The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

Kogia sima

 – Lower Risk Least Concern

Taxonomy

Kingdom: ANIMALIA
Phylum: CHORDATA
Class: MAMMALIA
Order: CETACEA
Family: KOGIIDAE
Scientific Name: Kogia sima
Species Authority: (Owen, 1866)
Common Name/s: DWARF SPERM WHALE (Eng)
CACHALOT NAIN (Fre)
CACHALOTE ENANO (Spa)
Taxonomic Notes: Was in family Physetridae for the 1996-2002 IUCN Red Lists.

Assessment Information

Red List Category & Criteria: LR/lc    ver 2.3 (1994)
Year Assessed: 1996
Annotations: Needs updating
Assessor/s: Cetacean Specialist Group
Justification: This species is widely distributed in the world’s oceans, particularly in warm temperate and tropical areas. The animals are difficult to observe and have not been studied directly in the wild. Much of what is known about it comes from strandings. A limited amount of hunting has taken place in at least Japan, the Lesser Antilles, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia, but this species is not a major target of exploitation. Mortality in fishing gear, especially gillnets, is likely a more serious problem. However, the data on mortality levels and whale abundance are far from sufficient for a proper assessment. Ingestion of plastic debris may contribute to morbidity and mortality (J. Mead, cited in Laist et al. 1999). (Account based on Reeves et al. 2003, p. 50).
History:
1994-Insufficiently Known as K. simus (Groombridge 1994)

Geographic Range

Countries: Native:

Angola; Australia; Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul); Cameroon; Canada (British Columbia); Cape Verde; Chile (Valparaíso); China; Colombia; Comoros; Cuba; Côte d'Ivoire; Dominican Republic; Ecuador (Galápagos); French Polynesia; Guam; India; Indonesia; Japan (Honshu); Kenya; Kiribati; Korea, Democratic People's Republic of; Korea, Republic of; Madagascar; Malaysia; Mauritania; Mauritius; Mexico; Micronesia, Federated States of; Morocco; Mozambique; Namibia; New Caledonia; New Zealand (Kermadec Is., North Is.); Nigeria; Northern Mariana Islands; Oman; Pakistan; Palau; Papua New Guinea; Peru; Philippines; Portugal (Azores, Madeira); Réunion; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Sao Tomé and Principe; Senegal; Seychelles; Somalia; South Africa; Spain (Canary Is.); Sri Lanka; Tanzania, United Republic of; United States (Hawaiian Is.); Venezuela; Viet Nam; Yemen

FAO Marine Fishing Areas: Native:

Atlantic-eastern central; Atlantic-northeast; Atlantic-northwest; Atlantic-southeast; Atlantic-southwest; Atlantic-western central; Indian Ocean-eastern; Indian Ocean-western; Pacific-eastern central; Pacific-northeast; Pacific-northwest; Pacific-southeast; Pacific-southwest; Pacific-western central

Habitat and Ecology

System: Marine
List of Habitats:
10.1Marine Oceanic - Epipelagic (0-200m)

Threats

List of Threats:
4.1.1.2Accidental mortality - Bycatch - Fisheries-related - Netting (ongoing)
4.1.1.3Accidental mortality - Bycatch - Fisheries-related - Entanglement (ongoing)

Bibliography

Bibliography:

Groombridge, B. (ed.) 1994. 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

Laist, D.W., Coe, J.M. and O’Hara, K.J. 1999. Marine debris pollution. In: J.R. Twiss Jr. and R.R. Reeves (eds) Conservation and Management of Marine Mammals, pp. 342–366. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.

Reeves, R.R., Smith, B.D., Crespo, E.A. and di Sciara, G.N. (compilers) 2003. Dolphins, Whales and Porpoises: 2002-2010 Conservation Action Plan for the World's Cetaceans. IUCN/SSC Cetacean Specialist Group. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.


Citation: Cetacean Specialist Group 1996. Kogia sima. In: IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 04 July 2008.
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