Cuvier's beaked whales are members of the beaked whale family (Ziphiidae). These medium-size whales have a round and robust body, with a triangular "falcate" dorsal fin located far down the animal's back. The head is a sloping concave-shape with no obvious "melon", an indistinct beak, and a large slit-like blowhole. The jaw-line is slightly upturned giving the whale a "smiling" appearance. The profile of the head is sometimes described as goose-like. Like other beaked whale species, males have two small cone-shaped teeth erupting out of the tip of the bottom jaw that are often used for fighting. A Cuvier's beaked whale's body has variable coloration that ranges from dark gray to a reddish-brown, with a paler counter-shaded underside. The reddish-brown coloration is caused by the infestation of microscopic "diatoms" and algae. The body is often covered with linear scratches and oval-shaped scars. As this species grows older, they become paler, develop a more significant indentation on the top of the head and accumulate more scarring (especially males). There is a whitish coloration on the face and dark-colored patch around the eye.

These whales have a worldwide distribution in deep waters below the 10 degree isotherm (Minasian et al. 1984, Watson 1981).

Biogeographic Regions: indian ocean (Native ); atlantic ocean (Native ); pacific ocean (Native )

A record of a male from Marsa Matrouh (2007).

Mediterranean (bones from coast of Marsa Matrouh in 2007).

Cuvier's beaked whales have a cosmopolitan distribution and can be found in most oceans and seas worldwide. Most of the distribution information is based on stranding records. The seasonality and migration patterns of this species are not known. Recent genetic diversity studies indicate that Cuvier's beaked whales generally remain in their "home" ocean basins, which may create well-defined populations. In the Northern Hemisphere, they are known to occur near the Aleutian Islands, Bay of Biscay, British Columbia, Canada, Gulf of California, Gulf of Mexico, Massachusetts, Mediterranean Sea and the Shetlands. In the Southern Hemisphere, they are known to occur near New Zealand, South Africa, and Tierra del Fuego. They have also stranded in tropical environments such as the Bahamas, Caribbean Sea, Mediterranean Sea and the Galapagos Islands.

occurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

Canada

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Transient

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

Global Range: Worldwide in all ocean basins from tropical to subpolar waters. Seldom seen alive; known mainly from occasional stranded specimens. Stranded specimens have been recorded from Cape Cod and the North Sea south to Tierra del Fuego and the Cape of Good Hope in the Atlantic, and from the southern Bering Sea south to Australia and New Zealand in the Pacific (the most frequently sighted medium-sized cetacean in the eastern tropical Pacific). Also Mediterranean, Caribbean, Sea of Japan, and Indian Ocean.

-Ziphius cavirostris- is a medium-sized whale with an average body length of 6.4 meters. The female is usually a little larger and can be up to 7 meters long. Calves are 2.1 meters at birth. -Z. cavirostris- has a spindle shaped body that is a little stouter than other ziphiids. They have a small head (about 10% of their body length) and a distinct neck. As with all ziphiids, they have two grooves along the throat. They have a stubby beak which is almost indistinct in larger animals and a scooped out hollow behind the blowhole. Adult males have two large teeth on the lower jaw that grow up to 8 centimeters. In the females, the teeth never break through the gums. Some individuals have been found with 15-40 vestigial teeth that never erupted. -Z. cavirostris- have small rounded flippers that fold into depressions or "flipper pockets" on their flanks. They have a relatively tall fin (40 centimeters) that is shaped like a shark fin. There is a small notch in the center of their broad flukes.

The coloration of -Z. cavirostris- varies among individuals. In the Indopacific waters, the whales are often sienna colored, ranging from a dark yellow to a deep brown. Their backs are usually darker than their bellies, but some have a reversed coloration: pale backs with black stomachs. The head is almost always totally white, especially in older males. In the Atlantic waters, -Z. cavirostris- have a grey blue color, often with the same pale head coloration. They have dark spots around the eye. Juveniles are usually lighter than adults (Minasian et al. 1984, Watson 1981).

Average mass: 3000 kg.

