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Electra
EOL Text
The classification of melon-headed whales has been debated throughout history, as their relationships to dolphins and pilot or killer whales are unclear.
Melon-headed whales are also known by the common names little killer whales and many-toothed blackfish. They are known commonly as elektra tmavá, plískavice Elektra, or plískavice tmavá in Czech, and calderón in Spanish.
The first known specimens are 2 skulls described by Gray in his 1846 report and he named them “electra” from the Greek word “Elektra”, meaning amber, because of the amber color of the bones. A third skull was found in Hawaii in 1848 and a fourth in Magras in 1869. It was not until 1963 that a live specimen was caught at Sagami Bay in Honshu, Japan. The once extremely rare species began to appear in more abundance as more than 500 were seen in Suruga Bay in Japan in 1951 and 250 were caught. The genus was officially named “Peponocephala” based on the Greek words “peponis”, a melon, and “kephalos”, a head (Dutton 1981).
Overall, very little information is available for this species due to the small number of individuals observed.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Peponocephala_electra/ |
Especie altamente social. Por lo general, se localizan en grupos de 100-500 individuos con un máximo de 2000. Al igual que algunas especies de delfines, nadan en el oleaje que provocan las embarcaciones (ahorro de energía) y desplazan, incluso, a otras especies.
Paratype for Haplochromis electra Burgess
Catalog Number: USNM 219536
Collection: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Division of Fishes
Locality: Lake Malawi, Malawi, Likoma I., Malawi, Africa
- Paratype: Burgess, W. E. 1979. Tropical Fish Hobbyist. 27 (8): 91.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | This image was obtained from the Smithsonian Institution. Unless otherwise noted, this image or its contents may be protected by international copyright laws. |
Source | http://collections.mnh.si.edu/search/fishes/?irn=5078093 |
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) Stats
Specimen Records: | 29 | Public Records: | 9 |
Specimens with Sequences: | 10 | Public Species: | 3 |
Specimens with Barcodes: | 10 | Public BINs: | 3 |
Species: | 6 | ||
Species With Barcodes: | 3 | ||
Actual
Mundial
El calderón pigmeo es una especie poco común en todos lados. Al parecer está confinada en aguas tropicales. Su distribución en el Pacífico Norte parece estar limitada hacia aguas tropicales oceánicas. Se distribuye en Hawai y en la Polinesia (Leatherwood et al., 1988).
MEXICO / BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR
El único registro de la especie en el Golfo de California consiste en un animal varado en febrero de 1979 en la Isla Espíritu Santo, en la Bahía de La Paz (Rizo, 1990; Vidal, 1991).
No endémica
MEXICO
El único registro de la especie en el Golfo de California consiste en un animal varado en febrero de 1979 en la Isla Espíritu Santo, en la Bahía de La Paz (Rizo, 1990; Vidal, 1991).
Barron y Jefferson (1993) reportaron algunos varamientos en el Golfo de México entre 1990 y 1991. El ejemplar varado en 1990 representa el primer registro documentado de la especie en el golfo el cual clarificó la distribución mundial de la especie en aguas tropicales y templado-calientes. Durante censos realizados en 1995-1997 un grupo de calderones pigmeos fueron observados en la porción noroccidental del golfo en el verano. Diez avistamientos más fueron registrados durante 1992 y 1993 (Mullin et al., 1994). Jefferson et al. (1992) reportan dos varamientos más en Texas y en Louisiana. Durante el verano.
Localización geográfica de las localidades (latitud, longitud):
El único registro corresponde a restos óseos encontrados en Isla Espíritu Santo, en la Bahía de La Paz, B.C.S.
Se cree que la distribución histórica de la especie en México es similar a la actual.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ |
Rights holder/Author | CONABIO |
Source | http://www.conabio.gob.mx/conocimiento/ise/fichasnom/Peponocephalaelectra00.pdf |
Depth range based on 72 specimens in 1 taxon.
Water temperature and chemistry ranges based on 67 samples.
Environmental ranges
Depth range (m): 0 - 0
Temperature range (°C): 20.220 - 29.248
Nitrate (umol/L): 0.038 - 7.245
Salinity (PPS): 31.885 - 36.503
Oxygen (ml/l): 4.491 - 5.288
Phosphate (umol/l): 0.056 - 0.867
Silicate (umol/l): 0.769 - 6.178
Graphical representation
Temperature range (°C): 20.220 - 29.248
Nitrate (umol/L): 0.038 - 7.245
Salinity (PPS): 31.885 - 36.503
Oxygen (ml/l): 4.491 - 5.288
Phosphate (umol/l): 0.056 - 0.867
Silicate (umol/l): 0.769 - 6.178
Note: this information has not been validated. Check this *note*. Your feedback is most welcome.
License | http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Ocean Biogeographic Information System |
Source | http://www.iobis.org/mapper/?taxon_id=489338 |
Melon-headed whales make sounds similar to the whistles and clicks of bottlenose dolphins.
Communication Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; echolocation ; chemical
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Peponocephala_electra/ |
United States
Rounded National Status Rank: NU - Unrankable
Je zou het misschien niet zeggen, maar er zwemmen duizenden dolfijnen in de zuidelijke Noordzee. Vroeger kwam de tuimelaar ook veel voor, maar tegenwoordig zie je de witsnuitdolfijn vaker. Zo nu en dan worden er gewone dolfijnen of witflankdolfijnen gespot. Nog zeldzamer zijn grijze dolfijnen, gestreepte dolfijnen, orca's en grienden. De spitssnuitdolfijnen vormen een aparte groep, waar ook de butskop bij hoort. Dit zijn dieren van de oceaan, die af en toe in de Noordzee terecht komen.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Ecomare |
Source | http://www.ecomare.nl/index.php?id=4186&L=2 |
Paratype for Haplochromis electra Burgess
Catalog Number: USNM 219535
Collection: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Division of Fishes
Collector(s): H. Mayland
Locality: Likoma I., Lake Malawi, Malawi, Malawi, Africa
Depth (m): 23
- Paratype: Burgess, W. E. 1979. Tropical Fish Hobbyist. 27 (8): 91.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | This image was obtained from the Smithsonian Institution. Unless otherwise noted, this image or its contents may be protected by international copyright laws. |
Source | http://collections.mnh.si.edu/search/fishes/?irn=5078092 |