Delphinapterus leucas (Pallas 1776)

[Delphinus] leucas Pallas 1776, Reise Prov. Russ. Reichs, Vol. 3, 1: 85 [footnote].

Type Locality: NE Siberia, "die im Obischen Meerbusen" (= mouth of Ob River).

Vernacular Names: Beluga.

Synonyms: Delphinapterus albicans (Lacépède 1804); Delphinapterus beluga Lacépède 1804; Delphinapterus catodon (Gray 1846); Delphinapterus dorofeevi Barabash and Klumov 1935; Delphinapterus marisalbi Ostroumov 1935 .

Distribution: Circumpolar in Arctic seas; Okhotsk and Bering Seas; northern Gulf of Alaska (Cook Inlet); Gulf of St. Lawrence: arctic to cold-temperate waters; occasionally strays south to Honshu, Japan; France; and Massachusetts, USA.

Conservation: CITES – Appendix II; IUCN – Vulnerable.

Discussion: Reviewed by Kleinenberg et al. (1969), T. G. Smith et al. (1990), Stewart and Stewart (1989, Mammalian Species, 336) and Brodie (1989).