A cetacean is the Latin name for whale. A Cetacean is a whale which belongs to the family known as Cetacea.
Cetacea contains two suborders: Mysticeti and Odontoceti
- Baleen whales (whales without teeth) are members of the Mysticeti suborder.
- Toothed whales, like the sperm whale, along with all the dolphins and porpoises, make up the suborder Odontoceti.
- Altogether, the two suborders contain over eighty known species, further separated into thirteen different families.
- Each family of whales is further classified into sub-families, or genera, of which there are 40.
Mysticeti (or toothless "Baleen" whales) contain four families:
- Balaenoptidae
- Balaenidae
- Neobalaenidae
- Eschrichtiidae.
Note: Between these four families are six genera, and eleven species.
Odontoceti (toothed whales) contain nine families:
- Physeteridae
- Kogiidae
- Delphinidae
- Platanistidae
- Iniidae
- Pontoporiidae
- Phocoenidae
- Monodontidae
- Ziphiidae
Note: Between these nine are thirty-six genera, and seventy species.
I know this all sounds complicated, and the academia’s want it that way, but it really isn't as bad as it sounds. Take a look for yourself:
| WHALES (Order Cetacea) Baleen Whales (Suborder Mysticeti) Rorqual Whales (Family Balaenopteridae) Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus) Sei Whale (Balaenoptera borealis) Bryde's Whale (Balaenoptera edeni) Minke Whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) |
 Taken under NMFS Permit # 883 |
| Right Whales (Family Balaenidae & Neobalaenidae) Northern Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis) Southern Right Whale (Eubalaena australis) Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus) Pygmy Right Whale (Caperea marginata) Gray Whales (Family Eschrichtiidae) Gray Whale (Eschrichtius robustus) Toothed Whales (Suborder Odontoceti) Sperm Whales (Family Physeteridae & Kogiidae ) Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus) Pygmy Sperm Whale (Kogia breviceps) Dwarf Sperm Whale (Kogia simus) |
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| Dolphins and Porpoises (Family Delphinidae) Large Oceanic Dolphins (Blackfish) Orca (Killer Whale) (Orcinus orca) False Killer Whale (Pseudorca crassidens) Pygmy Killer Whale (Feresa attenuata) Melon-Headed Whale (Peponocephala electra) Long-Finned Pilot Whale (Globicephala melas) Short-Finned Pilot Whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) |
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| Oceanic Dolphins Atlantic Humpbacked Dolphin (Sousa teuszii) Atlantic Spotted Dolphin (Stenella frontalis) Atlantic White-Sided Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus) Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Chilean Dolphin (Cephalorhynchus eutropia) Clymene Dolphin (Stenella clymene) Commerson's Dolphin (Cephalorhynchus commersonii) Dusky Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obscurus) Fraser's Dolphin (Lagenodelphis hosei) Heaviside's Dolphin (Cephalorhynchus heavisidii) Hector's Dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori) Hourglass Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus cruciger) Indo-Pacific Humpbacked Dolphin (Sousa chinensis; Sousa plumbea) Irrawaddy Dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) Long-Beaked Common Dolphin (Delphinus capensis) Northern Rightwhale Dolphin (Lissodelphis borealis) Pacific White-Sided Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens) Pantropical Spotted Dolphin (Stenella attenuata) Peale's Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus australis) Risso's Dolphin (Grampus griseus) Rough-Toothed Dolphin (Steno bredanensis) Short-Beaked Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis) Southern Rightwhale Dolphin (Lissiodelphis peronii) Spinner Dolphin (Stenella longirostris) Striped Dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) Tucuxi (Sotalia fluviatilis) White-Beaked Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) |
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| River Dolphins (Family Platanistoidae, Iniidae, & Pontoporiidae) Amazon River Dolphin (Boto) (Inia geoffrensis) Chinese River Dolphin (Baiji) (Lipotes vexillifer) Ganges River Dolphin (Platanista gangetica) Indus River Dolphin (Platanista minor) La Plata River Dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei) |
| Porpoises (Family Phocoenidae) Burmeister's Porpoise (Phocoena spinnipinnis) Dall's Porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli) Finless Porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides) Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) Spectacled Porpoise (Australophocaena dioptrica) Vaquita (Phocoena sinus) |
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| White Whales (Family Monodontidae) Beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) Narwhal (Monodon monocerus) |
| Beaked Whales (Family Ziphiidae) Andrews' Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon bowdoini) Arnoux's Beaked Whale (Beradius arnuxii) Baird's Beaked Whale (Beradius bairdii) Bahamonde's Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon bahamondi) 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) Hubbs' Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon carlhubbsi) Lesser Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon peruvianus) Longman's Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon pacificus) Northern Bottlenose Whale (Hyperoodon ampullatus) Shepherd's Beaked Whale (Tasmacetus sherpherdi) Southern Bottlenose Whale (Hyperoodon planifrons) Sowerby's Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon bidens) Stejneger's Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon stejnegeri) Straptoothed Whale (Mesoplodon layardii) True's Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon mirus) Unidentified Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon 'species A') |