spade-toothed whale; Bahamonde's beaked whale
Scientific name Mesoplodon traversii; a rarely seen deep-water beaked whale species.
The spade-toothed whale is a rare whale discovered off the coast of New Zealand.
Katakana spelling is standard for this whale species name; usually written in kana.
Kanji spelling is rare and mostly used in taxonomic or specialized contexts.
Named after the Chilean biologist Nibaldo Bahamonde, combined with 扇歯鯨 (おうぎはくじら, 'fan-toothed whale'), a Japanese term for beaked whales referring to their fan-shaped teeth.