Dwarf sperm whale
Kogia sima (Owen, 1866)
LCLeast Concernwhales and dolphins
The dwarf sperm whale (Kogia sima) is a species in the family Kogiidae, order Cetacea. Recorded adults weigh 183.1 kg to 186.6 kg. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the dwarf sperm whale
- Weight
- 183.1 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 274 days – 335 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 5 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 0.5src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- Day and night (cathemeral)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Marinesrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the dwarf sperm whale live?
Not recorded
What is the dwarf sperm whale?
The dwarf sperm whale (Kogia sima) is a sperm whale that inhabits temperate and tropical oceans worldwide, in particular continental shelves and slopes. It was first described by biologist Richard Owen in 1866, based on illustrations by naturalist Sir Walter Elliot. The species was considered to be synonymous with the pygmy sperm whale (Kogia breviceps) from 1878 until 1998. The dwarf sperm whale is a small whale, 2 to 2.7 m (6 ft 7 in to 8 ft 10 in) and 136 to 272 kg (300 to 600 lb), that has a grey coloration, square head, small jaw, and robust body. Its appearance is very similar to the pygmy sperm whale, distinguished mainly by the position of the dorsal fin on the body—nearer the middle in the dwarf sperm whale and nearer the tail in the other.
The dwarf sperm whale is a suction feeder that mainly eats squid, and does this in small pods of typically one to four members. It is preyed upon by the orca (Orcinus orca) and large sharks such as the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharius). When startled, the whale can eject a cloud of red-brown fluid. Most of what is known of the whale comes from beached individuals, as sightings in the ocean are rare. Many of these stranded whales died from parasitic infestations or heart failure.
The dwarf sperm whale is hunted in small numbers around Asia. It is most threatened by ingesting, or getting entangled by marine debris. No global population estimate has been made, and so its conservation status by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is least concern.
From the Wikipedia article “Dwarf sperm whale” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dwarf_sperm_whale&oldid=1380068080), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the dwarf sperm whale endangered?
The dwarf sperm whale is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the dwarf sperm whale classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderCetacea
- familyKogiidae
- genusKogia
- SpeciesKogia sima (Owen, 1866)
Synonyms Callignathus simus, Kogia simus, Kogia simus, Physeter simus
Other names and names in other languages (45)
- Cachalote anãoEnglish
- Owen’s pygmy sperm whaleEnglish
- Snub-nosed cachalotEnglish
- dwergpotvisAfrikaans
- MiniatuurpotvisAfrikaans
- حوت العنبر القزمArabic
- kogia OwenovaCzech
- KleinpottwalGerman
- kleiner PottwalGerman
- kleiner ZwergpottwalGerman
- KleinstpottwalGerman
- Pazifik-PottwalGerman
- Νάνος φυσητήραςGreek
- cachalote enanoSpanish
- KäpiökaskelottiFinnish
- kääpiökaskelottiFinnish
- cachalot nainFrench
- törpe ámbráscetHungarian
- paus lodan kecilIndonesian
- cogiaItalian
- cogia di OwenItalian
- オガワコマッコウJapanese
- ogawa komakko kujiraJapanese
- soe-hyang-goraeKorean
- mažasis nykštukinis kašalotasLithuanian
- DvergspermhvalNorwegian Bokmål
- Kleinste potvisDutch
- kogia płaskonosaPolish
- Kaszalot płaskonosyPolish
- cachalote anaoPortuguese
- Cachalote-anãoPortuguese
- кашалот малюткаRussian
- малый карликовый кашалотRussian
- malyi karlikovyi kashalotRussian
- pritlikavi glavačSlovenian
- wongaTelugu
- วาฬหัวทุยแคระThai
- plawan hua thui khraeThai
- cüce sperm balinasıTurkish
- cüce ispermecet balinasıTurkish
- Cüce ispermeçet balinasıTurkish
- Кашалот малий карликовийUkrainian
- Малий карликовий кашалотUkrainian
- 侏抹香鲸Chinese
- 侏儒抹香鯨Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the dwarf sperm whale
Other species in the same genus Kogia.
Pygmy sperm whale
Kogia breviceps
CompareDwarf sperm whale vs Pygmy sperm whaleDwarf sperm whale vs Kogia danomurai
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the dwarf sperm whale?
An adult dwarf sperm whale weighs 183.1 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the dwarf sperm whale endangered?
The dwarf sperm whale is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long is the dwarf sperm whale pregnant?
The recorded gestation period is 274 days – 335 days.
What kind of animal is the dwarf sperm whale?
The dwarf sperm whale (Kogia sima) belongs to the family Kogiidae in the order Cetacea.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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CreatureData. (2026). Dwarf sperm whale (Kogia sima). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/dwarf-sperm-whale
“Dwarf sperm whale (Kogia sima).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/dwarf-sperm-whale.
@misc{dwarf_sperm_whale_2026,
title = {Dwarf sperm whale (Kogia sima)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/dwarf-sperm-whale},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}