Delphinapterus leucas (Pallas 1776) [Delphinus] leucas Pallas 1776, Reise Prov. Russ. Reichs, Vol. 3, 1: 85 [footnote]. Type Locality: NE Siberia, "die im Obischen Meerbusen" (= mouth of Ob River). Vernacular Names: Beluga. Synonyms: Delphinapterus albicans (Lacépède 1804); Delphinapterus beluga Lacépède 1804; Delphinapterus catodon (Gray 1846); Delphinapterus dorofeevi Barabash and Klumov 1935; Delphinapterus marisalbi Ostroumov 1935. Distribution: Circumpolar in Arctic seas; Okhotsk and Bering Seas; northern Gulf of Alaska (Cook Inlet); Gulf of St. Lawrence: arctic to cold-temperate waters; occasionally strays south to Honshu, Japan; France; and Massachusetts, USA. Conservation: CITES – Appendix II; IUCN – Vulnerable. Discussion: Reviewed by Kleinenberg et al. (1969), T. G. Smith et al. (1990), Stewart and Stewart (1989, Mammalian Species, 336) and Brodie (1989).

Published as part of Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Cetacea, pp. 723-743 in Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1, Baltimore :The Johns Hopkins University Press on page 735, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7316519