Chinese Register of Marine Species - Physeter macrocephalus Linnaeus, 1758

Chinese
Register of
Marine Species
(ChaRMS)

ChaRMS taxon details

Physeter macrocephalus Linnaeus, 1758

Sperm whale

AphiaID

137119 (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:137119)

Classification

Status

accepted

Rank

Species

Parent

Physeter Linnaeus, 1758

Original name

Physeter macrocephalus Linnaeus, 1758

Environment

marine, ~~terrestrial~~

Original description

Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii. Holmiae [Stockholm]. [iii] + 824 pp. , available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726886
page(s): 76 [details] Available for editors

Taxonomic citation

Fordyce, E.; Perrin, W.F. (2025). World Cetacea Database. Physeter macrocephalus Linnaeus, 1758. Accessed through: Xu, K., An, J., Ding, L., Dong, D., Gao, Y., Huang, Y., Jiang, W., Lei, Y., Li, K., Li, X., Li, Y., Liang, X., Lin, G., Lin, M., Liu, H., Liu, J., Liu, W., Liu, X., Lu, D., Ma, Z., Ren, X., Sha, Z., Sun, J., Sun, S., Sun, Z., Tian, L., Wang, D., Wang, J., Wu, X., Xia, B., Xiao, N., Yin, J., Zhang, J., Zhang, S., Zhang, X., Zhao, E., Zheng, X., Zhou, H., Zhou, J. & Zhou, K. (2025) Chinese Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/charms/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=137119 on 2026-07-29

Regional species database citation

Xu, K., An, J., Ding, L., Dong, D., Gao, Y., Huang, Y., Jiang, W., Lei, Y., Li, K., Li, X., Li, Y., Liang, X., Lin, G., Lin, M., Liu, H., Liu, J., Liu, W., Liu, X., Lu, D., Ma, Z., Ren, X., Sha, Z., Sun, J., Sun, S., Sun, Z., Tian, L., Wang, D., Wang, J., Wu, X., Xia, B., Xiao, N., Yin, J., Zhang, J., Zhang, S., Zhang, X., Zhao, E., Zheng, X., Zhou, H., Zhou, J. & Zhou, K. (2026). Chinese Register of Marine Species. Physeter macrocephalus Linnaeus, 1758. Accessed at: https://www.marinespecies.org/charms/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=137119 on 2026-07-29

Taxonomic edit history

Date

action

2004-12-21 15:54:05Z

created

van der Land, Jacob

2005-03-29 08:12:19Z

changed

Claus, Simon

2008-08-20 11:25:36Z

checked

Perrin, William

2009-01-06 23:07:05Z

changed

Perrin, William

[taxonomic tree] [clear cache]

original description Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii. Holmiae [Stockholm]. [iii] + 824 pp. , available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726886
page(s): 76 [details] Available for editors

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

context source (HKRMS) Jefferson TA. (2005). Monitoring of Indo-Pacific Hampback Dolphin (Sousa chinensis) in Hong Kong waters - Data Analysis. Final report. Submitted to the Agriculture &Fisheries and Conservation Department, The Hong Kong SAR Government. [details]

context source (Bermuda) Sterrer, W. (1986). Marine fauna and flora of Bermuda: a systematic guide to the identification of marine organisms. Wiley-Interscience Publication. Wiley. 742 pp (Nemertini part). [details] Available for editors

context source (PeRMS) Reyes, J. (2009). Ballenas, delfines y otros cetáceos del Perú. Una fuente de información. Lima- Perú. Squema-Ediciones. 160 pp. [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 Mead, J. G.; Brownell, R. L. Jr. (2005). Cetacea. 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. 723--743., 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., available online at http://www.marinemammalscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/MarineMammalsOfTheWorld.pdf [details]

additional source Hershkovitz, P. (1966). Catalog of Living Whales. Bulletin of the United States National Museum. (246): 1-259., available online at https://doi.org/10.5479/si.03629236.246 [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.; Würsig, B.; Thewissen, J.G.M. (2009). Encyclopedia of marine mammals. Second edition. Academic Press: London. ISBN 978-0-12-373553-9. xxix, 1316 pp. (look up in IMIS) [details]

additional source King, C.M.; Roberts, C.D.; Bell, B.D.; Fordyce, R.E.; Nicoll, R.S.; Worthy, T.H.; Paulin, C.D.; Hitchmough, R.A.; Keyes, I.W.; Baker, A.N.; Stewart, A.L.; Hiller, N.; McDowall, R.M.; Holdaway, R.N.; McPhee, R.P.; Schwarzhans, W.W.; Tennyson, A.J.D.; Rust, S.; Macadie, I. (2009). Phylum Chordata: lancelets, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals. in: Gordon, D.P. (Ed.) (2009). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity: 1. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia. pp. 431-554. [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 Liu, J.Y. [Ruiyu] (ed.). (2008). [Checklist of marine biota of China seas]. China Science Press. 1267 pp. (look up in IMIS) [details] Available for editors

additional source Bearzi, G.; Pierantonio, N.; Affronte, M.; Holcer, D.; Maio, N.; Notarbartolo Di Sciara, G. (2011). Overview of sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus mortality events in the Adriatic Sea, 1555-2009. Mammal Review. 41(4): 276-293., available online at https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2907.2010.00171.x [details] Available for editors

additional source Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). , available online at http://www.itis.gov
page(s): 76 [details]

ecology source Looby, A.; Erbe, C.; Bravo, S.; Cox, K.; Davies, H. L.; Di Iorio, L.; Jézéquel, Y.; Juanes, F.; Martin, C. W.; Mooney, T. A.; Radford, C.; Reynolds, L. K.; Rice, A. N.; Riera, A.; Rountree, R.; Spriel, B.; Stanley, J.; Vela, S.; Parsons, M. J. G. (2023). Global inventory of species categorized by known underwater sonifery. Scientific Data. 10(1). (look up in IMIS), available online at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02745-4 [details]