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Orcinus orca (Linnaeus, 1758) 
AphiaID: 137102

Classification: Biota > Animalia (Kingdom) > Chordata (Phylum) > Vertebrata (Subphylum) > Gnathostomata (Superclass) > Tetrapoda (Superclass) > Mammalia (Class) > Theria (Subclass) > Cetartiodactyla (Order) > Cetancodonta (Suborder) > Cetacea (Infraorder) > Odontoceti (Superfamily) > Delphinidae (Family) > Orcinus (Genus)
Status accepted
Record
status
 Checked by Taxonomic Editor
Rank Species
Parent Orcinus Fitzinger, 1860
Synonymised
taxa
  Delphinus duhameli Lacépède, 1804 (synonym)
Delphinus gladiator Bonnaterre, 1789 (synonym)
Delphinus grampus Blainville, 1817 (synonym)
Delphinus orca Linnaeus, 1758 (basionym)
Delphinus orca ensidoratus Kerr, 1792 (synonym)
Delphinus serra Borowski, 1780 (synonym)
Delphinus victorini Grill, 1858 (synonym)
Grampus orca Iredale & Troughton, 1933 (synonym)
Grampus rectipinna Scheffer, 1942 (synonym)
Ophysia pacifica Gray, 1870 (synonym)
Orca africana Gray, 1871 (synonym)
Orca antarctica Fischer, 1876 (synonym)
Orca ater Cope, 1869 (synonym)
Orca ater fusca Dall, 1874 (synonym)
Orca atra Gray, 1871 (misspelling)
Orca capensis Gray, 1846 (synonym)
Orca eschrichtii Reinhardt, 1866 (synonym)
Orca glacialis Berzin & Vladimirov, 1982 (synonym)
Orca gladiator Van Beneden & Gervais, 1869-1880 (synonym)
Orca gladiator arcticus Gervais, 1869-1871 (synonym)
Orca gladiator australis Gervais, 1869-1871 (synonym)
Orca gladiator europaeus Gervais, 1869-1871 (synonym)
Orca gladiator tasmaniensis Cabrera, 1961 (synonym)
Orca latirostris Gray, 1870 (synonym)
Orca megellanica Burmeister, 1866 (synonym)
Orca minor Malm, 1871 (synonym)
Orca orca Lahille, 1914 (synonym)
Orca orca megallanicus (synonym)
Orca pacifica Gray, 1870 (synonym)
Orca rectipinna Cope, 1869 (synonym)
Orca schlegelii Lilljeborg, 1866 (synonym)
Orca stenorhyncha Gray, 1870 (synonym)
Orca tasmanica Gray, 1871 (synonym)
Orcinus glacialis Berzin & Vladimirov, 1982 (synonym)
Orcinus nanus Mikhalev, Ivashin, Savusin & Zelenaya, 1981 (synonym)
Orcinus orca capensis Trouessart, 1904 (synonym)
Orcinus orca eschrichti Trouessart, 1904 (synonym)
Orcinus orca megallanicus Trouessart, 1904 (synonym)
Physeter microps Fabricius, 1780 (synonym)
Sources  original description: Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentius Salvius: Holmiae. ii, 824 pp., available online at http://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/no_cache/dms/load/toc/?IDDOC=265100
page(s): 77 [details]


basis of record: van der Land, J. (2001). Tetrapoda, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 375-376 (look up in IMIS[details]

additional source: Carwardine, M., E. Hoyt, R. E. Fordyce and P. Gill. 1998. Whales, dolphins and porpoises. Time-Life Books. Nature Company Guides, USA. 288 p. [details]

additional source: University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. Animal Diversity Web., available online at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/index.html [details]

additional source: Mead, J. G. and R. L. Brownell, Jr. (2005). Cetacea. Pages 723--743 in Wilson, D.E. & D.M. Reeder (eds). Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed), Johns Hopkins University Press, 2,142 pp., available online at http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/ [details]

additional source: Rice, D. W. 1998. Marine mammals of the world. Systematics and distribution. Society for Marine Mammalogy Special Publication 4. [details]

additional source: Hershkovitz, P. (1966). Catalog of living whales. U.S. National Museum Bulletin 246:1--259. [details]

additional source: Jefferson, T. A., M. A. Webber and R. L. Pitman. (2008). Marine mammals of the world. Academic Press, Amsterdam. [details]

additional source: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, available online at http://www.iucnredlist.org [details]

