On the Recommended Vernacular Names of Mesoplodon peruvianus Reyes, Mead & Van Waerebeek, 1991 (Cetacea, Ziphiidae) in Several World Languages

On the Recommended Vernacular Names of Mesoplodon peruvianus Reyes, Mead & Van Waerebeek, 1991 (Cetacea, Ziphiidae) in Several World Languages

Relevant and distinctive vernacular species names are essential to assure efficient communication among scientists under field and laboratory conditions, but also among non-specialists including the public at large. We provide a rationale for recommended vernacular and alternative names for the lesser beaked whale Mesoplodon peruvianus Reyes, Mead & Van Waerebeek, 1991 in 11 major world languages which encompass most of cetacean literature. Principal criteria for name endorsement are unambiguity and nonrepetitiveness with respect to other aquatic mammal species.