Mesoplodon bidens (Sowerby 1804)

[Physeter] bidens Sowerby 1804, Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond., 7: 310.

Type Locality: UK, Scotland, "stranded on the estate of James Brodie, Esq. F. L. S., in the county of Elgin." .

Vernacular Names: Sowerby's Beaked Whale.

Synonyms: Mesoplodon dalei (Lesson 1827); Mesoplodon micropterus (G. Cuvier 1829); Mesoplodon sowerbensis (de Blainville 1817); Mesoplodon sowerbiensis (Gray 1846); Mesoplodon sowerbyi (Desmarest 1822) .

Distribution: North Atlantic and Baltic Sea: temperate waters. Occurrence in the Mediterranean Sea was discussed by van Bree (1975), who considered the evidence unconvincing; however, Casinos and Filella (1981) supported a report from the Italian coast (Brunelli and Fasella, 1929). There is one report from the Gulf of Mexico (Bonde and O'Shea, 1989) that is also considered a stray.

Conservation: CITES – Appendix II; IUCN – Data Deficient.

Discussion: Reviewed by J. G. Mead (1989 c).