Kogia sima ( Owen, 1866 )

Jo, Yeong-Seok, Baccus, John T. & Koprowski, John L., 2018, Mammals of Korea: a review of their taxonomy, distribution and conservation status, Zootaxa 4522 (1), pp. 1-216 : 126-127

Kogia sima ( Owen, 1866) —Dwarf Sperm Whale

Physeter (Euphyseter) simus Owen, 1866 p.30 ; Type locality- Andhra Pradesh, India.

Kogia simus: Kuroda, 1938 p.13 ; Kim et al., 2000 p.73.

K. sima: Kim, 2004 p.230 .

Range: Although no record exists in Korea, stranded dwarf sperm whales have been reported along the west coast of Japan near Korea (200 km from Busan; National Museum of Nature and Science 2009). The species is expected to inhabit waters of the East Sea along the coast of Korea ( Kim 2004; Fig. 83 ).

Remarks: The dwarf sperm whale has sometimes been designated erroneously under ‘ Kogia simus ’. The scientific name is here corrected to K. sima for agreement with Latin gender ( Rice 1998). Although K. sima is considered monotypic, mtDNA analysis suggested two reproductively isolated clades between the Indo-Pacific and Atlantic oceans ( Chivers et al. 2005).

Figures

FIGURE 83. Range map of Kogia sima in Korea.