Average mass: 2.701e+06 g.

Length: 4.7-7 m. Weight: 1,845-3,090 kg

Length: 610 cm

• Marine

-Z. cavirostris- have a worldwide distribution, though they seldom go north of the 10 degree isotherm. They are deep divers and prefer waters beyond the 1000 meter line (Watson 1981).

Aquatic Biomes: benthic ; coastal

Cuvier's beaked whales can be found in temperate, subtropical, and tropical waters. They have occasionally been sighted in "boreal" waters as well. They prefer deep "pelagic" waters (usually greater than 1,000 m of the continental slope and edge, as well as around steep underwater geologic features like banks, seamounts and submarine canyons. Recent surveys suggest that beaked whales, like this species, may favor oceanographic features such as currents, current boundaries, and core ring features.

Habitat Type: Marine

Comments: Generally but not always in deeper, offshore tropical and temperate waters, usually outside the 1000 m contour (Houston 1991).

Non-Migrant: No. All populations of this species make significant seasonal migrations.

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.

Seasonal distribution is poorly known; apparently year-round resident in some areas (e.g., off New Zealand, the British Isles, western North America, and Japan) (Leatherwood and Reeves 1983).

Ziphius cavirostris eats mainly squid and deep water fish. They also eat crabs and starfish (Watson 1981).

Animal Foods: fish; mollusks; aquatic crustaceans; echinoderms

Primary Diet: carnivore (Molluscivore )

Comments: Diet consists mainly of squid and open-ocean, mesopelagic, and deep-water fishes (Leatherwood and Reeves 1983, IUCN 1991).

Solitary (adult males) or usually in tight schools of 3-10, sometimes as many as 25 (Leatherwood and Reeves 1983). In the eastern tropical Pacific, group size was 1-7 (IUCN 1991).

Like other beaked whales, they are deep divers. Cuvier's beaked whales are capable of diving up to at least 1,000 m for 20-40 minutes to opportunistically feed on mostly cephalopods (e.g., squid and octopus) and sometimes fish and crustaceans. A pair of ventral throat grooves help to create a vacuum within their mouths, allowing the whales to suck in their targeted prey.

Cuvier's beaked whales reach sexual maturity at lengths of 5.5-6.1 m for males and 6.1 m for females, which is usually between 7-11 years of age. Breeding and calving can apparently occur year round, but often during the spring. After a year-long gestation period, females give birth to a single calf every 2-3 years. Newborn calves, dark black or blue in coloration, are about 2-2.7 m long and weigh 250-300 kg. They have an estimated lifespan of up to 60 years.

Average lifespan

Status: wild: 36.0 years.

Both sexes mature at about 5 meters long. There is thought to be a sex ratio of 67% males to 33% females. Little is known about the reproduction of this species because there does not seem to be a specific breeding season. The whales breed and calves are born all year round. The average lifespan is at least 35 years (  http://www.ims.usm.edu/~musweb/ziphcav.htm. Minasian et al. 1984, Watson 1981).

Breeding season: The whales breed year round

Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; year-round breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); viviparous

Average gestation period: 365 days.

Average number of offspring: 1.

Smallest sexually mature individuals are a little over 5 m long, at which size males are apparently about 11 years old.

Veins and arteries of Cuvier's beaked whales manage heat through different configurations of counter-current heat exchangers.

Though not enough whales are taken to be a threat to the species, deaths may also occur from entanglement in gilnets, float lines from lobster traps, and long lines (  http://www.ims.usm.edu/~musweb/ziphcav.htm).

CITES: appendix ii

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern

Accidental.

Not Assessed (not resident).

Very rare.

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NU - Unrankable

Rounded Global Status Rank: G4 - Apparently Secure

About 20 individuals are taken by Japanese whalers each year. This is a relatively small number and they are not regularly hunted (Watson 1981).

Comments: Very infrequently harvested in small cetacean fisheries in some areas (e.g., Japan, Lesser Antilles); used for human food. Stranded specimens in the Commander Islands have been used for animal food. See IUCN (1991).