Blackfish (cetacean)

Blackfish

Short-finned pilot whale
Globicephala macrorhynchus
Scientific classification
Kingdom Information
Kingdom |  Animalia
Subkingdom |  Bilateria
Phylum Information
Phylum |  Chordata
Sub-phylum |  Vertebrata
Infraphylum |  Gnathostomata
Class Information
Superclass |  Tetrapoda
Class |  Mammalia
Sub-class |  Theriiformes
Infra-class |  Holotheria
Order Information
Superorder |  Preptotheria
Order |  Cetacea
Sub-order |  Odontoceti
Family Information
Superfamily |  Delphinoidea
Family |  Delphinidae
Population statistics

Blackfish is a generic term for several species of the family Delphinidae, and found throughout the world's oceans and seas.

## Description[edit]

"Blackfish" is a nickname describing the overall appearance of these animals as opposed to other dolphins. They range in size from 7 to 32 feet in length, and are primarily black in color, with a few having shades of dark gray; one species has bold white patches. In profile, they possess a blunted head with very little in the way of a beaked snout protruding, and a falcate dorsal fin; four species overlap in their ranges, and are difficult to identify from each other except through the shape of their dorsal fins[1][2][3].

It is unclear as to the origins of the name; it was first applied in 1634, in reference to several species of bony fish found in North American and Siberian waters[4]. The name may have been used later by fisherman and whalers; the word "fish" was used interchangeably with true fish and cetaceans for centuries, with "blackfish" coming into vogue to specifically identify the two species of pilot whale[5][6].

## Species[edit]

* False killer whale, Pseudorca crassidens
* Long-finned pilot whale, Globicephala melas
* Melon-headed dolphin, Peponocephala electra
* Orca, or killer whale, Orcinus orca
* Pygmy killer whale, Feresa attenuata
* Short-finned pilot whale, Globicephala macrorhynchus

## References[edit]

1. ↑ https://www.cascadiaresearch.org/publications/how-tell-them-apart-blackfish-species-discrimination-using-fin-and-body-morphometrics
2. ↑ https://www.cascadiaresearch.org/files/publications/SMMPoster2017_Yahn.pdf
3. ↑ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/mms.12584
4. ↑ https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blackfish
5. ↑ https://seamap.env.duke.edu/species/180466/html
6. ↑ http://what-when-how.com/marine-mammals/pilot-whales-marine-mammals/