Mysticeti - Baleen Whales

The Balaenidae Family

The baleen apparatus is at its most extravagant in this species. The head is huge, in some species up to 40 per cent of body length. All seven neck vertabrae are fixed into a single unit to support the enormous body weight.

The Right Whale

Most authorities recognise two species of the genus Eubalaena (Eubalaena australis & Eubalaena glacialis) but recently the animals in the North Pacific have been proposed as a third (Eubalaena japonica). Minor cranial differences and more callosites on top of the 'lower lip' and less on top of the head of the Southern Right whale separate the southern and northern species.

Southern Right Whale      Eubalaena australis Northern Right Whale      Eubalaena glacialis General Information Sighting Information Migration & Distribution Current Research

WHALES ON THE NET - http://www.whales.org.au the Online Voice of WHALES IN DANGER (WID) BACK DISCOVER HOMEPAGE TOP Copyright Notice