Order Cetacea

The cetaceans are divided up into three major groups of which only two have living representatives.These are the baleen or mustache whales, whom lack teeth and depend mostly on small planktonic animals for food; and the Odontocetes, or teethed whales. Most Odontocetes are commonly referred to as dolphins or porpoises.

Odontoceti or toothed whales

Family Physeteridae – Large heads

• Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus)

Family Kogiidae

• Pygmy Sperm Whale (Kogia breviceps)
• Dwarf Sperm Whale (Kogia simus)

Family Zipihiidae – Beaked Whales

• Andrew’s Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon bowdoini)
• Arnoux’s Beaked Whale (Berardius arnuxii)
• Baird’s Beaked Whale (Berardius bairdii)
• Blainville’s Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon densirostris)
• Cuvier’s Beaked Whale (Ziphius cavirostris)
• Gervais’ Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon europaeus)
• Ginkgo-Toothed Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon ginkgodens)
• Gray’s Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon grayi)
• Hector’s Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon hectori)
• Hubb’s Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon carlhubbsi)
• Longman’s Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon pacificus)
• Northern Bottlenose Whale (Hyperoodon ampullatus)
• Southern Bottlenose Whale (Hyperoodon planifrons)
• Sowerby’s Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon bidens)
• Straptoothed Whale (Mesoplodon layardii)
• Stejneger’s Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon stejnegeri)
• Tasman Beaked Whale (Tasmacetus shepherdi)
• True’s Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon mirus)

Family Delphinidae – Oceanic Dolphins

• Atlantic Humpbacked Dolphin (Sousa teuszii)
• Atlantic Spotted Dolphin (Stenella plagiodon)
• Atlantic White-Sided Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus)
• Black Dolphin (Cephalorhynchus eutropia)
• Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)
• Clymene Dolphin (Stenella clymene)
• Commerson’s Dolphin (Cephalorhynchus commersonii)
• Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis)
• Dusky Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obscurus)
• False Killer Whale (Pseudorca crassidens)
• Fraser’s Dolphin (Lagenodelphis hosei)
• Indo-Pacific Humpbacked Dolphin (Sousa chinensis)
• Heaviside’s Dolphin (Cephalorhynchus heavisidii)
• Hector’s Dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori)
• Hourglass Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus cruciger)
• Irrawaddy Dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris)
• Killer Whale (Orcinus orca)
• Long-Finned Pilot Whale (Globicephala melaena)
• Melon-Headed Whale (Peponocephala electra)
• Northern Right Whale Dolphin (Lissodelphis borealis)
• Pacific White-Sided Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens)
• Peale’s Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus australis)
• Pygmy Killer Whale (Feresa attenuata)
• Risso’s Dolphin (Grampus griseus)
• Rough-Toothed Dolphin (Steno bredanensis)
• Short-Finned Pilot Whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus)
• Southern Right Whale Dolphin (Lissodelphis peronii)
• Spinner Dolphin (Stenella longirostris)
• Spotted Dolphin (Stenella attenuata)
• Striped Dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba)
• Tucuxi (Sotalia fluviatilis)
• White-Beaked Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris)

Family Monodontidae

• Beluga (Delphinapterus leucas)
• Narwhal (Monodon monoceros) – light colored and long beaks
• Amazon River Dolphin (Inia geoffrensis)
• Chinese River Dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer)
• Franciscana (Pontoporia blainvillei)
• Ganges River Dolphin (Platanista gangetica)
• Indus River Dolphin (Platanista minor)

Family Iniidae

• Amazon River Dolphin (Inia geoffrensis)

Family Pontoporiidae

• Yangtze River Dolphin
• La Plata Dolphin

Family Phocoenidae

• Burmeister’s Porpoise (Phocoena spinipinnis)
• Cochito (Phocoena sinus)
• Dall’s Porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli)
• Finless Porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides)
• Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)
• Spectacled Porpoise (Phocoena dioptrica)
• Mysticeti or baleen whales

Family Eschrichtiidae

• Gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus)

Family Balaenopteridae – rorqual whales

• Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus)
• Bryde’s Whale (Balaenoptera edeni)
• Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus)
• Minke Whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)
• Sei Whale (Balaenoptera borealis)
• Humpback Whale (Megeptera novaeangliae)

Family Balaenidae

• Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus)
• Northern Right whale (Eubalaena glacialis)
• Southern Right Whale (Eubalaena australis)

Family Neobalaenidae

• Pygmy Right Whale (Caperea marginata)

Species listed under Cetacea