Definition

Noun: * A common name for the blue whale: "Sulfur bottom" is an informal, historical name for the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus), the largest animal known to have ever existed. The name refers to the yellowish, sulfur-colored film of diatoms (microscopic algae) that often coats the underside of these whales in certain oceans, giving their belly a yellowish hue.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Old whalers used to call the blue whale the sulfur bottom because of the yellowish tint on its underside.
  • The term "sulfur bottom" is rarely used in modern marine biology, having been replaced by the common name "blue whale".

Advanced Usage

• The term is primarily found in historical texts, whaling logs, and older naturalist accounts. It is considered archaic in contemporary scientific and general usage.

Variants and Related Words

• Blue whale (n): The modern common name for the species .
• Baleen whale (n): The broader category of whales to which the blue whale belongs, characterized by baleen plates for filter-feeding instead of teeth.

Synonyms

• Blue whale
• Great blue whale (archaic)

Related Phrases

• Whalebone whale: An older term for baleen whale, sometimes used in the same historical contexts as "sulfur bottom".

Noun

1. largest mammal ever known; bluish-grey migratory whalebone whale mostly of southern hemisphere