First Record of the Melonhead Whale (Peponoceplulla electra) for Puerto Rico
Mignucci-Giannoni AA, Rodriguez-Lopez MA, Perez-Zayas JJ, Montoya-Ospina RA, Williams EH. 1998. First Record of the Melonhead Whale (Peponoceplulla electra) for Puerto Rico. Mammalia. 62(3):452 - 457
Melonhead whales (Peponocephala electra) are considered an oceanic tropical and subtropical species throughout the world (Perryman et al. 1994). The species is well documented for the Pacific, but its geographical range for the Atlantic Ocean is poorly known. Thirty-one records have been reported for the Atlantic, with its northernmost record being from the United Kingdom and its southernmost record from Brazil. Only 8 records are known for the Caribbean Sea. We present a new record of the melonhead whale for the Atlantic and the Caribbean, in addition to documenting the first record from the island of Puerto Rico. On 17 August 1993 a 210-cm juvenile male P. electra stranded at Playa Los Veleros in Cayo Icacos (17•58'N, 66•54.5'W), 0.3 km E of Cabo San Juan (Fajardo) on the NE comer of Puerto Rico. The animal was found in a moderate state of decomposition and a full necropsy was conducted, including complete morphometries (Table 1 ).
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Mignucci-Giannoni, A; Rodriguez-Lopez, M; Perez-Zayas, J; Montoya-Ospina, R; Williams, E
- Units
- SFCN
- Keywords
- Expand, Habitat, migrate, Range