关键词: 灰鲸, 误捕, 平潭, 外形, 骨骼

Abstract: On November 5,2011,a dead gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus)entangled with a set gillnet was found by fishermen at Pingtan,Fujian Province,China. Notably,this is the first incidental catch of gray whale in Fujian Province,as well as the first record in Chinese waters in the 21th century. This paper reports the external morphological characteristics
and skeletal measurements of this whale. The whale was a female,its body length and weight were 1 309 cm and 21t respectively, which is the largest gray whale stranded/ by-caught in Chinese waters to date. The cranium of this gray whale was 281cm in length,128 cm in width,and 250 kg in weight. The vertebra,phalanx,rib and V-bone of this whale were different from those reported previously.Specifically,its vertebra arrangement was C7 + T13 + L13 + Ca23 = 56 and phalanx arrangement was Ⅰ1,Ⅱ3,Ⅲ7,Ⅳ5,V3. In addition, this whale had 14 pairs of ribs and 10 V-bones. These findings indicate that the skeletons of gray whales may vary between individuals. This paper also reviews the main threats to the Western North Pacific gray whale.

Key words: External morphology, Gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus), Incidental catch, Pingtan, Skeleton