Animalia > Chordata > Mammalia > Cetacea > Delphinidae > Orcinus > Orcinus orca
 

Orcinus orca (Killer Whale; orca)

Synonyms: Delphinus gladiator; Delphinus orca; Orca ater; Orca capensis; Orca rectipinna; Orcinus glacialis; Orcinus nanus
Language: French; Spanish

Wikipedia Abstract

The killer whale (Orcinus orca), commonly referred to as the orca whale or orca, and less commonly as the blackfish, is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family. Killer whales are found in all oceans, from the frigid Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas. Killer whales as a species have a diverse diet, although individual populations often specialize in particular types of prey.
View Wikipedia Record: Orcinus orca

EDGE Analysis

Uniqueness Scale: Similiar (0) 
3
 Unique (100)
Uniqueness & Vulnerability Scale: Not determined do to incomplete vulnerability data.
ED Score: 7.44
Learn more at EDGE of Existence programme

Attributes

Adult Weight [2]  4.40 tons (3,987.50 kg)
Birth Weight [2]  396.83 lbs (180.00 kg)
Female Maturity [2]  10 years 6 months
Male Maturity [2]  13 years 8 months
Diet [1]  Carnivore
Gestation [2]  1 year 2 months
Litter Size [2]  1
Litters / Year [2]  0
Maximum Longevity [2]  90 years
Speed [3]  30.00 MPH (13.41 m/s)
Water Biome [1]  Pelagic, Coastal
Weaning [2]  1 year 3 months

Protected Areas

Name IUCN Category Area acres Location Species Website Map Climate Land Use
Alto Golfo de California y Delta del Rio Colorado Biosphere Reserve VI 2320468 Sonora, Mexico  
Archipelago de Colon Biosphere Reserve 34336011 Galapagos Islands, Ecuador  
Bañados del Este Wetland Reserve 986054 Uruguay  
California Coast Ranges Biosphere Reserve 153447 California, United States  
Cape Cod National Seashore II 21724 Massachusetts, United States
Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary   California, United States
Channel Islands National Park II 139010 California, United States
Clayoquot Sound Biosphere Reserve 864738 British Columbia, Canada  
Croajingolong National Park II 217067 Victoria, Australia
DYTIKES AKTES KEFALONIAS - STENO KEFALONIAS ITHAKIS - VOREIA ITHAKI (AKROTIRIA GERO GKOMPOS - DRAKOU 46314 Greece    
Everglades and Dry Tortugas Biosphere Reserve   Florida, United States  
Farallon National Wildlife Refuge IV 352 California, United States
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary IV 2387149 Florida, United States
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve Ib 591068 Alaska, United States
Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve II 366714 British Columbia, Canada
Isla Mujeres, Punta Cancun y Punta Nizuc National Park II 21428 Quintana Roo, Mexico    
Kronotskiy Biosphere Reserve 361480 Russia  
Luce Bay and Sands 120487 Scotland, United Kingdom
Macquarie Island Nature Reserve Ia 233540 Tasmania, Australia  
Morecambe Bay 151985 England, United Kingdom
Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Reserve 293047 British Columbia, Canada  
North Bull Island Nature Reserve IV 3544 Ireland  
Ostrov Vrangelya (Wrangel Island) Zapovednik Nature Monument III 180 Russia    
Pacific Rim National Park Reserve II 137900 British Columbia, Canada
Palmer LTER Site Long Term Ecological Research   Antarctica    
Pembrokeshire Marine/ Sir Benfro Forol 341177 Wales, United Kingdom  
Point Reyes National Seashore II 27068 California, United States
Redwood National Park II 77867 California, United States
Reserva de la Biosfera El Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve VI 6176727 Mexico  
Sanday 27112 Scotland, United Kingdom    
Sirmilik National Park II 5475284 Canada
Solway Firth 107829 England/Scotland, United Kingdom
Tsitsikamma National Park II 34343 Southern Cape, South Africa  

Ecosystems

Prey / Diet

Aptenodytes forsteri (Emperor Penguin)[4]
Arctocephalus townsendi (Guadalupe Fur Seal)[5]
Balaenoptera acutorostrata (Minke Whale)[6]
Branta bernicla nigricans (Lawrence's brant goose)[6]
Callorhinus ursinus (Northern Fur Seal)[6]
Delphinapterus leucas (Beluga)[7]
Dermochelys coriacea (Leatherback Sea Turtle)[6]
Dissostichus mawsoni (Antarctic blenny)[8]
Doryteuthis pleii (arrow squid)[9]
Doryteuthis sanpaulensis[9]
Erignathus barbatus (Bearded Seal)[6]
Eumetopias jubatus (Steller Sea Lion)[6]
Lobodon carcinophaga (Crabeater Seal)[4]
Lontra felina (Marine Otter)[10]
Mallotus villosus (Capelin)[11]
Merluccius productus (Whiting)[12]
Mirounga angustirostris (Northern Elephant Seal)[6]
Neophocaena phocaenoides (Finless Porpoise)[13]
Ocythoe tuberculata (Tuberculate Pelagic Octopus)[9]
Odobenus rosmarus (Walrus)[6]
Odobenus rosmarus divergens (Pacific walrus)[14]
Ommastrephes bartramii (red flying squid)[9]
Oncorhynchus kisutch (coho salmon or silver salmon)[6]
Oncorhynchus mykiss (redband trout)[6]
Oncorhynchus nerka (sockeye salmon or kokanee)[6]
Oncorhynchus tshawytscha (chinook salmon or king salmon)[6]
Onykia robsoni (Rugose Hooked Squid)[9]
Ornithoteuthis antillarum (Atlantic bird squid)[9]
Phoca vitulina (Harbor Seal)[14]
Phocoena phocoena (Harbor Porpoise)[6]
Phocoenoides dalli (Dall's Porpoise)[6]
Pygoscelis adeliae (Adelie Penguin)[4]
Stenella attenuata (Pantropical Spotted Dolphin)[15]
Stenella frontalis (Atlantic Spotted Dolphin)[16]
Zalophus californianus (California Sealion)[6]