additional source: Perrin, W. F., B. Würsig and J. G. M. Thewissen. (2009). Encyclopedia of marine mammals. Academic Press, Amsterdam. [details]

additional source: Heyning, J. E. and M. E. Dahlheim. (1988). Orcinus orca. Mammalian Species 304:1--9. [details]

additional source: King, C. (2009). Terrestrial mammals (Chordata). In: Gordon, D. (Ed.) (2009). New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity. Volume One: Kingdom Animalia. 584 pp [details]

additional source: Schmidly, D. J. and B. Würsig. 2009. Mammals (Vertebrata: Mammalia) of the Gulf of Mexico, Pp. 1343–1352 in Felder, D.L. and D.K. Camp (eds.), Gulf of Mexico–Origins, Waters, and Biota. Biodiversity. Texas A&M Press, College Station, Texas. [details]

additional source: ITIS database, available online at http://www.itis.gov [details]

basis of record (from synonym): Slijper, E.J. (1938). Die Sammlung rezenter Cetacea des Musée Royal d'Histoire Naturelle de Belgique [The collection of recent Cetacea of the Musée Royal d'Histoire Naturelle de Belgique]. Bull. Mus. royal d'Hist. Nat. Belg./Med. Kon. Natuurhist. Mus. Belg. 14(10): 1-33 (look up in IMIS[details] [view taxon]

context source (Deepsea): Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO. The Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS), available online at http://www.iobis.org/ [details]

Vernacular
Names
 
Language   Name 
Afrikaans moordvis  [details]
Aleut aguluk  [details]
Aleut dukulad  [details]
Anus nookur  [details]
Basque ezpalarta  [details]
Basque marzupla  [details]
Basque orka  [details]
Bulgarian kosаtkа  [details]
Bulgarian Косатка  [details]
Catalan orca  [details]
Chukot musonkjgyssiak  [details]
Czech kosatka dravá  [details]
Danish ornswin  [details]
Danish spaekhogger  [details]
Danish spækhugger  [details]
Danish svaerdval  [details]
Danish svarthval  [details]
Danish tandthoye  [details]
Dutch botskop  [details]
Dutch orca  [details]
Dutch orka  [details]
Dutch zwaardwalvis  [details]
English grampus  [details]
English killer whale  [details]
English killer-trasher  [details]
English orca  [details]
English sword grampus  [details]
English swordfish  [details]
Faroese bovhidehval  [details]
French dorque  [details]
French epaulard  [details]
French epée de mer  [details]
French orque  [details]
French orque épaulard  [details]
French orque gladiateur  [details]
German großer Schwertwal  [details]
German Orca  [details]
German Schwertfisch  [details]
German Schwertwal  [details]
Icelandic fann-fiskar-hydengen  [details]
Icelandic haa-hirningur  [details]
Icelandic hahyrna  [details]
Icelandic hahyrningur  [details]
Icelandic huyding  [details]
Icelandic sverdfiscur  [details]
Indonesian paus pemangsa  [details]
Indonesian seguni  [details]
Inuktitut adluk  [details]
Italian orca  [details]
Japanese sadshi  [details]
Japanese sakamata  [details]
Japanese shachi  [details]
Japanese taka  [details]
Japanese takamatsu  [details]
Kalaallisut ardlursark  [details]
Kalaallisut ardlyk  [details]
Korean beom-gorae  [details]
Korean innuatu  [details]
Lithuanian orka  [details]
Malagasy trozona mpamond  [details]
Modern Greek (1453-) Όρκα  [details]
Norwegian hvalhund  [details]
Norwegian spaekhogger  [details]
Norwegian spekkhugger  [details]
Norwegian starhyn ning  [details]
Norwegian staurhval  [details]
Norwegian stourvaga  [details]
Norwegian stourvagn  [details]
Norwegian vaghund  [details]
Norwegian van hund  [details]
Norwegian Bokmål spekkhogger  [details]
Norwegian Nynorsk spekkhoggar  [details]
Polish orka  [details]
Portuguese baleia asesina  [details]
Portuguese orca  [details]
Portuguese roaz-de-bandeira  [details]
Russian kasatka  [details]
Russian kosatka  [details]
Russian или кит убийца  [details]
Russian косатка  [details]
Scottish Gaelic pictwale  [details]
Slovenian orka  [details]
Spanish ballena asesina  [details]
Spanish ballena pinta  [details]
Spanish ballena quila  [details]
Spanish bufeo de mascarilla  [details]
Spanish cahuel-huaique  [details]
Spanish delfin gigante  [details]
Spanish espadarte  [details]
Spanish machete  [details]
Spanish moscote  [details]
Spanish orca  [details]
Spanish orca común  [details]
Spanish orca verdadera  [details]
Swedish löpare  [details]
Swedish opare  [details]
Swedish spackhuggare  [details]
Swedish späckhuggare  [details]
Swedish svärdfisk  [details]
Swedish tunnlik tumlare  [details]
Thai plawan phechakhat  [details]
Turkish katil balina  [details]
Ukrainian Косатка  [details]
Welsh lleiddiad  [details]
Yupik languages mesungesak  [details]
Direct child
taxa

