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Narwhal - MONODON MONOCEROS
Possibly Endangered
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Narwhal": "Narwhal" is an old Norse word for "corpse whale," probably because of the wan and grayish appearance of the body while floating. "Whale" comes from an old English word, derived from an even more ancient word, all of them simply referring to the animal. Both this whale and the Beluga belong to the family "Monodontidae," "one toothed." However, the genus-species name of this whale means "one tooth, one horn" because of the obviously unique feature of the narwhal.
Location: Arctic Seas between the latitudes of 700 North and 800 North.
Habitat: Aquatic. Very cold seas.
Description: The color of the body varies with age. The newborn narwhal is blue-gray, and after it is weaned it becomes black or blue-black. As an individual matures, it develops white stripes and markings in the anal, genital, and umbilical regions until the entire underside and the sides of the body are so covered. The adult is creamy white on the underside and mottled dark-gray to black on the back. The distinctive feature of the narwhal is, of course, the tusk: a specialized tooth which is found in males and sometimes in females, and which can reach a length of 10 ft. It is straight, slender, and spiraled, and issues from the upper lip. This whale has no functional teeth. The mouth is small, narrow, and turned upward at the corners. The lateral fins are of moderate size, and there is no dorsal fin. Length (excluding tusk) up to 15 ft; weight up to 3000 lbs in males and 2000 lbs in females.
Behavior: The narwhal feeds on fishes, cephalopods (octopus, squid), and crustaceans. It lives in pods of from 6 to 20 individuals of the same or of both sexes. The sounds made by the narwhal (which resemble gargling, roaring, mooing, and whistling) are probably associated with respiration.
Reproduction: Gestation lasts 14 to 15 months and a single newborn calf is about five feet long.
Go to the Cetacea Page to learn more about the other whale-like animals.
Go to the Index to compare the various Whales found in America Zoo.
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