Mesoplodon traversii Gray 1873

Mesoplodon traversii Gray 1873, Trans. New Zealand Inst. (1873), 6: 96.

Type Locality: Chatham Isl, New Zealand.

Vernacular Names: Spade-toothed Whale.

Synonyms: Mesoplodon bahamondi Reyes, Van Warebeek, Cárdenas, and Yáñez 1996 .

Distribution: South Pacific: temperate waters; known from 3 specimens: Pitt Isl (Chatham Isls), White Isl (North Isl, N.Z.) and Robinson Crusoe Isl (Juan Fernadez Arch., Chile).

Conservation: CITES – Appendix II.

Discussion: Was considered synonymous with Mesoplodon layardii until Helden et al. (2002) compared the DNA sequence from the type and determined that it was the same species as M. bahamondi . This species is the rarest member of the Ziphiidae .