Organisms

Whales

Large marine mammals of the order CETACEA. In the past, they were commercially valued for whale oil, for their flesh as human food and in ANIMAL FEED and FERTILIZERS, and for baleen. Today, there is a moratorium on most commercial whaling, as all species are either listed as endangered or threatened.

National Library of MedicineMedical Subject Headings2026

Structured Summary

Abstract

Large marine mammals of the order CETACEA. In the past, they were commercially valued for whale oil, for their flesh as human food and in ANIMAL FEED and FERTILIZERS, and for baleen. Today, there is a moratorium on most commercial whaling, as all species are either listed as endangered or threatened.

MeSH Record

Classification

Related Concepts

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MeSH Record

See Also

MeSH Record

Synonyms

47 entry terms
  • Whale
  • Beaked Whales
  • Berardius
  • Caperea
  • Dwarf Sperm Whale
  • Eschrichtius robustus
  • Eubalaena australis
  • Giant Bottle-Nosed Whales
  • Goose-Beaked Whale
  • Gray Whale
  • Grey Whale
  • Mesoplodon
  • Monodon monoceros
  • Narwhals
  • North Atlantic Right Whale
  • Pygmy Right Whale
  • Pygmy Sperm Whale
  • Right Whale, North Atlantic
  • Right Whale, Southern
  • Ziphiidae
  • Ziphius
  • Beaked Whale
  • Bottle-Nosed Whale, Giant
  • Bottle-Nosed Whales, Giant
  • Dwarf Sperm Whales
  • Giant Bottle Nosed Whales
  • Giant Bottle-Nosed Whale
  • Goose Beaked Whale
  • Goose-Beaked Whales
  • Gray Whales
  • Grey Whales
  • Narwhal
  • Pygmy Right Whales
  • Pygmy Sperm Whales
  • Right Whale, Pygmy
  • Right Whales, Pygmy
  • Right Whales, Southern
  • Southern Right Whale
  • Southern Right Whales
  • Sperm Whale, Dwarf
  • Sperm Whale, Pygmy
  • Sperm Whales, Dwarf
  • Sperm Whales, Pygmy
  • Whale, Grey
  • Whale, Southern Right
  • Whales, Grey
  • Whales, Southern Right

MeSH Record

Aspects Covered

18 allowable subheadings

Indexed with the subheadings abnormalities, anatomy & histology, blood, cerebrospinal fluid, classification, embryology, genetics, growth & development, immunology, injuries, metabolism, microbiology, parasitology, physiology, psychology, surgery, urine, virology.

MeSH Record

Indexing Annotation

some dolphins are misnamed "whales": note FALSE KILLER WHALE; PYGMY KILLER WHALE; and MELON-HEADED WHALE; are entry terms to DOLPHINS; PILOT WHALES; and KILLER WHALE; both types of dolphin, are also available

MeSH Record

History Note

91(75); was see under CETACEA 1975-90

MeSH Hierarchy

Tree Number

AMA Style

References

  1. National Library of Medicine. Whales. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). 2026. Unique ID D014907. http://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/2026/D014907
  2. Whales. In: Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale
  3. Whales. In: Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1865281