[show all]
 
Subspecies Orcinus orca capensis Trouessart, 1904 accepted as Orcinus orca (Linnaeus, 1758)
Subspecies Orcinus orca eschrichti Trouessart, 1904 accepted as Orcinus orca (Linnaeus, 1758)
Subspecies Orcinus orca megallanicus Trouessart, 1904 accepted as Orcinus orca (Linnaeus, 1758)
Environment marine
Distribution Antarctica [details]
Azores Exclusive Economic Zone [details]
Belgian Exclusive Economic Zone [details]
Comores [details]
European waters (ERMS scope) [details]
Gulf of Maine [details]
Gulf of Mexico [details]
Gulf of St. Lawrence [details]
Kenya [details]
Madagascar [details]
Mauritius [details]
Mediterranean Sea [details]
Mozambique [details]
New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone [details]
North West Atlantic [details]
Oostende (from synonym) [details] [view taxon]
Portuguese Exclusive Economic Zone [details]
Reunion [details]
Seychelles [details]
Somalia [details]
Spanish Exclusive Economic Zone [details]
St. Lawrence Estuary [details]
Subantarctic Waters [details]
Tanzania [details]
United Kingdom Exclusive Economic Zone [details]
World Oceans [details]
Links Marine Life Information Network - UK
To Barcode of Life (66 barcodes)
To Biodiversity Heritage Library (167 publications)
To Encyclopedia of Life
To GenBank (107929 nucleotides; 25900 proteins)
To IUCN Red List
To Marine Species Identification Portal
To PESI
To ITIS
Notes  Diet: Numerous fish, squid, and marine mammal species, including blue whales; even gulls, penguins and turtles. [details]

Dimensions: Length: male 17-29 1/2' (5.1-9 m), female 15-25 1/2' (4.6-7.7 m), at birth 6'+ (1.9 m +). Largest of all dolphins. [details]

Distribution: cosmopolitan [details]

Distribution: Antarctica/Southern Ocean; East Pacific; Eastern Atlantic Ocean; Indo-West Pacific; Western Atlantic Ocean [details]

Habitat: inshore and offshore [details]

Holotype: None in existence; name based on killer whale of authors. [details]

IUCN Red List Category: Data Deficient (DD) [details]

Predators: None [details]

Reproduction: Breed in spring and summer off the coast of Washington. Gestation is a year. [details]

Type locality: "Oceano Europaeo" [details]
Images 
Orcinus orca
Orcinus orca
added on 2006-04-11 - author: Armin Rose
qualitystatus: checked by Perrin, William on 2009-04-18 00:21:41

Orcinus orca - killer whale (mum and calf)
Orcinus orca - killer whale (mum and calf)
added on 2006-06-26 - author: Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) ()
qualitystatus: checked by Perrin, William on 2009-04-18 00:21:52

Spinal column of Orcinus orca
Spinal column of Orcinus orca
added on 2007-05-27 - author: Martin Rauschert
qualitystatus: checked by Perrin, William on 2009-04-18 00:22:05

Van Beneden (1882, pl. 1)
Van Beneden (1882, pl. 1)
added on 2008-05-07 - author: Van Cuyck in Van Beneden, P.-J. (1882)
scan provided by VLIZ - Wetenschatten
qualitystatus: checked by Perrin, William on 2009-04-18 00:22:13

Van Beneden (1882, pl. 2)
Van Beneden (1882, pl. 2)
added on 2008-05-07 - author: Anoniem in Van Beneden, P.-J. (1882)
scan provided by VLIZ - Wetenschatten
qualitystatus: checked by Perrin, William on 2009-04-18 00:22:50

