Bryde's whale (Balaenoptera brydei) Bryde's whale breaching in Castelhanos Bay, Ilhabela in Sao Paulo
Description
Português: Baleia de Bryde saltando, nas proximidades da Baia de Castelhanos em Ilhabela ,litoral norte de Sao Paulo
Date 1 November 2012, 12:25:06
Author Zejulio
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Baleia_de_Bryde.jpg
Bryde's whale or the Bryde's whale complex putatively comprises two species of rorqual and maybe three. The "complex" means the number and classification remains unclear because of a lack of definitive information and research. The common Bryde's whale (Balaenoptera brydei, Olsen, 1913) is a larger form that occurs worldwide in warm temperate and tropical waters, and the Sittang or Eden's whale (B. edeni, Anderson, 1879) is a smaller form that may be restricted to the Indo-Pacific. Also, a smaller, coastal form of B. brydei is found off southern Africa, and perhaps another form in the Indo-Pacific differs in skull morphology, tentatively referred to as the Indo-Pacific Bryde's whale. The recently described Omura's whale (B. omurai, Wada et al. 2003), was formerly considered a "pygmy" form of Bryde's, but is now recognized as a distinct species. Order: Cetacea, Suborder: Mysticeti, Family: Balaenopteridae, Genus: Balaenoptera, Species: Balaenoptera brydei Olsen, 1913.