Van Waerebeek et al., J Mar Biol Oceanogr 2018, 7:4 DOI: 10.4172/2324-8661.1000195 Journal of Marine Biology & Oceanography

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On the Recommended Vernacular Names of Mesoplodon peruvianus Reyes, Mead & Van Waerebeek, 1991 (, Ziphiidae) in Several World Languages Koen Van Waerebeek1,15*, Julio C Reyes2, Eduardo R Secchi3, Joanna Alfaro-Shigueto4,5, Fernando Félix6, Carlos Guerra-Correa7, Jean-Luc Jung8, Hong-yu Lai9, Ann-Katrien Lescrauwaet10,1, Jeffrey C Mangel4,11, Wenshi Pan12, Michela 13 14 15 Figure 1: Lesser beaked from Peruvian coastal waters. (Upper left) Podestà , Fabian Ritter , Gian Paolo Sanino , Marina A 326 cm male (KVW 346) landed at Cerro Azul port; (Lower left) skeleton of 16 17 Sequeira , Salvatore Siciliano , Marie-Françoise Van 372 cm holotype adult male (MUSM 1146) stranded at Playa Paraíso; (Upper Bressem1 and José L Yañez18 right) head lateral view of 271 cm juvenile male (KVW-506) landed at Cerro Azul; (Lower right) head in dorsal view of KVW 506 showing wide blowhole and non-erupted teeth. Scale (green) is 30 cm. Photos Koen Van Waerebeek©. Abstract Relevant and distinctive vernacular names are essential and laboratory conditions, but also among non-cetologists such as to assure efficient communication among scientists under field and fisheries and international trade managers, policy makers, legislation laboratory conditions, but also among non-specialists including the enforcement agents (e.g., customs and CITES officers) and the general public at large. We provide a rationale for recommended vernacular public. Many species bear multiple, more-or-less equivalent and alternative names for the lesser beaked Mesoplodon peruvianus Reyes, Mead & Van Waerebeek, 1991 in 11 major names, but occasionally one of these is explicitly recommended by world languages which encompass most of cetacean literature. taxon specialists based on common-sense arguments [8]. On a wider Principal criteria for name endorsement are unambiguity and non- scale, this pragmatic concern is addressed, for instance, by the World repetitiveness with respect to other aquatic species. Register of Marine Species WoRMS, which is hosted and developed Keywords by the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) with the participation of Mesoplodon peruvianus; Cetacean nomenclature; Aquatic mammal; hundreds of taxonomic editors and experts in the field. We here Pacific Ocean reiterate an earlier recommendation for the English name of M. peruvianus and common names in 10 other languages which cover much of the world literature on marine (Table 1). Discovered on the Peruvian coast, the lesser Mesoplodon peruvianus Reyes, Mead & Van Waerebeek, 1991 (Figure When Reyes et al. [2] formally described M. peruvianus based on 1), the smallest among 15 species of mesoplodonts (family Ziphiidae), is 10 specimens collected on the central Peruvian coast in the 1980s, it distributed throughout the eastern Pacific Ocean, from at least 36°47'N was an oversight that no vernacular names were proposed. However off central California, south to at least 30°S off northern central Chile, merely months later, in a narrative of the discovery, Van Waerebeek with apparent concentrations in Peruvian coastal waters (Reyes and [9] recommended 'Lesser beaked whale' as the English common name Van Waerebeek)1 [1,2], in the Gulf of California, Mexico [3,4] and in which soon found its way into primary literature on eastern Pacific the Eastern Tropical Pacific [5,6]. A single stranding at Kaikoura, New cetaceans [10-13] as well as in handbooks [14,15]. In another concise Zealand [7] is presently the only record in the Southwest Pacific. It account of the new whale, Ralls and Brownell [16] added in a footnote remains unknown whether or not this was an errant individual [1,6]. 'As Reyes et al. provide no common name for the newly described species, we propose the name '. Consequential to Relevant and distinctive vernacular names of species are essential the authors' and the journal's prominence, this name has been widely to assure efficient daily communication among scientists in both field used, especially in North American literature. 1Reyes JC, Van Waerebeek K. The lesser beaked whale, Mesoplodon peruvianus A third vernacular name, the 'Peruvian beaked whale' was Reyes, Mead & Van Waerebeek 1991 revisited, with biological observations on 2 new specimens from Peru. introduced and recognized (ITIS, 2018 ) [17,18], quite inevitably as the literal translation of the scientific (latinized) binomial. This name is both evident and distinct among marine mammal species and subspecies. Finally, Pitman and Lynn [5] suggested 'bandolero beaked *Corresponding author: Koen Van Waerebeek, Peruvian Centre for Cetacean whale', referring to an oblique white swath on the anterolateral body, Research/Centro Peruano de Estudios Cetológicos (CEPEC), Museo de Delfines, which however is present only in older adult males, and perhaps not Lima 20, Peru, Tel: +51 989180339; E-mail: [email protected]

