Rorqual Whales
Rorqual whales (Family Balaenopteridae) are baleen whales that have 25-100 parallel, pleated throat grooves (ventral grooves) that extend from the throat to the flippers.
Rorqual
Related Category: Vertebrate Zoology
see whale.
More on Rorqual
Whale - aquatic mammal of the order Cetacea, found in all oceans of the world. Members of this order vary greatly in size and include the largest animals that have ever lived.
BALAENOPTERIDAE (Rorqual Family)
Description
The finback whale is probably the most common baleen whale seen in summer off the Pacific coast.
Fin whale, common rorqual
Balaenoptera physalus
Fin whales are the second largest animal in the world - only blue whales are larger.
Subspecies
May be two - Northern and Southern.
Members of this family are also known as rorqual whales. They range in size from the 30 feet minke whale to the 100-foot blue whale. The baleen plates in this family of whales are short and broad.
Rorquals feed in cold currents at high latitudes during the summer, mostly on the eastern sides of the oceans. Some species range mostly offshore, others are more often found in coastal waters.
Rorqual, Sibbald's
rosalia, Leontideus
rosalia, Leontopithecus
rosalia caissara, Leontopithecus
rosalia chrysomelas, Leontopithecus
rosalia chrysopygus, Leontopithecus
rosalia rosalia, Leontopithecus
Rotbauchmeerkatze
roulin, Tapirus ...
All rorquals have been hunted and some still are, although they are now protected by most nations subscribing to the International Whaling Commission.
Unlike other rorquals, Sei whales have a dolphin-like dorsal fin. They are also unusual in using two different methods to fill their mouths with water during feeding - they both gulp and skim-feed.
(Rorquals)
Balaenoptera
Common Minke Whale (B. acutorostrata) Â- Antarctic Minke Whale (B. bonaerensis) Â- Sei Whale (B. borealis) Â- Bryde's Whale (B. brydei) Â- Pygmy Bryde's Whale (B. edeni) Â- Blue Whale (B. musculus) Â- B. omurai Â- Fin Whale (B.
Rorquals usually have a gulping style of feeding: they take large mouthfuls of water with food items in it. In the process, the throat extends enormously.
The Minke whale, a member of the rorqual whale family, is the smallest of all the baleen whales. Minke whales grow up to 9 meters long and at full size weigh approximately 6 to 7 tonnes. Females are typically 1.5 meters longer than the males.
There are 15 species of baleen whales that are divided into four subgroups: right whales, rorquals, the grey whale and the pygmy right whale.
The Minke Whale is a small rorqual with a pointed head and relatively small rostrum (snout). The body is dark with paler grey on the lower flanks and underside. There are usually pale chevron markings behind the head.
In this species, as well as the other rorquals (blue, sei, Bryde's, minke and humpback whales), the female is larger than the male. The maximum head/body length of females is 27 m (88.5 ft.) and 25 m (82 ft.) for males.
Description. Bryde's whales are the second smallest of rorquals and only average 12.2-13.1 m in length and 12 metric tons in weight. As with all rorquals, females tend to be a little larger than males. Maximum length is about 15.5 m.
Common Name: Fin whale, common rorqual, fin-basked whale, finner, herring whale, razorback; Baleine à nageoires, baleinoptère commune, rorqual commun (Fr); Ballena aleta, ballena boba, rorcual comùn (Sp) ...
Like all members of the Rorqual group of whales it is a filter feeder and it feeds mainly on small schooling fish such as herring, mackerel and sardines.
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CETACEA: Balaenopteridae (Rorqual Whales)
Common Name Scientific Name Distribution
Common Minke Whale
Balaenoptera acutorostrata ...
Balaenoptera acutorostrata (Northern hemisphere minke whale)
The smallest of the rorqual whales, the minke whale is also the most abundant. Two species are now recognised, the northern hemisphere minke... More 12 Images 1 Video ...
Animals - Mammals - Whales and Dolphins - Rorquals
Basic Description:
A baleen whale (the largest living animal).
They are known by a number of other names such as the Finn, the Finner, the Finback, the Common Rorqual or the Herring Whale. The Fin Whale is currently (2003) listed as an endangered species.
In eastern Canada, killer whale movements are often a response to seal and rorqual whale migrations, while northeastern Atlantic killer whales seem to follow herring.
These include the baleen whale families Balaenopteridae (rorqual whales, including the blue whale) and Balaenidae (right whales), and the toothed whale families Delphinidae (dolphins and killer whales), Physeteridae (sperm whales), ...
When the aquatic members of the class are taken into consideration, the maximum dimensions are vastly greater, Sibbald's rorqual attaining a length of fully 80 ft., and being probably the bulkiest and heaviest animal that has ever existed.
 See also: Whale, Blue Whale, Fin Whale, Humpback, Krill
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