 1804) is generally
thought to occur naturally in the northern part of the Atlantic, especiallybetween the latitudes of 50° and 60° N. This is suggested by the known
strandings on the coasts of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Germany(Baltic Sea), Holland, Belgium, British Isles and France (see Duguy andRobineau, 1982). These strandings are shown in Fig. 1. However, Maul andSergeant ( 1977) refer the capture of one of these beaked whales in the watersof Madeira (near the fishing port of Machico) on August 14, 1941, which isa latitude considerably lower than the ones at which we would expect to findthis species.
We report on this short note the capture of another specimen, this timein Azores. In fact, an adult female was harpooned by fishermen near Vila
Franca do Campo (25° 23' N; 37° 45' W), S. Miguel Island, on September 24,
1981. According to local fishermen, three whales (possibly of the samespecies) were seen around the long reefs near the port, following a N-S
swimming course. One of them, presented hereby, stranded on a shallow reef
and was later harpooned. The others seem to have continued on theirsouthern route.
The skeleton was removed to the "Museu Regional Dr Carlos Machado".
Several difficulties have limited the amount of information we were able toobtain. From the biopsy, however, we learned that the whale was carrying a
54cm long male foetus (11181 MRCM). Some measurements and photographs
had been made on the animal, shortly after death (Table 1; Fig. 2). The skullmeasurements, based on Moore (1963), are shown on Table 2. Figs 3 and 4
show different views of this skull. The foetus was also measured andTABLE I. EXTERNAL MEASUREMENTS OF MESOPLODON RIDENS IN CM
Total length, from tip of upper jaw to deepest part of notch on flukes
Head length
Girth, maximum
Length of dorsal fin baseWidth of flukes, tip to tip
Maximum width of flipper* Museu do Mar, Camara Municipal de Cascais, C.P. 2750 Cascais, Portugal.
Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst.,
No.37,1986,103-107

483.0
85.0
140.022.0
116.0
50.0

104REINERTABLE 2. SKULL MEASUREMENTS OF MESOPLODON BIDENS IN CM
Length of temporal fossa
Length of orbit
Greatest span of occipital condyles
Greatest width of temporal fossa approximately
at right angles to greatest length
Breadth of skull across zygomatic process of squamosals
Width of premaxilae at midlength of rostrum
Breadth of skull across preorbital processes of frontals

9.0
8.5
11.0
5.5
27.5
3.0
20.2

TABLE 3. EXTERNAL MEASUREMENTS OF MESOPLODON BIDENS IN CM (FOETUS)
Total length, from tip of upper jaw to deepest part of notch on flukes
Tip of upper jaw to anterior insertion of dorsal fin
Tip of upper jaw to blowhole
Tip of upper jaw to apex of melon
Tip of upper jaw to centre of eye
Tip of upper jaw to angle of gape
Tip of upper jaw to anterior insertion of flipper
Height of dorsal fin
Length of flipper, axilla to tip
Maximum width of flipper
Tip of upper jaw to midpoint of genital aperture
Tip of upper jaw to midpoint of anus
Width of flukes, tip to tip

54.0
35.0
9.3
4.5
10.0
6.0
17.0
2.6
9.0
2 .5
38.2
41.0
14.0

photographed (Table 3; Fig. 5).
We are very grateful to Dr James Mead, National Museum of NaturalHistory, Smithsonian Institution, for his confirmation of the species identification, and to Dr Nestor de Sousa, Director of the "Museu Regional Dr CarlosMachado", for permission to the publication of the foetal measurements andother biometrical data. We also thank Silvino Pacheco and Paulo Oliveira forthe photographs, and Dr A. Silva Luis for his encouragement. Manuel dos
Santos provided helpful comments.
REFERENCES
Ducuv, R. and D. RoBINEAU, 1982. Guide des Mammiferes Marins d'Europe. Delachaux e Niestle-Neuchatel,
200pp.
MAUL, G.E. and D.E. SERGEANT, 1977. New cetacean records from Madeira. Bocagiana, 43: 1-8.
MooRE, J.C., 1963. Recognizing certain species of beaked whales of the Pacific Ocean. Ann. Midi. Nat.,70 (2): 396-428.
MOORE, J.C., 1966. Diagnoses and distribution of beaked whales at the genus Mesoplodon known fromNorth American waters. pp.32-61 In: K.S. Norris (ed), Whales, dolphins and Porpoises. University ofCalifornia Press, Berkeley. 789 pp.
NORRIS, K.S., 1961. Standardized methods for measuring and recording data on the smaller cetaceans.
]. Mammal., 42 (4): 471-476.
Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst.,
No. 37, 1986

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