Van Beneden & Gervais (1880, pl. 46)
Van Beneden & Gervais (1880, pl. 46)
added on 2008-06-04 - author: Delahaye in Van Beneden & Gervais (1880)
scan provided by VLIZ - Wetenschatten
qualitystatus: checked by Perrin, William on 2009-04-18 00:23:01

Van Beneden & Gervais (1880, pl. 47)
Van Beneden & Gervais (1880, pl. 47)
added on 2008-06-04 - author: Delahaye in Van Beneden & Gervais (1880)
scan provided by VLIZ - Wetenschatten
qualitystatus: checked by Perrin, William on 2009-04-18 00:23:10

Van Beneden & Gervais (1880, pl. 48)
Van Beneden & Gervais (1880, pl. 48)
added on 2008-06-04 - author: Delahaye in Van Beneden & Gervais (1880)
scan provided by VLIZ - Wetenschatten
qualitystatus: checked by Perrin, William on 2009-04-18 00:23:20

Van Beneden & Gervais (1880, pl. 49)
Van Beneden & Gervais (1880, pl. 49)
added on 2008-06-04 - author: Delahaye in Van Beneden & Gervais (1880)
scan provided by VLIZ - Wetenschatten
qualitystatus: checked by Perrin, William on 2009-04-18 00:23:33

Van Beneden & Gervais (1880, pl. 53)
Van Beneden & Gervais (1880, pl. 53)
added on 2008-06-04 - author: Delahaye in Van Beneden & Gervais (1880)
scan provided by VLIZ - Wetenschatten
qualitystatus: checked by Perrin, William on 2009-04-18 00:23:45

Orcinus orca
Orcinus orca
added on 2009-02-16 - author: Collection Georges Declercq
qualitystatus: checked by Perrin, William on 2013-04-20 00:01:45

Orcinus orca
Orcinus orca
added on 2009-02-16 - author: Collection Georges Declercq
qualitystatus: checked by Perrin, William on 2009-04-18 00:24:07

Orcinus orca
Orcinus orca
added on 2009-02-16 - author: Collection Georges Declercq
qualitystatus: checked by Perrin, William on 2009-04-18 00:24:18

Orcinus orca
Orcinus orca
added on 2009-02-16 - author: Collection Georges Declercq
qualitystatus: checked by Perrin, William on 2009-04-18 00:24:29

Orcinus orca
Orcinus orca
added on 2009-02-16 - author: Collection Georges Declercq
qualitystatus: checked by Perrin, William on 2009-04-18 00:24:37

Killer whales (Orcinus orca)
Killer whales (Orcinus orca)
added on 2009-04-22 - author: Robert L. Pitman, NOAA Fisheries, USA ()
qualitystatus: checked by Perrin, William on 2009-04-22 19:31:25

Orcinus orca in the Northern North Sea
Orcinus orca in the Northern North Sea
added on 2011-10-10 - author: Camphuysen, Kees
qualitystatus: not checked

Orcinus orca in the Northern North Sea
Orcinus orca in the Northern North Sea
added on 2011-10-10 - author: Camphuysen, Kees
qualitystatus: not checked

Orcinus orca in the Northern North Sea
Orcinus orca in the Northern North Sea
added on 2011-10-10 - author: Camphuysen, Kees
qualitystatus: not checked

Orcinus orca in the Northern North Sea
Orcinus orca in the Northern North Sea
added on 2011-10-10 - author: Camphuysen, Kees
qualitystatus: not checked

Orcinus orca
Orcinus orca
added on 2012-02-05 - author: VLIZ Collection
qualitystatus: not checked

Orcinus orca
Orcinus orca
added on 2012-03-14 - author: VLIZ Collection
qualitystatus: not checked

Orcinus orca
Orcinus orca
added on 2012-03-14 - author: VLIZ Collection
qualitystatus: not checked

Orcinus orca
Orcinus orca
added on 2012-03-14 - author: VLIZ Collection
qualitystatus: not checked
LSID urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:137102
Taxonomic
Edit history
 
Date   action   by
2004-12-21 15:54:05Z  created  van der Land, Jacob
2008-08-20 11:25:36Z  checked  Perrin, William
  
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  Citation: Perrin, W. (2013). Orcinus orca (Linnaeus, 1758). In: Perrin, W.F. (2013) World Cetacea Database. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=137102 on 2013-06-20
  Creative Commons License The webpage text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License