---
title: "Sperm Whale"
description: "Physeter macrocephalus — Mammals. The sperm whale or cachalot is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/sperm-whale
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Sperm Whale

> Physeter macrocephalus — Mammals. The sperm whale or cachalot is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator.

- Scientific name: *Physeter macrocephalus*
- Category: `mammals` (Mammals)
- Habitats: `sea` (Sea & coast)
- iNaturalist observations: 4262
- Wikidata: [Q81214](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q81214)
- iNaturalist taxon: [74890](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/74890)

## Names

- en: Sperm Whale
- de: Pottwal
- es: Ballena de esperma
- fr: Grand cachalot
- it: Capodoglio
- nl: Potvis
- pt: Cachalote
- pl: Kaszalot spermacetowy

## Countries with the most observations

PT (329), NZ (180), US (116), AU (52), MU (33), CA (32), DM (32), IT (26), NO (24), IS (20), MX (18), DK (17)

## Summary

The sperm whale or cachalot is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the genus Physeter and one of three extant species in the sperm whale superfamily Physeteroidea, along with the pygmy sperm whale and dwarf sperm whale of the genus Kogia.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sperm_whale

## Photo

![Sperm Whale](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/sperm-whale/medium.jpg)

Photo: evn · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/104155628

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/sperm-whale?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).