Perrin's beaked whale

The Perrin 's beaked whale ( Mesoplodon Perrini ) is a cetacean of the family of beaked whales ( Ziphiidae ). The species was first described scientifically in 2002.

Between 1975 and 1997, stranded five specimens of this species on the California coast, four were erroneously Hector 's beaked attributed to a whale species that otherwise found only in the waters around Antarctica, a fund was initially mistaken for a young Cuvier 's beaked whale. Molecular genetic investigations have confirmed that this is a new species, which was named in 2002 in honor of the American Walforschers William Perrin. The studies have also shown that their next relatives is the Peruvian beaked whale, one discovered in the 1990s style, which is also known only from the eastern Pacific.

Perrin 's beaked whales are very small members of its family, they reach a length of 4 to 4.5 meters. They are characterized by a short snout; the top and the flipper of the animals are dark gray, the flanks and belly lighter, almost whitish colored. The stomach contents of stranded animals, is that they feed primarily on squid. Probably the species is on the northern Pacific, or only parts of it is limited.