by: Dagmar Fertl
The word Mesoplodon is from the Greek mesos for "middle", hopla for "arms" and odon for "tooth". These words in combination roughly translates to "armed with a tooth in the middle of the jaw". E.L. Layard was the curator of the South African Museum and provided the drawings on which the description of this species was based.
These whales look much like other mesoplodonts. The males have long tusks that emerge from near the middle of the lower jaw and curl backward and inward, extending over the upper jaw and often preventing the animal from opening its mouth more than a few centimeters.
This animal reaches at least 6.2 m.
The only records of this species in African waters are off of South Africa.
This is the largest of the mesoplodont species of whales. With such a small mouth opening, tt is unknown how this animal eats squid.
Human impacts in African waters are unknown.
Insufficiently known.
Jefferson, T.A. Leatherwood, S. and M.A. Webber. 1994. FAO Species Identification Guide, Marine Mammals of the World. FAO of the United Nations, Rome.
Sekiguchi K. Klages N T W. Best P B. The diet of strap-toothed whales (Mesoplodon layardii). Journal of Zoology (London) 239(3). 1996. 453-463.
Leatherwood, S. and R.R. Reeves. 1987. The Sierra Club Handbook of Whales and Dolphins. Sierra Club Books, San Fransisco.
URL for this page: http://csiwhalesalive.org/csistrap-toothed.html