Buckelwal vs

Megaptera novaeangliae compared with Cocconeis neothumensis

Key Differences

Buckelwal is Vulnerable while is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Buckelwal
Kingdom	Animalia (สัตว์)	Chromista (โครมิสตา)
Phylum	Chordata (สัตว์มีแกนสันหลัง)	Ochrophyta (Ochrophyta)
Class	Mammalia (สัตว์เลี้ยงลูกด้วยน้ำนม)	Bacillariophyceae (Bacillariophyceae)
Order	Cetacea (Whales & Dolphins)	Achnanthales (Achnanthales)
Family	Balaenopteridae (Rorquals)	Cocconeidaceae
Genus	Megaptera (Humpback Whales)	Cocconeis
Species	Megaptera novaeangliae	Cocconeis neothumensis

Conservation Status

Buckelwal

VU — Vulnerable

Population: ~80.0K

Trend: Increasing ↑

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Buckelwal
Diet	Carnivore	—
Average Lifespan	50 years	—
Average Length	15.0 m	—
Average Weight	30.0 t	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Buckelwal

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, among 11 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (5 countries), and South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela). Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Habitat

Native to Europe and South America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Brazil, Norway, and Sweden.

Buckelwal

Among the most acrobatic of the great whales, humpback whales are renowned for their complex, haunting songs sung by males during breeding season — some lasting hours and evolving over time. Reaching 16 meters and 30 tonnes, they undertake the longest migrations of any mammal. Found in all oceans, humpbacks feed on krill and small fish using cooperative bubble-net feeding. Populations have largely recovered from historic whaling.

Cocconeis neothumensis is an epiphytic diatom in the family Cocconeidaceae, closely related to the type species Cocconeis thumensis but representing a morphologically and molecularly distinct taxon distinguished by the specific architecture of its silica frustule valves. The genus Cocconeis comprises adnate diatoms that attach firmly to solid substrates in aquatic environments, including the surfaces of submerged macrophytes, periphyton mats, and sediment particles in rivers, lakes, and coastal habitats. Cocconeis neothumensis has been recorded from freshwater bodies in South America and other regions, contributing to the benthic periphyton communities that coat submerged surfaces in well-lit aquatic habitats. The frustule ornamentation—including the density and arrangement of transapical striae and the morphology of the raphe system—provides the key morphological characters used to distinguish this species from its congeners under light and electron microscopy. Like all diatoms, C. neothumensis requires dissolved silicic acid to construct its frustule and depends on phosphorus and nitrogen availability for growth, making it a sensitive indicator of nutrient conditions in monitored water bodies. Periphytic diatom communities including Cocconeis species are widely used in ecological assessment frameworks such as the European Water Framework Directive to evaluate the biological quality of freshwater bodies based on assemblage composition. Conservation status is not formally evaluated.