Rank Species | Phylum Chordata Order Artiodactyla Family Ziphiidae | |
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Similar Ginkgo‑toothed beaked whale, Perrin's beaked whale, Mesoplodont whale, Hubbs' beaked whale, Gray's beaked whale | ||
Deraniyagala's beaked whale (Mesoplodon hotaula) is a species of mesoplodont whale.
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Taxonomy
Deraniyagala's beaked whale was once synonymous with the Ginkgo-toothed beaked whale (Mesoplodon ginkgodens), until several studies confirmed that M. hotuala was genetically different from M. ginkgodens. Like all beaked whales, Deraniyagala's beaked whale is known only by stranded individuals, in this case, seven. The first stranding occurred in Sri Lanka, but was falsely identified as Ginkgo-toothed beaked whale by Moore and Gilmore, 1965. The two species were split due to recent DNA analysis by various organisations in the 2000s, with the seven individuals' control region, cytochrome b, cytochrome oxidase, and various introns taken for genetic analysis. It was found that genetic variance (Dα) of the cytochrome b between Deraniyagala's whale and the Gingko-toothed beaked whale was 8.2% ± 1.79%, whereas genetic variance range between 5.5% to 16.6% in other Mesoplodon species (the smaller the percentage, the lesser the genetic differences between the two species). It was first recognised by Paules Edward Pieris Deraniyagala in 1963 and was subsequently named after him.
Distribution
Deraniyagala's beaked whale is known from only seven individuals that have stranded themselves on beaches of various islands in the Indian and South Pacific Oceans: Seychelles, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Gilbert Islands, Kiribati and Line Islands. It is thought that, like Cuvier's beaked whale, they live in insular populations (isolated communities).
Diet
Like other mesoplodont whales, it is thought that Deraniyagala's whale feeds mainly on deep-sea squid-and-fish.