Received: August 16, 2018 Accepted: August 29, 2018 Published: September 2Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS): www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/ 05, 2018 SingleRpt#null

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International Publisher of Science, copyright laws. Copyright © 2018, SciTechnol, All Rights Reserved. Technology and Medicine Citation: Van Waerebeek K, Reyes JC, Secchi E, Alfaro-Shigueto J, Félix F, et al. (2018) On the Recommended Vernacular Names of Mesoplodon peruvianus Reyes, Mead & Van Waerebeek, 1991 (Cetacea, Ziphiidae) in Several World Languages. J Mar Biol Oceanogr 7:4.

doi: 10.4172/2324-8661.1000195

Table 1: Recommended vernacular and alternative names for Mesoplodon peruvianus in several major world languages. Principal criteria for names are unambiguity and non-repetitiveness with respect to other species names in the Infraorder Cetacea and other aquatic mammals. Names in square brackets are, or have been, used but are either discouraged or are obsolete. Language Recommended name Alternative name (s) Chinese (Mandarin) 小 喙 鯨 (pronunciation: xiăo huì jīng) Dutch Kleine spitssnuitdolfijn Peruaanse spitssnuitdolfijn English Lesser beaked whale Peruvian beaked whale [Pygmy beaked whale] French Mésoplodon péruvien Petit mésoplodon Baleine-à-bec péruvienne German Kleiner Schnabelwal Peruanischer Schnabelwal Italian Mesoplodonte peruviano [Balena dal becco peruviana] Japanese 「ペルーオウギハクジラ」 [Pigumii ougihakujira] (pronunciation: peruu ougihakujira) Portuguese (Portugal) Baleia-de-bico-peruana Portuguese (Brazil) Baleia-bicuda-pequena Baleia-bicuda-peruana Russian малый ремнезуб перуанский ремнезуб Spanish Zifio menor Zifio peruano [Ballena picuda peruana]