Prey / Diet Overlap

Competing SpeciesCommon Prey Count
Arctocephalus tropicalis (Subantarctic Fur Seal)4
Callorhinus ursinus (Northern Fur Seal)5
Carcharhinus signatus (Shark)2
Carcharodon carcharias (Maneater shark)2
Cerorhinca monocerata (Rhinoceros Auklet)2
Feresa attenuata (Pygmy Killer Whale)3
Hydrurga leptonyx (Leopard seal)2
Isistius brasiliensis (Smooth cookiecutter shark)2
Kogia breviceps (Pygmy Sperm Whale)2
Kogia sima (Dwarf Sperm Whale)2
Lagenorhynchus obliquidens (Pacific White-sided Dolphin)2
Lamna ditropis (Salmon shark)3
Megaptera novaeangliae (Humpback Whale)2
Physeter macrocephalus (Sperm Whale)2
Pontoporia blainvillei (Franciscana)2
Pseudorca crassidens (False Killer Whale)2
Thunnus alalunga (longfinned albacore)3
Thunnus thynnus (horse mackerel)2
Ursus maritimus (Polar Bear)4
Xiphias gladius (Swordfish)2

Consumers

Parasitized by 
Anisakis pacificus <Unverified Name>[17]
Anisakis simplex[17]
Bolbosoma nipponicum[17]
Bolbosoma physeteris[17]
Diphyllobothrium orcini[17]
Diphyllobothrium polyrugosum[17]
Fasciola skrjabini <Unverified Name>[17]
Hadwenius subtilis[17]
Monorygma grimaldii[17]
Odhneriella subtila <Unverified Name>[17]
Orthosplanchnus albamarinus <Unverified Name>[17]
Oschmarinella albamarina[17]
Phyllobothrium delphini[17]
Trigonocotyle spasskyi <Unverified Name>[17]

Institutions (Zoos, etc.)

    Maps
Institution Infraspecies / Breed 
Kamogawa Sea World

Distribution

Antarctica/Southern Ocean; East Pacific; Eastern Atlantic Ocean; Indo-West Pacific; Western Atlantic Ocean;

External References

Audio

Play / PauseVolume
Provided by Center for Biological Diversity via Myxer Author: Jim Nollman

Photos

Citations

Species recognized by Gardner A.L, 05-Dec-2008, ITIS Global: The Integrated Taxonomic Information System in Catalog of Life 2011
Attributes / relations provided by ♦ 1Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2006. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed February 01, 2010 at animaldiversity.org ♦ 2de Magalhaes, J. P., and Costa, J. (2009) A database of vertebrate longevity records and their relation to other life-history traits. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 22(8):1770-1774 ♦ 3Wikipedia licensed under a Creative Commons License ♦ 4Who's Eating Who ♦ 5Arctocephalus townsendi, Rebecca L. Belcher and Thomas E. Lee, Jr., MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 700, pp. 1–5 (2002) ♦ 6Food Web Relationships of Northern Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca : a Synthesis of the Available Knowledge, Charles A. Simenstad, Bruce S. Miller, Carl F. Nyblade, Kathleen Thornburgh, and Lewis J. Bledsoe, EPA-600 7-29-259 September 1979 ♦ 7Delphinapterus leucas, Barbara E. Stewart and Robert E. A. Stewart, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 336, pp. 1-8 (1989) ♦ 8The role of notothenioid fish in the food web of the Ross Sea shelf waters: a review, M. La Mesa, J. T. Eastman, M. Vacchi, Polar Biol (2004) 27: 321–338 ♦ 9CephBase - Cephalopod (Octopus, Squid, Cuttlefish and Nautilus) Database ♦ 10Lontra felina, Serge Larivière, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 575, pp. 1-5 (1998) ♦ 11The role of capelin (Mallotus villosus) in the foodweb of the Barents Sea, A. V. Dolgov, ICES Journal of Marine Science, 59: 1034–1045. 2002 ♦ 12Trophic Role of the Pacific Whiting, Merluccius productus, P. A. LIVINGSTON and K. M. BAILEY, Marine Fisheries Review 47(2), 1985, p. 16-22 ♦ 13Neophocaena phocaenoides, Thomas A. Jefferson and Samuel K. Hung, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 746, pp. 1–12 (2004) ♦ 14Alaska Wildlife Notebook Series, Alaska Department of Fish and Game ♦ 15Stenella attenuata, William F. Perrin, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 683, pp. 1–8 (2001) ♦ 16Stenella frontalis, William F. Perrin, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 702, pp. 1–6 (2002) ♦ 17Gibson, D. I., Bray, R. A., & Harris, E. A. (Compilers) (2005). Host-Parasite Database of the Natural History Museum, London
Protected Areas provided by Biological Inventories of the World's Protected Areas in cooperation between the Information Center for the Environment at the University of California, Davis and numerous collaborators. ♦ Natura 2000, UK data: © Crown copyright and database right [2010] All rights reserved. Ordnance Survey Licence number 100017955 ♦ GBIF Global Biodiversity Information Facility
Images provided by Google Image Search
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
EDGE analysis provided by EDGE of Existence programme, Zoological Society of London
Weather provided by NOAA METAR Data Access
Institution information provided by International Species Information System - May 2011
Audio software provided by SoundManager 2