Mammals of the WorldPygmy Killer Whale
Feresa attenuata
- Order
- Artiodactyla
- Family
- Delphinidae
- Genus
- Feresa
- IUCN status
- LC
- Distribution
- Algeria|Anguilla|Antigua and Barbuda|Aruba|Australia|Bahamas|Bangladesh|Barbados|Belize|Benin|Bonaire|Sint Eustatius|Saba|Brazil|Brunei|Cambodia|Cameroon|Cayman Islands|Cocos Islands|Colombia|Comoros|Republic of the Congo|Democratic Republic of the Congo|Cook Islands|Costa Rica|Cuba|Curaçao|Cote d'Ivoire|Djibouti|Dominica|Dominican Republic|Ecuador|El Salvador|Equatorial Guinea|Fiji|France|French Guiana|French Polynesia|Gabon|Gambia|Ghana|Grenada|Guam|Guatemala|Guinea|Guinea-Bissau|Guyana|Haiti|Honduras|India|Indonesia|Iran|Italy|Jamaica|Japan|Kenya|Kiribati|North Korea|Liberia|Madagascar|Malaysia|Maldives|Marshall Islands|Mauritania|Mayotte|Mexico|Micronesia|Morocco|Mozambique|Myanmar|Nauru|New Caledonia|Nicaragua|Nigeria|Niue|Northern Marianas|Oman|Pakistan|Pitcairn|Portugal|Puerto Rico|Saint Kitts and Nevis|Sint Maarten|Saint Vincent and the Grenadines|Samoa|Senegal|Sierra Leone|Singapore|Solomon Islands|Somalia|South Africa|Spain|Sri Lanka|Suriname|Taiwan|China|Tanzania|Thailand|East Timor|Togo|Tokelau|Tonga|Trinidad and Tobago|United States|Venezuela|Vietnam|United States Virgin Islands|British Virgin Islands|Wallis and Futuna|Yemen|Angola?|Namibia?|Seychelles?|Tuvalu?|Uruguay?|Vanuatu?
- Realm
- Marine
Other names: Slender Blackfish|Slender Pilot Whale
About this species
- Habitat
- Deeper water, about 500–2,000m
- Range
- Warm oceans; recorded in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka
The pygmy killer whale is a poorly known, rarely seen oceanic dolphin and the only species in its genus. It shares some features with the orca, but it is dark grey to black on the cape with a sharp change to lighter grey on the sides. The flesh around the lips and end of the snout is white, and unlike in the false killer whale the white extends back onto the face. In calm water the small bow wave in front of the face looks like a bottle from a distance (Wikipedia, general species account).
It is found mainly in deeper water, about 500–2,000 m, and records from bycatch suggest a year-round presence in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka. It is seen in groups of 4 to 30 or more, and social bonds between individuals can last up to 15 years. It moves slowly, at about 3 km/h. Its occurrence in Japanese waters is documented by the National Museum of Nature and Science marine-mammal database.
Description: Wildlife of Japan guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)