Narwhal
Monodon monoceros Linnaeus, 1758
LCLeast Concernwhales and dolphins
The narwhal (Monodon monoceros) is a marine mammal in the whales and dolphins subgroup, belonging to the order Cetacea, suborder Odontoceti and family Monodontidae. It falls in the giant size class, with an adult body mass of 900 kg and a highest reported value of 938.1 kg.
Quick facts about the narwhal
The narwhal is a piscivore and carnivore whose main food is boreogadus saida, and its activity pattern is cathemeral. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, not an IUCN threatened category, and has a lifespan of 45 years, with values up to 50 years.
- Weight
- 900 kg – 938.1 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 45 years – 50 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Piscivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- boreogadus saidasrc for Main food
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 365 days – 450 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 6 years – 8 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 0.33src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- Day and night (cathemeral)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Marinesrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the narwhal
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the narwhal live?
Not recorded
What is the narwhal?
The narwhal (Monodon monoceros) is a species of toothed whale native to the Arctic. It is the only member of the genus Monodon and one of two living representatives of the family Monodontidae. The narwhal is a stocky cetacean with a relatively blunt snout, a large melon, and a shallow ridge in place of a dorsal fin. Males of this species have a spiralled tusk, which is a protruding left canine, that is 1.5–3.0 m (4.9–9.8 ft) long and thought to function as a secondary sexual characteristic, a weapon, a tool for feeding, or a sensory organ. Specially adapted slow-twitch muscles, along with the jointed neck vertebrae and shallow dorsal ridge allow for easy movement through the Arctic environment, where the narwhal spends extended periods at great depths. The narwhal's geographic range overlaps with that of the similarly built and closely related beluga whale, and the animals are known to interbreed.
Narwhals inhabit the Arctic waters of Canada, Greenland and Russia. Every year, they migrate to ice-free summering grounds, usually in shallow waters, and often return to the same sites in subsequent years. Their diet mainly consists of polar and Arctic cod, Greenland halibut, cuttlefish, shrimp, and armhook squid. Diving to depths of up to 2,370 m (7,780 ft), the narwhal is among the deepest-diving cetaceans. The animals typically travel in groups of three to eight, with aggregations of up to 1,000 occurring in the summer months. Narwhals mate among the offshore pack ice from March to May, and the young are born between July and August of the following year. When communicating amongst themselves, narwhals use a variety of clicks, whistles and knocks.
There are an estimated 170,000 living narwhals, and the species is listed as being of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The population is threatened by the effects of climate change, such as reduction in ice cover and human activities such as pollution and hunting. Narwhals have been hunted for thousands of years by Inuit in northern Canada and Greenland for meat and ivory, and regulated subsistence hunting continues to this day.
From the Wikipedia article “Narwhal” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Narwhal&oldid=1382037057), 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 narwhal endangered?
The narwhal 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.
How is the narwhal classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderCetacea
- familyMonodontidae
- genusMonodon
- SpeciesMonodon monoceros Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms Ceratodon monodon, Ceratodontis ceratodon, Monodon microcephalus, Monodon moneceros, Monodon narhval, Monodon narhwal, Narwalus andersonianus, Narwalus microcephalus, Narwalus vulgaris, Tachynices megacephalus
Other names and names in other languages (84)
- HogEnglish
- Horned whaleEnglish
- NarwhaleEnglish
- Sea canaryEnglish
- Sea unicornEnglish
- Unicorn whaleEnglish
- Unicorn whaleEnglish
- UnicorneEnglish
- NēohwælOld English
- قوقىArabic
- نروالArabic
- الحوت المرقطArabic
- حريش البحرArabic
- حوت النروالArabic
- كركدن البحرArabic
- حوت وحيد القرنArabic
- НарвалBulgarian
- nаrvаlBulgarian
- kaipuuliakckt
- narval jednorohýCzech
- morfil uncornWelsh
- Morfilod UncornWelsh
- NarwalGerman
- ΝάρβαλGreek
- NarbalBasque
- ناروالPersian
- sarvivalasFinnish
- narvalFrench
- licorne de merFrench
- NarbhalIrish
- Muc-mhara adharcachScottish Gaelic
- חדשןHebrew
- חדשן חדקרןHebrew
- NarválHungarian
- AdlungwakInuktitut
- QirniqtaqInuktitut
- tugalik (W. Greenland)Inuktitut
- TuugaalikInuktitut
- illhvalIcelandic
- NáhvalurIcelandic
- nahveliIcelandic
- narhvalurIcelandic
- rödkammIcelandic
- narvaloItalian
- NarvàloItalian
- ikkukaJapanese
- イッカクJapanese
- itsu kakuJapanese
- მარტოკბილაGeorgian
- tauvarKalaallisut
- kelelluak-tuakKalaallisut
- kelleluak-kakortokKalaallisut
- killalugaqKalaallisut
- qernertaqKalaallisut
- Qilalugaq qernertaqKalaallisut
- Qilalukkat qernertatKalaallisut
- rusaluvak-kernartakKalaallisut
- tugalikKalaallisut
- 외뿔고래Korean
- 일각고래Korean
- narvalasLithuanian
- Tééh hóyáanii bichį́į́htsahíNavajo
- HornhvalNorwegian Bokmål
- eenhornvisDutch
- narkvalNorwegian Nynorsk
- lighvalNorwegian
- narhvalNorwegian
- narwal jednozębnyPolish
- rogozubRussian
- нарвал-единорогRussian
- edinorogRussian
- edinozubRussian
- jedinorogh morskoiRussian
- coarvebuovjaNorthern Sami
- samorogSlovenian
- NarvaliAlbanian
- enhornad hortandSwedish
- นาร์วาลThai
- deniz gerdaniTurkish
- deniz gergedanıTurkish
- однорігUkrainian
- Kỳ lân biểnVietnamese
- 一角鯨Chinese
- 一角鲸Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the narwhal
Other species in the same family Monodontidae.
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CompareNarwhal vs Beluga whaleNarwhal vs Casatia thermophilaNarwhal vs Haborodelphis japonicus
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is a narwhal?
The narwhal is a marine mammal in the whales and dolphins subgroup, classified in the order Cetacea, suborder Odontoceti and family Monodontidae.
How heavy is a narwhal?
An adult Narwhal has a body mass of 900 kg, with a highest reported value of 938.1 kg, placing it in the giant size class.
What does a narwhal eat?
The narwhal is a piscivore and carnivore, and its main food is boreogadus saida.
Is the narwhal endangered?
No. The narwhal is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, which is not an IUCN threatened category.
How long does a narwhal live?
The narwhal has a lifespan of 45 years, with a highest reported value of 50 years.
How many young does a narwhal have?
A narwhal has 1 young per litter, at a rate of 0.33 litters per year, after a gestation period of 450 days (1.2 years).
When does a narwhal reach sexual maturity?
A narwhal reaches sexual maturity at 7 years, with reported values from 6 to 8 years.
Who named the narwhal?
The narwhal was named Monodon monoceros by Linnaeus, 1758.
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).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Narwhal (Monodon monoceros). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/narwhal
“Narwhal (Monodon monoceros).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/narwhal.
@misc{narwhal_2026,
title = {Narwhal (Monodon monoceros)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/narwhal},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}