Table 2: Examples of mammalian species belonging to six different Orders which bear the 'lesser' epithet in their vernacular English names, also meaning they are the smallest species in the genus. None are aquatic mammals. Common name Scientific name Family Order Lesser anteater Tamandua tetradactyla (Linnaeus, 1758) Myrmecophagidae Pilosa Lesser panda Ailurus fulgens (F. Cuvier, 1825) Ailuridae Carnivora Lesser grison Galictis cuja (Molina, 1782) Mustelidae Carnivora Lesser red musk shrew Crocidura hirta (Peters, 1852) Soricidae Eulipotyphla Lesser mouse-deer Tragulus kanchil (Raffles, 1821) Tragulidae Cetartiodactyla Lesser Madagascar hedgehog tenrec Echinops telfairi (Martin, 1838) Tenrecidae Afrosoricida Lesser horseshoe bat Rhinolophus hipposideros (Bechstein, 1800) Rhinolophidae Chiroptera vivid in all stocks. At least the 'bandolero' epithet albeit not English whale' in avoidance of the trite 'pygmy' default (Robert L. Pitman, in deserves credit for originality and uniqueness, but the name has not litt. to W.F. Perrin)5. Moreover, similar names create confusion among found traction in publications and is infrequently mentioned as an non-specialist users, augment the probability of misunderstandings existing synonym. in verbal communications and may cause errors in data transcription, sample labelling, etc., among researchers. At least seven cetacean So three decades after the M. peruvianus discovery, three taxa have currently been assigned with the ‘pygmy’ epithet, of which vernacular English names are in circulation, of which we again four species: pygmy Feresa attenuata Gray, 1874; pygmy recommend as preferred name 'Lesser beaked whale' [10] for the breviceps (de Blainville, 1838), pygmy following reasons. The 'lesser' epithet, indicating smallest adult size Caperea marginata (Gray, 1846), and presently, pygmy beaked whale, in the genus or family, is widely used in terrestrial mammals (see as well as three putative subspecies, pygmy examples in Table 2). Secondly, the epithet is unique among the 146 musculus brevicauda (Ichihara 1966) pygmy Bryde's whale 3 extant aquatic mammal species and accurately reflects M. peruvianus Balaenoptera edeni edeni and pygmy fin whaleBalaenoptera physalus smallest body length for physically mature males (372 cm) compared unnamed subsp. [23]. This, nota bene, without any phylogenetic, to second and third smallest mesoplodonts with males reaching ecological, morphologic or any other relevant biological affinity physical maturity at, respectively, 390 cm in Mesoplodon perrini [19] between them, not even comparability in body size which 'pygmy' and 420 cm in M. hectori [20]. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, seems to imply, with adults ranging from 3.9 m for M. peruvianus [15] 'lesser ' was regularly used for the common to 24.3 m for the pygmy blue whale [24]. The use of 'pygmy' alongside Balaenoptera acutorostrata Lacépède, 1804 however the whalers' term a common name to refer to species in different genera in some cases, 'minke' took priority [21,22]. 'Lesser sperm whale' and 'lesser cachalot' or only possible subspecies in others, is particularly confusing. have been listed by W.F. Perrin as synonyms for the pygmy sperm Finally, although not a technical argument, we wish to recall the whale Kogia breviceps (de Blainville, 1838) but the original source was unwritten but widely respected prerogative that scientists formally 4 not documented and we could not find these names in the literature. describing a species are granted the privilege to name it. Our principal concern with 'pygmy beaked whale' is the wholly In conclusion we propose 'lesser beaked whale' as most distinct, unnecessary, if not misguided, proliferation of the ‘pygmy’ epithet cogent and thus preferred English vernacular name for Mesoplodon in the English nomenclature of cetacean species. Arguably nominal peruvianus, with 'Peruvian beaked whale' recognised as a meaningful monotony epitomises a direct affront to the vocabulary richness of the synonym and 'pygmy beaked whale' as an existing alternative name English language. Pitman and Lynn [5] proposed 'bandolero beaked best to be avoided in future texts.

3http://www.marinespecies.org/about.php#cite_worms (consulted 09 August 5 2018) Comment by RLP: “We already have pygmy blue whales, pygmy right whales, pygmy killer whales, pygmy sperm whales, and I have heard suggestions of a 4http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=137113#vernaculars pygmy Bryde's whale. Can Mesoplodon peruvianus be called something else (consulted 01 August 2018) than pygmy beaked whale?”

Volume 7 • Issue 4 • 1000195 • Page 2 of 3 • Citation: Van Waerebeek K, Reyes JC, Secchi E, Alfaro-Shigueto J, Félix F, et al. (2018) On the Recommended Vernacular Names of Mesoplodon peruvianus Reyes, Mead & Van Waerebeek, 1991 (Cetacea, Ziphiidae) in Several World Languages. J Mar Biol Oceanogr 7:4.

