baleen whale; whalebone whale
A whale that has baleen plates instead of teeth; includes blue whales, humpbacks, etc. The term ヒゲクジラ is the common name in Japanese.
See also: ハクジラ
The blue whale is a type of baleen whale.
Baleen whales eat plankton.
Katakana spelling is common for animal names; usually written in kana.
Kanji form using 鬚 (beard/whiskers) and 鯨 (whale); rarely used.
Compound of ひげ (whiskers/baleen) and くじら (whale). The kanji 鬚鯨 literally means 'beard whale'.