doi: 10.4172/2324-8661.1000195

Preferred names in other world languages (Table 1) reflect 13. NOAA (2011) Mesoplodont beaked whales (Mesoplodon spp.): Califirnia/ the premises explained above. Within Pacific Latin America, the Oregon/Washington Stocks. main distribution area of the species, we endorse 'zifio menor' or 14. Carwardine M (1995) Whales, and . Eye Witness Guidebooks, Dorling Kindersley, London, UK. alternatively 'zifio peruano'. We support the recommended Italian name by Cagnolaro et al. [25] 'mesoplodonte peruviano', since balena 15. Reyes JC (2009) Ballenas, Delfines y Otros Cetáceos de Perú. Una Fuente de Información [Whales, Dolphins and Other Cetaceans from Peru]. Squema dal becco' as base name [17] is considered obsolete. Ediciones, Lima. The Mammal Society of Japan, coordinated by Kawada et al. [26], 16. Ralls K, Brownell Jr. RL (1991) A whale of a new species. Publications, Agencies and Staff of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Paper 122. has recently chosen Japanese names for all the mammal species defined Reprinted from Nature 350. in Wilson and Reeder [27]. While they simply translated the English 17. Culik BM (2004) Review of small cetaceans. Distribution, Behaviour, name 'pygmy beaked whale' into 'pigumii ougihakujira', cetologists Migration and Threats. Marine Mammal Action Plan/Regional Seas Reports Tadasu Yamada (National Museum of Nature and Science, Amkubo, and Studies no. 177. UNEP/CMS Secretariat, Bonn, Germany. Tsukuba-shi, Japan) and Luis Pastene indicated (in litteris, to KVW, 18. Perrin WF (2018) World Cetacea Database. Mesoplodon peruvianus Reyes, 2 August 2018) that 'peruu ougihakujira' is equally appropriate and Mead & Van Waerebeek, 1991. World Register of Marine Species. has a fluent pronunciation, a name which we here endorse (Table 1). 19. Dalebout M, Mead JG, Baker CS, Baker AN, van Helden AL (2002) A new species of beaked whale Mesoplodon perrini sp.n. (Cetacea: Ziphiidae) Acknowledgements discovered through phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial DNA sequences. We are very grateful to Olga Filatova and Idrissa Bamy for helpful comments Mar Mamm Sci 18: 577-608. on Russian names. Tadasu Yamaha and Luis Pastene are greatly thanked for 20. Mead JG, Baker A (1987) Notes on the rare beaked whale, Mesoplodon their suggestions, including an appropriate Japanese name. We warmly thank hectori (Gray). J R Soc N Z 17: 303-312. also Christian Érard (Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris), Caterina 21. Ellis R (1982) The Book of Whales. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, USA. Fortuna and Guiseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara for their relevant comments on, respectively, French and Italian names. Russell Leaper is acknowledged for 22. Stewart BS, Leatherwood S (1981) Minke whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata his critical reading of an earlier manuscript which significantly improved it and Lacépède: Handbook of Marine Mammals. (3rd edtn), Academic Press, San Kevin Verfaille (VLIZ) for helping with an aquatic mammal species query. Finally, Diego, USA. KVW thanks Robert Pitman (NOAA) for many stimulating exchanges of ideas on 23. Clarke R (2004) Pygmy fin whales. Mar Mamm Sci 20: 329-334. beaked whales and their English names over the years. 24. Ichihara T (1966) The pygmy blue whale Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda, References a new subspecies from the Antarctic: Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises. University of California Press, California, USA. 1. Sanino GP, Yañez JL, Van Waerebeek K (2007) A first confirmed specimen record in Chile, and sightings attributed to the lesser beaked whale 25. Cagnolaro L, Cozzi B, Notarbartolo di Sciara G, Podestà M (2015) Fauna Mesoplodon peruvianus Reyes, Mead and Van Waerebeek, 1991. Boletín d'Italia. Mammalia IV - Cetacea. Calderini Editore, Bologna, Italy. del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Chile 56: 89-96. 26. Kawada S, Iwasa M, Fukui D, Shintaku Y, Amano M, et al. (2018) World Mammal Standards and Names, Sekai Honyurui Hyojun Wamei Mokuroku 2. Reyes JC, Mead JG, Van Waerebeek K (1991) A new species of beaked (A list of recommended Japanese names for mammals of the world). Mamm whale Mesoplodon peruvianus sp.n. (Cetacea: Ziphiidae) from Peru. Mar Sci 58: S1-S53. Mamm Sci 7: 1-24. 27. Wilson DE, Reeder DM (2005) The Mammal species of the world: A taxonomic 3. Urbán-Ramírez J, Aurioles-Gamboa D (1992) First record of the pigmy and geographic reference. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, US. beaked whale Mesoplodon peruvianus in the North Pacific. Mar Mamm Sci 8: 420-425. Author Affiliations Top 4. Urbán-Ramírez J (2010) Marine Mammals of the Gulf of California: The Gulf 1Peruvian Centre for Cetacean Research/Centro Peruano de Estudios of California. Biodiversity and Conservation. The University of Arizona Press Cetológicos (CEPEC), Museo de Delfines, Lima 20, Peru and Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Arizona, USA. 2Areas Costeras y Recursos Marinos (ACOREMA), Calle San Francisco 253, 201-B, Pisco, Peru 5. Pitman RL, Lynn MS (2001) Biological observations of an unidentified 3 mesoplodont whale in the eastern tropical Pacific and probable identity: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil Mesoplodon peruvianus. Mar Mamm Sci 17: 648-657. 4ProDelphinus, Calle José Galvez 780e, Miraflores, Lima 18, Peru 5 6. Pitman RL, Brownell Jr. RL (2012) Review of current knowledge on pygmy Facultad de Biologia Marina, Universidad Científica del Sur, Villa El Salvador, Lima 42, Peru beaked whale Mesoplodon peruvianus including identification of knowledge gaps and suggestions for future research. Document SC/64/SM30 presented 6Museo de Ballenas, Avenida Enríquez Gallo s/n, Salinas, Ecuador to the IWC Scientific Committee. 7Centro Regional de Estudios y Educación Ambiental (CREA-UA), Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta, Chile 7. Baker AN, van Helden AL (1999) New records of beaked whales, genus 8 Mesoplodon, from New Zealand (Cetacea: Ziphiidae). J R Soc N Z 29: 235-244. Laboratoire BioGeMME, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Brest, France 9Caritas Institute of Higher Education, 2 Chui Ling Lane, Tseung Kwan O, N.T., 8. Flores PAC, Bazzalo M, Caballero S, de Oliveira Santos MC, Rossi-Santos Hong Kong MR, et al. (2010) Proposed English common name for the neotropical 10Flanders Marine Institute/Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee (VLIZ), Wandelaarkaai delphinid guianensis (P.-J. Van Beneden, 1864). Lat Am J Aquat 7, Oostende, Belgium Mamm 8: 179-181. 11Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, 9. Van Waerebeek K (1991) New whale surfaces in Peru. Whale and United Kingdom Conservation Society, Bristol, UK. 12School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, PR China 13 10. Van Waerebeek K, Reyes JC (1994) Interactions between small cetaceans Museo di Storia Naturale di Milano, corso Venezia 55-20121 Milano, Italy and Peruvian fisheries in 1988-1989 and analysis of trends. Report ofthe 14M.E.E.R. e.V., Bundesallee 123, 12161 Berlin, Germany International Commission 15: 495-502. 15Centre for Marine Mammals Research Leviathan (CMMR), Santiago, Chile 11. Van Waerebeek K, Reyes JC (1994) Post-ban small cetacean takes off Peru: 16Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas, Avenida da República A review. Report of the International Whaling Commission 15: 503-520. 16-16B, 1050-191 Lisboa, Portugal 17Laboratório de Enterobactérias, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz/FIOCRUZ, Rio de 12. Van Waerebeek K, Leaper R, Baker AN, Papastavrou V, Thiele D, et al. Janeiro, RJ, Brazil (2010) Odontocetes of the Southern Ocean Sanctuary. J Cetac Res Manage 18 11: 315-346. Curator Emeritus, Museo Nacional de Historia Natural (MNHN), Santiago, Chile

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